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Texts -- 2 Samuel 3:1-7 (NET)

Context
3:1 However, the war was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David . David was becoming steadily stronger , while the house of Saul was becoming increasingly weaker . 3:2 Now sons were born to David in Hebron . His firstborn was Amnon , born to Ahinoam the Jezreelite . 3:3 His second son was Kileab , born to Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite . His third son was Absalom , the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur . 3:4 His fourth son was Adonijah , the son of Haggith . His fifth son was Shephatiah , the son of Abitail . 3:5 His sixth son was Ithream , born to David’s wife Eglah . These sons were all born to David in Hebron .
Abner Defects to David’s Camp
3:6 As the war continued between the house of Saul and the house of David , Abner was becoming more influential in the house of Saul . 3:7 Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah . Ish-bosheth said to Abner , “Why did you have sexual relations with my father’s concubine ?”

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • David

    [ebd] beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother's name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25. As to his personal ...
    [isbe] DAVID - da'-vid (dawidh, or dawidh, "beloved"; Daueid, also in New Testament, Dauid, Dabid; see Thayer's Lexicon): I. NAME AND GENEALOGY II. EARLY YEARS 1. Shepherd 2. Slinger 3. Harpist 4. Poet 5. Psalmist 6. Tribesman III....
    [nave] DAVID 1. King of Israel. Genealogy of, Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Sam. 16:11; 17:12; 1 Chr. 2:3-15; Matt. 1:1-6; Luke 3:31-38. A shepherd, 1 Sam. 16:11. Kills a lion and a bear, 1 Sam. 17:34-36. Anointed king, while a youth, by the ...

  • Ish-bosheth

    [ebd] man of shame or humiliation, the youngest of Saul's four sons, and the only one who survived him (2 Sam. 2-4). His name was originally Eshbaal (1 Chr. 8:33; 9:39). He was about forty years of age when his father and three br...
    [isbe] ISH-BOSHETH - ish-bo'-sheth (ish-bosheth, "man of shame"' Iesbosthe): Called 'eshba`al, "man of Baal" (1 Ch 8:33), and yishwi, "man of Yahweh" (?), perhaps for 'isheyo (1 Sam 14:49). Compare ESHBAAL and ISHVI (the King James...
    [nave] ISH-BOSHETH Son of Saul. Called Esh-baal in 1 Chr. 8:33; 9:39. Made king by Abner, 2 Sam. 2:8-10. Deserted by Abner, 2 Sam. 3:6-12. Restores Michal, David's wife, to David, 2 Sam. 3:14-16. Assassinated, 2 Sam. 4:5-8. Av...

  • Hebron

    [nave] HEBRON 1. A city of Asher, Josh. 19:28. 2. A city of Judah, S. of Jerusalem. When built, Num. 13:22. Fortified, 2 Chr. 11:10. Called Kirjath-arba, Gen. 23:2; Arba, Gen. 35:27; Josh. 15:13. Abraham dwells and Sarah dies a...

  • Lamentations, Book of

    [ebd] called in the Hebrew canon 'Ekhah, meaning "How," being the formula for the commencement of a song of wailing. It is the first word of the book (see 2 Sam. 1:19-27). The LXX. adopted the name rendered "Lamentations" (Gr. thr...

  • SAMUEL, BOOKS OF

    [isbe] SAMUEL, BOOKS OF - || I. PLACE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL IN THE HEBREW CANON II. CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS AND PERIOD OF TIME COVERED BY THE HISTORY III. SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 1. Life of Samuel (1 Samuel 1 through 15) 2. Reign and D...

  • Haggith

    [ebd] festive; the dancer, a wife of David and the mother of Adonijah (2 Sam. 3:4; 1 Kings 1:5, 11; 2:13; 1 Chr. 3:2), who, like Absalom, was famed for his beauty.
    [isbe] HAGGITH - hag'-ith (chaggith, "festal"): According to 2 Sam 3:4; 1 Ki 1:5,11; 2:13; 1 Ch 3:2, the fifth wife of David and the mother of his fourth son, Adonijah. The latter was born in Hebron while David's capital was there ...
    [smith] (festive; a dancer), one of David?s wives, the mother of Adonijah. (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Kings 1:6) (B.C. 1053.)
    [nave] HAGGITH, wife of David. Mother of Adonijah, 2 Sam. 3:4; 1 Kin. 1:5, 11; 2:13; 1 Chr. 3:2.

