²David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail (who had been Nabal’s wife) from Carmel. ³David took his men and their families with him, and they settled in the towns around Hebron. ⁴Then the people of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David to be king over the tribe of Judah.

They told David, “The people of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.” ⁵So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead. He said to them, “May the Lord bless you because you showed kindness to your master Saul by burying him. ⁶May the Lord always show you kindness. I, too, will be good to you because you did this. ⁷Now, be strong and courageous. Because your master Saul is dead, the tribe of Judah has anointed me to be their king.”

Abner Makes Ishbosheth King of Israel

⁸Ner’s son Abner, commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ishbosheth^aand brought him to Mahanaim. ⁹Abner made him king of Gilead, Asher,^bJezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin, that is, all Israel. ¹⁰Saul’s son Ishbosheth was 40 years old when he became king of Israel. He ruled for two years, but the tribe of Judah followed David. ¹¹In Hebron David was king over the tribe of Judah for seven years and six months.

Conflicts between Abner and Joab

¹²Ner’s son Abner and the officers of Saul’s son Ishbosheth went from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³Zeruiah’s son Joab and David’s officers also left ⸤Hebron⸥. Both groups met at the pool of Gibeon. They sat down there, one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the other side of the pool.

¹⁴Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young men hold a contest.” Joab agreed.

¹⁵The men got up and were counted as they passed by. Twelve were from the tribe of Benjamin (representing Saul’s son Ishbosheth), and twelve were from David’s officers. ¹⁶Each one grabbed his opponent by the head, stuck his sword into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. Therefore, that place in Gibeon is called the Field of Enemies. ¹⁷Fierce fighting broke out that day, and David’s men defeated Abner and the men of Israel.

¹⁸Zeruiah’s three sons were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was as fast on his feet as a wild gazelle. ¹⁹He chased Abner and refused to leave him alone. ²⁰When Abner looked back, he asked, “Are you Asahel?”

“Yes,” Asahel answered.

²¹Abner told him, “Leave me alone! Catch one of the young men, and take his weapon.”

But Asahel refused to turn away from him. ²²So Abner spoke again to Asahel. “Stop following me,” he said. “Why should I kill you? How could I look your brother Joab in the face again?”

²³But Asahel refused to turn away. So Abner struck him with the butt of the spear. The spear went into his belly and came out his back. He fell down there and died on the spot. And everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell and died stopped there.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai chased Abner. When the sun went down, they came to the hill of Ammah, opposite Giah on the road from Gibeon to the desert. ²⁵The men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner, banding together and taking their position on top of a hill.

²⁶Then Abner called to Joab, “Should this slaughter go on forever? Don’t you know this will end in bitterness? How long will it be before you will call off your troops from chasing their relatives?”

²⁷Joab answered, “I solemnly swear, as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would not have stopped chasing their relatives until morning.” ²⁸So Joab blew a ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped. They didn’t chase or fight Israel anymore.

²⁹Abner and his men marched through the plains all that night. They crossed the Jordan River and passed through the entire Bithron until they came to Mahanaim.

³⁰Joab returned from chasing Abner. When he had gathered all the troops, ⸤only⸥ 19 of David’s officers and Asahel were missing. ³¹However, David’s officers had killed 360 of the men of Benjamin under Abner’s command. ³²They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.

3RD CHAPTER

¹As the war between the royal families of Saul and David dragged on, David’s family became stronger and stronger, and Saul’s family became weaker and weaker.

David’s Sons—1 Chronicles 3:1–4

²Sons were born to David while he was in Hebron. His first son was Amnon, ⸤born⸥ to Ahinoam from Jezreel. ³The second was Chileab, ⸤born⸥ to Abigail (who had been Nabal’s wife) from Carmel. The third was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah (the daughter of King Talmai) from Geshur. ⁴The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital. ⁵The sixth was Ithream, ⸤born⸥ to David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David while he was in Hebron.

Abner’s Death

⁶During the war between the families of Saul and David, Abner strengthened his position in Saul’s royal family. ⁷Saul had a concubine^anamed Rizpah (Aiah’s daughter). Ishbosheth asked Abner, “Why did you have sex with my father’s concubine?”

