Neville Goddard on 2 Samuel 4:8-12 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 2 Samuel 4 in context

Scripture Focus

8And they brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold the head of Ishbosheth the son of Saul thine enemy, which sought thy life; and the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.

9And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

10When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings:

11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?

12And David commanded his young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.

2 Samuel 4:8-12

Biblical Context

David is told the head of Ishbosheth was brought to him, and he proclaims that the LORD has avenged him. He recalls killing a messenger who brought news of Saul’s death and declares that, since wicked men killed a righteous person in his house, they too deserve their blood to be shed; he then has them executed and buries Ishbosheth’s head.

Neville's Inner Vision

Behold the scene as a symbolic drama within your own consciousness. The head of Ishbosheth is not a corpse but a former state—the fear, the grievance, the 'enemy' within that sought to annihilate your peace. When they bring it to David, the king within you stands as the I AM, affirming that the Lord liveth—your own divine life—who has redeemed your soul from adversity. The report of Saul’s death is the memory that once seemed to threaten your well-being; you recall how you would compensate a messenger with reward, yet you now exercise a higher justice: you do not reward the old thought with belief, but you sever its power by acting in consciousness as the rightful authority. The act of slaying the murderers and hanging their hands and feet is the symbolic ending of the old pattern; to bury the head in Abner’s sepulchre is to lay that memory to rest in the chamber of your inner history. This is providence within: your consciousness protects the king from the specter of revenge by refusing to feed it.

Practice This Now

Assume the king within and revise the scene: the head of the old grievance is carried away and buried; feel the release as you declare, I AM the authority over every thought, and justice begins and ends in my awareness.