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Texts -- 2 Samuel 2:17-32 (NET)

Context
2:17 Now the battle was very severe that day ; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers . 2:18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there – Joab , Abishai , and Asahel . (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field .) 2:19 Asahel chased Abner , without turning to the right or to the left as he followed Abner . 2:20 Then Abner turned and asked , “Is that you , Asahel ?” He replied , “Yes it is!” 2:21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left . Capture one of the soldiers and take his equipment for yourself!” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 2:22 So Abner spoke again to Asahel , “Turn aside from following me! I do not want to strike you to the ground . How then could I show my face in the presence of Joab your brother ?” 2:23 But Asahel refused to turn aside . So Abner struck him in the abdomen with the back end of his spear . The spear came out his back; Asahel collapsed on the spot and died there right before Abner. Everyone who now comes to the place where Asahel fell dead pauses in respect . 2:24 So Joab and Abishai chased Abner . At sunset they came to the hill of Ammah near Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon . 2:25 The Benjaminites formed their ranks behind Abner and were like a single army , standing at the top of a certain hill . 2:26 Then Abner called out to Joab , “Must the sword devour forever ? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end ? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers ?” 2:27 Joab replied , “As surely as God lives, if you had not said this , it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit of their brothers !” 2:28 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn and all the people stopped in their tracks. They stopped chasing Israel and ceased fighting . 2:29 Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night . They crossed the Jordan River and went through the whole region of Bitron and came to Mahanaim . 2:30 Now Joab returned from chasing Abner and assembled all the people . Nineteen of David’s soldiers were missing , in addition to Asahel . 2:31 But David’s soldiers had slaughtered the Benjaminites and Abner’s men – in all, 360 men had died ! 2:32 They took Asahel’s body and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem . Joab and his men then traveled all that night and reached Hebron by dawn .

Pericope

NET
  • 2Sa 2:8--3:5 -- David's Army Clashes with the Army of Saul

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • The Elah Valley is an S-shaped valley just south of the Sorek Valley. It runs east and west parallel to it. Socoh stood to the east and Azekah to the west. Archaeologists have not yet located Ephes-dammim. Gath was 7 miles to...
  • David's words and actions convicted Saul of his actions (v. 17), and the king wept tears of remorse (v. 16). He referred to David as his "son"(v. 16), as David had earlier called Saul his "father"(v. 11). Saul confessed David...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Samuel)V. David's triumphs chs. 1-8A. The beginning of David's kingdom 1:1-3:51. David's discovery of Saul and Jonathan's deaths ch. 12. David's move to Hebron 2:1-4a3. David's overtures to Jabesh-g...
  • The first 20 chapters of 2 Samuel are divisible into four units each of which ends with a list of names that is four verses long (1:1-3:5; 3:6-5:16; 5:17-8:18; 9:1-20:26).2The first two units conclude with lists of David's so...
  • The present section begins with Yahweh's destruction of Saul's line and ends with a summary of David's fecundity. In the middle we find the record of David's anointing as king over Judah (2:1-7). In 1:1-3:5 we see the Israeli...
  • "Without doubt this portion [of 2 Samuel, i.e., chapters 2-8] forms the crux of the book. Here the fertility motif reaches a peak. The thesis of the author--that Israel is blessed with fertility when the nation (and the epito...
  • "The much later crisis of I Kings 12 suggests that the Davidic hold on the north is never deeply established. In our chapter we are given two episodes of David's attentiveness to the north. One (vv. 4b-7) is a peaceable act o...
  • David's overtures to the Jabesh-gileadites were very important. Saul's commander-in-chief and cousin, Abner, was working to install Saul's youngest son, Ish-bosheth (called Eshbaal in 1 Chron. 9:39), as his father's successor...
  • Travelers can visit the pool of Gibeon today. It lies about three miles northwest of Gibeah."The pool is a cylindrical shaft thirty-seven feet in diameter and thirty-five feet deep. Its five-feet-wide spiral stairway, which w...
  • The first verse in this chapter summarizes 2:8-32. The point of the remaining verses is that during the seven and one-half years that David ruled Judah he grew stronger because God was blessing him.33David resorted to further...
  • The writer also documented God's blessing on David in this record of how David wisely unified the nation of Israel and became the leader of all 12 tribes."The story of how David became king of all Israel follows, in most esse...
  • "Saul the king is dead, Jonathan the heir apparent is dead, Abinadab and Malki-Shua (two of Jonathan's brothers) are dead (1 Sam 31:2), Abner the commander of the army is dead--and no other viable claimants or pretenders cont...
  • "As the story of David's accession to kingship over Judah (1:1-3:5) parallels that of his accession to the throne of Israel (3:6-5:16), each concluding with a list of his sons (3:2-5; 5:13-16), so the account of his powerful ...
  • The promises Yahweh made to David here are an important key to understanding God's program for the future.God rejected David's suggestion that he build a temple for the Lord and gave three reasons. First, there was no pressin...
  • "From the religious heights of chapter 7 we descend again to the everyday world of battles and bloodshed in chapter 8. The military action picks up where the story left off at the end of chapter 5."130Chapter 8 evidently desc...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • While Joab was continuing to subdue the Ammonites the following spring by besieging Rabbah (modern Amman, the capital of Jordan; cf. 10:7), David was residing in Jerusalem (11:1). By mentioning the fact that normally kings le...
  • "With Joab's return to the king in Jerusalem, the grand symphony known as the Court History of David reaches its conclusion for all practical purposes (at least as far as the books of Samuel are concerned . . .). The last fou...
  • Achtemeier, Paul J., and Elizabeth Achtemeier. The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979.Ackerman, James S. "Knowing Good and Evil: A Literary Ananysis of the Court History in 2 Samuel 9-20 and ...
  • Perhaps because Solomon had shown Adonijah mercy when he fled to the altar (1:50-52) Joab sought refuge from Solomon for participating in Adonijah's rebellion there too. Joab, however, was a murderer as well as a rebel. Conse...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan. "The Building Activities of David and Solomon."Israel Exploration Journal24:1(1974):13-16.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonahl. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.,...
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