2 Samuel 2:17

2:17 Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers. ¹ 

2 Samuel 2:22

2:22 So Abner spoke again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me! I do not want to strike you to the ground. ²  How then could I show ³  my face in the presence of Joab your brother?”

2 Samuel 2:25

2:25 The Benjaminites formed their ranks ⁴  behind Abner and were like a single army, standing at the top of a certain hill.

2 Samuel 2:30

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 Samuel 3:7

3:7 Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ish-bosheth ⁵  said to Abner, “Why did you have sexual relations with ⁶  my father’s concubine?” ⁷ 

2 Samuel 3:16-17

3:16 Her husband went along behind her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Finally Abner said to him, “Go back!” ⁸  So he returned home.

3:17 Abner advised ⁹  the elders of Israel, “Previously you were wanting David to be your king. ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 3:20

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.

2 Samuel 3:23-24

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 ¹¹  has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way! ¹² 

2 Samuel 3:26

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.)

2 Samuel 3:28

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!

2 Samuel 3:37

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. ¹³ 

[2:17]  ¹ tn Heb “servants.” So also elsewhere.

[2:22]  ² tn Heb “Why should I strike you to the ground?”

[2:22]  ³ tn Heb “lift.”

[2:25]  ³ tn Heb “were gathered together.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew of the MT reads simply “and he said,” with no expressed subject for the verb. It is not likely that the text originally had no expressed subject for this verb, since the antecedent is not immediately clear from the context. We should probably restore to the Hebrew text the name “Ish-bosheth.” See a few medieval Hebrew mss, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Vulgate. Perhaps the name was accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. Note that both the name Ishbosheth and the following preposition אֶל (’el) begin with the letter alef.

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “come to”; KJV, NRSV “gone in to”; NAB “been intimate with”; NIV “sleep with.”

[3:7]  ⁶ sn This accusation against Abner is a very serious one, since an act of sexual infringement on the king’s harem would probably have been understood as a blatant declaration of aspirations to kingship. As such it was not merely a matter of ethical impropriety but an act of grave political significance as well.

[3:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “Go, return.”

[3:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “the word of Abner was with.”

[3:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “you were seeking David to be king over you.”

[3:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “Look, Abner.”

[3:24]  ⁸ tc The LXX adds “in peace.”

[3:37]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the king.”