⁸Ishbosheth’s question made Abner very angry. “Have I been behaving like some Judean dog?”he asked. “Until now I’ve been faithful to your father Saul’s family, to his relatives and friends, and I haven’t handed you over to David. But now you charge me with a crime because of this woman. ⁹May God strike me dead unless I do for David what the Lord had promised him with an oath: ¹⁰‘I, the Lord, will transfer the kingship from Saul’s family and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.’ ” ¹¹Ishbosheth couldn’t respond to a single word, because he was afraid of Abner.

¹²Then Abner sent messengers to David to speak on his behalf. “Who owns this country?” he asked. “Make an agreement with me,” he said. “I’ll support you and bring all Israel to you.”

¹³“Good!” David answered. “I’ll make an agreement with you. But there’s one condition: You can’t come to see me unless you bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come.”

¹⁴Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ishbosheth to say, “Give me my wife Michal. I made a payment of 100 Philistine foreskins for her.”

¹⁵So Ishbosheth sent men to take her from her husband Paltiel, son of Laish. ¹⁶Her husband went with her and cried over her all the way to Bahurim. “Go home,” Abner told him. So he went home.

¹⁷Meanwhile, Abner sent the following message to the leaders of Israel: “For some time now you’ve wanted to make David your king. ¹⁸Do it now, because the Lord said about David: ‘I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and all their other enemies through my servant David.’ ” ¹⁹Abner also spoke specifically to the people of Benjamin.

Then Abner went directly to David in Hebron to tell him everything Israel and the entire tribe of Benjamin had approved. ²⁰So Abner came with 20 men to David in Hebron, and David had a feast for Abner and his men.

²¹Abner told David, “I must go now so that I can gather all Israel for you, Your Majesty. They will make a treaty with you, and you will rule everything your heart desires.” Then David dismissed Abner, who left peacefully.

²²Just then David’s men and Joab were coming home from a raid with a lot of goods. Abner had been dismissed, so he was no longer with David in Hebron. ²³When Joab came back with the whole army, he was told, “Ner’s son Abner came to the king, but David dismissed him, and Abner left peacefully.”

²⁴Then Joab went to the king and asked, “What have you done? Abner came to see you. Why did you dismiss him and let him get away? ²⁵Certainly you must know that Ner’s son Abner came to deceive you, to find out about your movements and learn everything you’re doing!”

²⁶After leaving David, Joab sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the cistern of Sirah without David knowing about it. ²⁷When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gateway as if to talk to him privately. There he stabbed Abner in the belly. Abner died because he spilled the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

²⁸Later when David heard about it, he said, “As far as the Lord is concerned, my kingdom and I are forever innocent of spilling the blood of Ner’s son Abner. ²⁹May the blame fall on the head of Joab and all of his family. May there always be members of Joab’s family who have oozing sores and skin diseases, who can only work a spindle,^cwho die in battle, and who never have any food.” ³⁰(Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

³¹David told Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn for Abner.” King David followed the open casket. ³²They buried Abner in Hebron. The king cried loudly at Abner’s grave, and all the people cried. ³³The king sang a funeral song for Abner:

Should Abner die like a godless fool?

³⁴Your hands were not tied.

Your feet were not chained.

You fell as one falls in front of wicked men.

And all the people continued to cry for him.

³⁵That entire day all the people tried to get David to eat some food. But David had taken an oath: “May God strike me dead if I taste any food or anything else before the sun goes down.” ³⁶Then all the people understood and approved of this, as all the people approved of everything the king did. ³⁷That day all the people of Israel knew the king wasn’t responsible for killing Ner’s son Abner. ³⁸The king said to his officers, “Don’t you know that today a leader, a great man, has fallen in Israel? ³⁹Today I’m weak, though I’m the anointed king. These men, Zeruiah’s sons, are too cruel for me. May the Lord repay this evildoer as his evil deeds deserve.”

4TH CHAPTER

Ishbosheth Is Murdered

¹When Saul’s son Ishbosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost his courage, and all Israel was alarmed. ^2 …

Read in Logos

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading 2 Samuel 2–4 in Logos

Footnotes

a 2:8 Masoretic Text; 1 Chronicles 8:33, 9:39, Greek “Ishbaal.”
b 2:9 Or “the Ashurites.”
a 3:7 A concubine is considered a wife except she has fewer rights under the law.
c 3:29 Spinning yarn and thread was normally done only by women and therefore was something only the weakest of men would do.