  • Shephatiah

    [ebd] judged of the Lord. (1.) A son of David by Abital (2 Sam. 3:4). (2.) A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:5). (3.) A Simeonite prince in David's time (1 Chr. 27:16). (4.) One of Jehoshaphat's sons (2 Chr. 21:2)....
    [isbe] SHEPHATIAH - shef-a-ti'-a, she-fat'-ya (shephaTyah, "Yah has judged"): (1) A son of David, by Abital (2 Sam 3:4; 1 Ch 3:3). (2) A Benjamite, father of Meshullam, of Jerusalem (1 Ch 9:8). (3) A Benjamite, who joined David at ...
    [smith] (judged by Jehovah). The fifth son of David. (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Chronicles 3:3) (B.C. about 1050.) The family of Shephatiah, 372 in number, returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:4; Nehemiah 7:9) see also Ezra 8:8 (B.C. 536.)...
    [nave] SHEPHATIAH 1. Son of David, 2 Sam. 3:4; 1 Chr. 3:3. 2. A Benjamite, father of Meshullam, 1 Chr. 9:8. 3. A valiant man who joined David at Ziklag, 1 Chr. 12:5. 4. A ruler of Simeon, 1 Chr. 27:16. 5. Son of Jehoshaphat, 2 ...

  • Polygamy

    [nave] POLYGAMY Forbidden, Deut. 17:17; Lev. 18:18; Mal. 2:14, 15; Matt. 19:4, 5; Mark 10:2-8; 1 Tim. 3:2, 12; Tit. 1:6. Authorized, 2 Sam. 12:8. Tolerated, Ex. 21:10; 1 Sam. 1:2; 2 Chr. 24:3. Practiced, Job 27:15; by Lamech, Ge...

  • JERIMOTH

    [isbe] JERIMOTH - jer'-i-moth (see JEREMOTH, (c)): (1) A Benjamite (1 Ch 7:7). (2) A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag, or perhaps a Judean (1 Ch 12:5 (Hebrew 6)). (3) In 1 Ch 24:30 = JEREMOTH, (4) (which see). (4) A Levite musi...

  • GENEALOGY, 8 part 1

    [isbe] GENEALOGY, 8 part 1 - 8. Principal Genealogies and Lists: In the early genealogies the particular strata to which each has been assigned by reconstructive critics is here indicated by J, the Priestly Code (P), etc. The signs...

  • Abner

    [isbe] ABNER - ab'-ner ('abhner; in 1 Sam 14:50 the Hebrew has the fuller form, 'abhiner, Abiner; compare Abiram by the side of Abram; meaning, "my father is a lamp"): Captain of the host under Saul and Ishbosheth (Eshbaal). He was...
    [nave] ABNER, son of Ner. Cousin of Saul, 1 Sam. 14:50, 51, with 1 Sam. 9:1. Captain of the army, 1 Sam. 14:50; 17:55; 26:5, 14. Dedicated spoils of war to the tabernacle, 1 Chr. 26:27, 28. Loyalty of, to the house of Saul, 2 Sam...

  • Talmai

    [ebd] abounding in furrows. (1.) One of the Anakim of Hebron, who were slain by the men of Judah under Caleb (Num. 13:22; Josh. 15:14; Judg. 1:10). (2.) A king of Geshur, to whom Absalom fled after he had put Amnon to death (2 Sam...
    [isbe] TALMAI - tal'-mi, tal'-ma-i (talmay): (1) A clan, possibly of Aramean origin, generally reputed to be of gigantic height; resident in Hebron at the time of the Hebrew conquest and driven thence by Caleb (Nu 13:22; Josh 15:14...
    [smith] (bold). One of the three sons of "the Anak" who were slain by the men of Judah. (Numbers 13:22; Joshua 15:14; Judges 1:10) (B.C. 1450.) Son of Ammihud king of Geshur. (2 Samuel 3:3; 13:37; 1 Chronicles 3:2) He was prob...
    [nave] TALMAI 1. A son of Anak, Num. 13:22; Josh. 15:14; Judg. 1:10. 2. King of Geshur, 2 Sam. 3:3; 13:37; 1 Chr. 3:2.

