Advanced Commentary

Texts -- 2 Samuel 3:11-39 (NET)

Context
3:11 Ish-bosheth was unable to answer Abner with even a single word because he was afraid of him. 3:12 Then Abner sent messengers to David saying , “To whom does the land belong ? Make an agreement with me, and I will do whatever I can to cause all Israel to turn to you.” 3:13 So David said , “Good ! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to visit me.” 3:14 David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth son of Saul with this demand : “Give me my wife Michal whom I acquired for a hundred Philistine foreskins .” 3:15 So Ish-bosheth took her from her husband Paltiel son of Laish . 3:16 Her husband went along behind her, weeping all the way to Bahurim . Finally Abner said to him, “Go back !” So he returned home. 3:17 Abner advised the elders of Israel , “Previously you were wanting David to be your king . 3:18 Act now ! For the Lord has said to David , ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and from all their enemies .’” 3:19 Then Abner spoke privately with the Benjaminites . Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to. 3:20 When Abner , accompanied by twenty men , came to David in Hebron , David prepared a banquet for Abner and the men who were with him. 3:21 Abner said to David , “Let me leave so that I may go and gather all Israel to my lord the king so that they may make an agreement with you. Then you will rule over all that you desire .” So David sent Abner away, and he left in peace .
Abner Is Killed
3:22 Now David’s soldiers and Joab were coming back from a raid , bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron , for David had sent him away and he had left in peace . 3:23 When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived , Joab was told : “Abner the son of Ner came to the king ; he sent him away, and he left in peace !” 3:24 So Joab went to the king and said , “What have you done ? Abner has come to you! Why would you send him away ? Now he’s gone on his way ! 3:25 You know Abner the son of Ner ! Surely he came here to spy on you and to determine when you leave and when you return and to discover everything that you are doing !” 3:26 Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner . They brought him back from the well of Sirah . (But David was not aware of it.) 3:27 When Abner returned to Hebron , Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel . 3:28 When David later heard about this, he said , “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the shed blood of Abner son of Ner ! 3:29 May his blood whirl over the head of Joab and the entire house of his father ! May the males of Joab’s house never cease to have someone with a running sore or a skin disease or one who works at the spindle or one who falls by the sword or one who lacks food !” 3:30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner , because he had killed their brother Asahel in Gibeon during the battle . 3:31 David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes ! Put on sackcloth ! Lament before Abner !” Now King David followed behind the funeral bier . 3:32 So they buried Abner in Hebron . The king cried loudly over Abner’s grave and all the people wept too. 3:33 The king chanted the following lament for Abner : “Should Abner have died like a fool ? 3:34 Your hands were not bound , and your feet were not put into irons . You fell the way one falls before criminals .” All the people wept over him again. 3:35 Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day . But David took an oath saying , “God will punish me severely if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets !” 3:36 All the people noticed this and it pleased them. In fact, everything the king did pleased all the people . 3:37 All the people and all Israel realized on that day that the killing of Abner son of Ner was not done at the king’s instigation. 3:38 Then the king said to his servants , “Do you not realize that a great leader has fallen this day in Israel ? 3:39 Today I am weak , even though I am anointed as king . These men , the sons of Zeruiah , are too much for me to bear ! May the Lord punish appropriately the one who has done this evil thing!”

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

more

Arts

Questions

Resources/Books

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...
  • As mentioned before, this chapter opens and closes with a tragedy in David's life, the death of Samuel and the departure of Michal. Evidently Saul considered David as good as dead, and so, sometime during these events, he gav...
  • God had announced that Saul would deliver His people from the hand of the Philistines (9:16). However, Saul frustrated God's purpose by not following the Lord faithfully. Consequently the Philistines got the better of Saul an...
  • (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...
  • "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 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...
  • This second descendant of Saul demonstrated a reaction to David that was the opposite of Ziba's. Ziba had been ingratiating and submissive, but Shimei, a "reptile of the royal house of Saul,"245was insulting and defiant (cf. ...
  • "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...
  • David's words here state succinctly the philosophy of history the writer of Kings set forth in this book.27It is the philosophy David had learned and now commended to his son Solomon. Careful obedience to the Law of Moses wou...
  • 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.,...
  • Sometimes God used the events in the lives of His prophets to speak to the people as well as their messages."Hosea's unhappy marriage (Hos. 1-3), Isaiah's family (Isa. 7-8), the death of Ezekiel's wife (Ezek. 24:15-27), and J...
  • 24:15-16 The Lord told Ezekiel that He was about to take the life of his beloved wife. The English word "blow"(v. 16) implies a sudden, unexpected death. The Hebrew word, magephoh, does not demand a sudden death, but it somet...
  • The emphasis in this message is on the fact that God would renew His love for Israel and would restore their "marriage"relationship.2:14 Following Israel's decision to return to Yahweh after her punishment (v. 7), the Lord pr...
  • 5:1 This message begins as the previous two did, with a call to hear the Lord's word. However here Amos announced that what follows is a dirge (Heb. qinah) against the house of Israel. A dirge was a lament that was sung at th...
  • Jonah's proclamation moved the Ninevites to humble themselves and seek divine mercy.3:5 The people believed in God because of the message from God that Jonah had brought to them. Fasting and wearing sackcloth were signs of se...
  • 2:20 The Lord gave Haggai a second message on the same day as the previous message (v. 10), the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Kislev 24, December 18).2:21 Haggai was to tell Zerubbabel that Yahweh was going to shake t...
  • Pilate was a cruel ruler who made little attempt to understand the Jews whom he hated.1047He had treated them unfairly and brutally on many occasions, but recently Caesar had rebuked him severely.1048This probably accounts fo...
  • 1:15 In view of Peter's leadership gifts, so obvious in the Gospels, it is no surprise that he is the one who took the initiative on this occasion."Undoubtedly, the key disciple in Luke's writings is Peter. He was the represe...
Back to Commentary Page


TIP #04: Try using range (OT and NT) to better focus your searches. [ALL]
created in 0.05 seconds
powered by
bible.org - YLSA