2 Samuel 2:8

David’s Army Clashes with the Army of Saul

2:8 Now Abner son of Ner, the general in command of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son Ish-bosheth ¹  and had brought him to Mahanaim.

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. ² 

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. ³  How then could I show ⁴  my face in the presence of Joab your brother?”

2 Samuel 2:25

2:25 The Benjaminites formed their ranks ⁵  behind Abner and were like a single army, standing at the top of a certain hill.

2 Samuel 2:29-30

2:29 Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan River ⁶  and went through the whole region of Bitron ⁷  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 Samuel 3:6-7

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 ⁸  in the house of Saul. 3:7 Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ish-bosheth ⁹  said to Abner, “Why did you have sexual relations with ¹⁰  my father’s concubine?” ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 3:9

3:9 God will severely judge Abner ¹²  if I do not do for David exactly what the Lord has promised him, ¹³ 

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!” ¹⁴  So he returned home.

3:17 Abner advised ¹⁵  the elders of Israel, “Previously you were wanting David to be your king. ¹⁶ 

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 ¹⁷  has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way! ¹⁸ 

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 3:30

3:30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel in Gibeon during the battle.

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. ¹⁹ 

[2:8]  ¹ sn The name Ish-bosheth means in Hebrew “man of shame.” It presupposes an earlier form such as Ish-baal (“man of the Lord”), with the word “baal” being used of Israel’s God. But because the Canaanite storm god was named “Baal,” that part of the name was later replaced with the word “shame.”

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

[2:22]  ³ tn Heb “Why should I strike you to the ground?”

[2:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “lift.”

[2:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “were gathered together.”

[2:29]  ⁵ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they went, all the Bitron.” The meaning of the Hebrew word “Bitron,” which is used only here in the OT, is disputed. The translation above follows BDB 144 s.v. בִּתְרוֹן in taking the word to be a proper name of an area east of the Jordan. A different understanding was advocated by W. R. Arnold, who took the word to refer to the forenoon or morning; a number of modern scholars and translations have adopted this view (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT). See W. R. Arnold, “The Meaning of בתרון,” AJSL 28 (1911-1912): 274-83. In this case one could translate “and they traveled all morning long.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “was strengthening himself.” The statement may have a negative sense here, perhaps suggesting that Abner was overstepping the bounds of political propriety in a self-serving way.

[3:7]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “come to”; KJV, NRSV “gone in to”; NAB “been intimate with”; NIV “sleep with.”

[3:7]  ⁹ 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.

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “So will God do to Abner and so he will add to him.”

[3:9]  ⁹ tc Heb “has sworn to David.” The LXX, with the exception of the recension of Origen, adds “in this day.”

[3:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “Go, return.”

[3:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the word of Abner was with.”

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you were seeking David to be king over you.”

[3:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look, Abner.”

[3:24]  ¹² tc The LXX adds “in peace.”

[3:37]  ¹² tn Heb “from the king.”