  • Adonijah

    [ebd] my Lord is Jehovah. (1.) The fourth son of David (2 Sam. 3:4). After the death of his elder brothers, Amnon and Absalom, he became heir-apparent to the throne. But Solomon, a younger brother, was preferred to him. Adonijah, ...
    [isbe] ADONIJAH - ad-o-ni'-ja ('adhoniyahu or 'adhoniyah, "my lord is Yahweh"): (1) The son of David and Haggith, the forth of David's sons, born in Hebron after David became king of Judah, principally known for his attempt to beco...
    [smith] (my Lord is Jehovah). The fourth son of David by Haggith, born at Hebron while his father was king of Judah. (2 Samuel 3:4) (B.C. about 1050.) After the death of his three brothers, Amnon, Chileab and Absalom, he became e...
    [nave] ADONIJAH 1. Son of David and Haggith, 2 Sam. 3:4; 1 Kin. 1:5, 6; 1 Chr. 3:2. Usurpation of, and downfall, 1 Kin. 1. Executed by Solomon, 1 Kin. 2:13; 25. 2. A Levite, 2 Chr. 17:8. 3. See: Adonikam.

  • Abital

    [ebd] father of dew; i.e., "fresh", David's fifth wife (2 Sam. 3:4).
    [isbe] ABITAL - ab'-i-tal, a-bi'-tal ('abhiTal, "my father is dew"): One of the wives of King David. In the duplicated list (2 Sam 3:4; 1 Ch 3:3) in which the sons born to David in Hebron are mentioned and numbered, the fifth is sa...
    [smith] (father of the dew), one of David?s wives. (2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Chronicles 3:3)
    [nave] ABITAL, wife of David, 2 Sam. 3:4; 1 Chr. 3:3.

  • Eglah

    [ebd] a heifer, one of David's wives, and mother of Ithream (2 Sam. 3:5; 1 Chr. 3:3). According to a Jewish tradition she was Michal.
    [isbe] EGLAH - eg'-la (`eghlah, "heifer"): Wife of David and mother of Ithream (2 Sam 3:5 parallel 1 Ch 3:3).
    [smith] (a heifer), one of David?s wives during his reign in Hebron. (2 Samuel 3:5; 1 Chronicles 3:3) (B.C. 1055.)
    [nave] EGLAH, wife of David, 2 Sam. 3:5; 1 Chr. 3:3.

  • Amnon

    [ebd] faithful. (1.) One of the sons of Shammai, of the children of Ezra (1 Chr. 4:20; comp. 17). (2.) The eldest son of David, by Ahinoam of Jezreel (1 Chr. 3:1; 2 Sam. 3:2). Absalom caused him to be put to death for his great cr...
    [isbe] AMNON - am'-non ('amnon, "faithful"; compare 'aminon, 2 Sam 13:20, which is probably a diminutive. Wellhausen (IJG, II, 24, note 2) resolves 'amiynown into 'immi, and nun, "my mother is the serpent"; compare NUN): (1) The el...
    [nave] AMNON 1. Son of David, 2 Sam. 3:2; 1 Chr. 3:1. Incest of, and death, 2 Sam. 13. 2. Son of Shimon, 1 Chr. 4:20.

