2 Samuel 2:14-17

2:14 Abner said to Joab, “Let the soldiers get up and fight ¹  before us.” Joab said, “So be it!” ² 

2:15 So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 2:16 As they grappled with one another, each one stabbed his opponent with his sword and they fell dead together. ³  So that place is called the Field of Flints; ⁴  it is in Gibeon.

2:17 Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 2:2

2:2 So David went up, along with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, formerly the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

2 Samuel 14:8

14:8 Then the king told the woman, “Go to your home. I will give instructions concerning your situation.” ⁶ 

2 Samuel 18:23

18:23 But he said, ⁷  “Whatever happens, I want to go!” So Joab ⁸  said to him, “Then go!” So Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Jordan plain, and he passed the Cushite.

Isaiah 36:8-9

36:8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “play.” What is in view here is a gladiatorial contest in which representative groups of soldiers engage in mortal combat before the watching armies. Cf. NAB “perform for us”; NASB “hold (have NRSV) a contest before us”; NLT “put on an exhibition of hand-to-hand combat.”

² tn Heb “let them arise.”

³ tn Heb “and they grabbed each one the head of his neighbor with his sword in the side of his neighbor and they fell together.”

⁴ tn The meaning of the name “Helkath Hazzurim” (so NIV; KJV, NASB, NRSV similar) is not clear. BHK relates the name to the Hebrew term for “side,” and this is reflected in NAB “the Field of the Sides”; the Greek OT revocalizes the Hebrew to mean something like “Field of Adversaries.” Cf. also TEV, NLT “Field of Swords”; CEV “Field of Daggers.”

⁵ tn Heb “servants.” So also elsewhere.

⁷ tn Heb “concerning you.”

⁹ tn The words “but he said” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”