  • Ahinoam

    [ebd] brother of pleasantness = pleasant. (1.) The daughter of Ahimaaz, and wife of Saul (1 Sam. 14:50). (2.) A Jezreelitess, the first wife of David (1 Sam. 25:43; 27:3). She was the mother of Amnon (2 Sam. 3:2). (See 1 Sam. 30:5...
    [isbe] AHINOAM - a-hi-no'-am, a-hin'-o-am ('achino`am, "my brother is pleasantness"): (1) Daughter of Ahimaaz, and wife of King Saul (1 Sam 14:50). (2) The woman from Jezreel whom David married after Saul gave Michal to another hus...
    [nave] AHINOAM 1. Wife of king Saul, 1 Sam. 14:50. 2. Wife of king David, 1 Sam. 25:43; 27:3; 30:5, 18; 2 Sam. 3:2.

  • Ithream

    [isbe] ITHREAM - ith'-re-am (yithre`am, "residue of the people"): The 6th son born to David at Hebron. His mother's name was Eglah (2 Sam 3:5; 1 Ch 3:3).
    [smith] (abundance of people), son of David, born to him in Hebron, and distinctly specified as the sixth, and as the child of Eglah, David?s wife. (2 Samuel 3:5; 1 Chronicles 3:3)
    [nave] ITHREAM, son of David, 2 Sam. 3:5; 1 Chr. 3:3.

  • Chileab

    [ebd] protected by the father, David's second son by Abigail (2 Sam. 3:3); called also Daniel (1 Chr. 3:1). He seems to have died when young.
    [isbe] CHILEAB - kil'-e-ab (kil'abh; Dalouia, "restraint of father"): A son of David, born to him at Hebron. His mother was Abigail, whom David married after the death of her husband Nabal, the Carmelite (2 Sam 3:3). In the corresp...
    [nave] CHILEAB A Son of David, 2 Sam. 3:3. Called Daniel, 1 Chr. 3:1.

  • Abigail

    [ebd] father (i.e., "leader") of the dance, or "of joy." (1.) The sister of David, and wife of Jether an Ishmaelite (1 Chr. 2:16,17). She was the mother of Amasa (2 Sam. 17:25). (2.) The wife of the churlish Nabal, who dwelt in th...
    [smith] (father, i.e. source, of joy). The beautiful wife of Nabal, a wealthy owner of goats and sheep in Carmel. (B.C. 1060.) When David?s messengers were slighted by Nabal, Abigail supplies David and his followers with provisions,...
    [nave] ABIGAIL 1. Nabal's wife. Her wisdom and tact, and marriage to David, 1 Sam. 25; 27:3; 2 Sam. 2:2. Mother of Chileab by David, 2 Sam. 3:3; 1 Chr. 3:1. Taken captive and rescued by David, 1 Sam. 30:1-18. 2. Sister of David,...
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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...
  • (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...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • Abner was the strong man in Israel. Ish-bosheth was simply a figurehead (v. 11). Abner's loyalty to the house of Saul is clear from his actions so far. However there was conflict between Ish-bosheth and Abner. In the ancient ...
  • "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...
  • Again David sinned by multiplying wives (Deut. 17:17). Nevertheless in spite of this sin God continued to bless him with fertility because he was God's elect and, for the most part, God's obedient servant. Fortunately God doe...
  • "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...
  • Maacah bore Absalom while David was reigning in Hebron (3:3). He was David's third-born. Amnon, his first-born, was also born in Hebron but by Ahinoam (3:2). Both sons may have been in their late teens or early twenties at th...
  • The writer may have devoted so much text to straightening out the rumor that Absalom had killed all the king's sons to stress God's mercy in not cutting off all of them. At first report David probably thought God had judged h...
  • "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 ...
  • Adonijah was David's fourth son (2 Sam. 3:4) and the eldest one living at this time. Evidently he believed it was more important that the eldest son succeed David, as was customary in the Near East, than that the king of Yahw...
  • The writer's condemnation of Solomon in verses 1-2 rests on Deuteronomy 23:3-9 as well as Deuteronomy 7:3-4. The phraseology goes back to 23:3-9 and the motive to 7:3-4 (cf. Exod. 23:31-33; 34:15-16; Ezra 9:1; Neh. 13:26). So...
  • 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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