²So David went up there with his two wives. Their names were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel. Abigail was Nabal’s widow. ³David also took his men and their families with him. They settled down in Hebron and its towns.

⁴Then the men of Judah came to Hebron. There they anointed David to be king over the people of Judah.

David was told that the men of Jabesh Gilead had buried Saul’s body. ⁵So he sent messengers to them to speak for him.

The messengers said, “You were kind to bury the body of your master Saul. May the Lord bless you for that. ⁶And may he now be kind and faithful to you. David will treat you well for being kind to Saul’s body. ⁷Now then, be strong and brave. Your master Saul is dead. And the people of Judah have anointed David to be king over them.”

The Armies of David and Saul Fight Each Other

⁸Abner, the son of Ner, was commander of Saul’s army. He had brought Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth to Mahanaim. ⁹There he made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel. He also made him king over Ephraim, Benjamin and other areas of Israel.

¹⁰Ish-Bosheth was 40 years old when he became king over Israel. He ruled for two years. But the people of Judah followed David. ¹¹David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven and a half years.

¹²Abner, the son of Ner, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. The men of Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul, went with him. ¹³Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and David’s men also went out. All of them met at the pool in Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool. The other group sat on the other side.

¹⁴Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight. Let’s tell them to fight hand to hand in front of us.”

“All right. Let them do it,” Joab said.

¹⁵So the young men stood up and were counted off. There were 12 on the side of Benjamin and Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth. And there were 12 on David’s side. ¹⁶Each man grabbed one of his enemies by the head. Each one stuck his dagger into the other man’s side. And all of them fell down together and died. So that place in Gibeon was named Helkath Hazzurim.

¹⁷The fighting that day was very heavy. Abner and the men of Israel lost the battle to David’s men.

¹⁸The three sons of Zeruiah were there. Their names were Joab, Abishai and Asahel. Asahel was as quick on his feet as a wild antelope. ¹⁹He chased Abner. He didn’t turn to the right or the left as he chased him. ²⁰Abner looked behind him. He asked, “Asahel, is that you?”

“It is,” he answered.

²¹Then Abner said to him, “Turn to the right or the left. Fight one of the young men. Take his weapons away from him.” But Asahel wouldn’t stop chasing him.

²²Again Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me! If you don’t, I’ll strike you down. Then how could I look your brother Joab in the face?”

²³But Asahel refused to give up the chase. So Abner drove the dull end of his spear into Asahel’s stomach. The spear came out of his back. He fell and died right there on the spot. Every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai chased Abner. As the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah. It was near Giah on the way to the dry and empty land close to Gibeon. ²⁵The men of Benjamin gathered in a group around Abner. They took their stand on top of a hill.

²⁶Abner called out to Joab, “Do you want our swords to keep on killing us off? Don’t you know that all of this fighting will end in bitter feelings? How long will it be before you order your men to stop chasing their fellow Israelites?”

²⁷Joab answered, “It’s a good thing you spoke up. If you hadn’t, the men would have kept on chasing their fellow Israelites until morning. And that’s just as sure as God is alive.”

²⁸So Joab blew a trumpet. All of the men stopped. They didn’t chase Israel anymore. They didn’t fight anymore either.

²⁹All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah Valley. They went across the Jordan River. They kept on going through the whole Bithron. Finally, they came to Mahanaim.

³⁰Then Joab returned from chasing Abner. He gathered all of his men together. Besides Asahel, only 19 of David’s men were missing. ³¹But David’s men had killed 360 men from Benjamin who were with Abner. ³²They got Asahel’s body and buried it in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night. They arrived at Hebron at sunrise.

3The war between Saul’s royal house and David’s royal house lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger. But the royal house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

²Sons were born to David in Hebron.

His first son was Amnon. Amnon’s mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel.

³His second son was Kileab. Kileab’s mother was Abigail. She was Nabal’s widow from Carmel.

The third son was Absalom. His mother was Maacah. She was the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur.

⁴The fourth son was Adonijah. His mother was Haggith.

The fifth son was Shephatiah. His mother was Abital.

⁵The sixth son was Ithream. His mother was David’s wife Eglah.

Those sons were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Goes Over to David’s Side

⁶The fighting continued between David’s royal house and Saul’s royal house. Abner gained more and more power in the royal house of Saul.

⁷While Saul was still alive, he had a concubine named Rizpah. She was the daughter of Aiah. Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you have sex with my father’s concubine?”

⁸Abner burned with anger because of what Ish-Bosheth said. He answered, “Do you think I’m only a dog’s head? Am I on Judah’s side? To this very day I’ve been true to the royal house of your father Saul. I’ve been true to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. But now you claim that I’ve sinned with this woman!

⁹“I will do for David what the Lord promised him with an oath. If I don’t, may God punish me greatly. ¹⁰I’ll take the kingdom away from Saul’s royal house. I’ll set up the throne of David’s kingdom over Israel and Judah. He will rule from Dan all the way to Beersheba.”

¹¹Ish-Bosheth didn’t dare to say another word to Abner. He was much too afraid of him.

¹²Then Abner sent messengers to David to speak for him. They said, “Who will rule over this land? Make a covenant with me. Then I’ll help you bring all of the people of Israel over to your side.”

¹³“Good,” said David. “I will make a covenant with you. But there’s one thing I want you to do. Bring Saul’s daughter Michal to me. Don’t come to see me unless she’s with you.”

¹⁴Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth. He ordered them to say, “Give me my wife Michal. She was promised to me. I paid for her with the skins I cut off when I circumcised 100 Philistines.”

¹⁵So Ish-Bosheth gave the order. He sent men who took Michal away from her husband Paltiel. Paltiel was the son of Laish. ¹⁶But her husband followed her to Bahurim. He was crying all the way. Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he did.

¹⁷Abner talked with the elders of Israel. He said, “For some time you have wanted to make David your king. ¹⁸Now do it! The Lord made a promise to David. He said, ‘I will save my people Israel from the powerful hand of the Philistines. I will also save them from all of their enemies. I will save them through my servant David.’ ”

¹⁹Abner also spoke to the people of Benjamin in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything. He told him what Israel and all of the people of Benjamin wanted to do. ²⁰Abner had 20 men with him. They came to David at Hebron. So David prepared a big dinner for Abner and his men.

²¹Then Abner said to David, “Let me go right now. I’ll gather together all of the people of Israel for you. After all, you are now my king and master. The people can make a covenant with you. Then you can rule over everyone you want to.” So David sent Abner away. And he went in peace.

Joab Murders Abner

²²Just then David’s men and Joab came back from attacking their enemies. They brought with them the large amount of goods they had taken. But Abner wasn’t with David in Hebron anymore. That’s because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.

²³Joab and all of the soldiers who were with him arrived. Then he was told that Abner, the son of Ner, had come to see the king. He was told that the king had sent Abner away. He was also told that Abner had gone in peace.

²⁴So Joab went to the king. He said, “What have you done? Abner came to you. Why did you let him get away? Now he’s gone! ²⁵You know what Abner, the son of Ner, is like. He came to trick you. He wanted to watch your every move. He came to find out everything you are doing.”

²⁶Then Joab left David. He sent messengers to get Abner. They brought Abner back from the well of Sirah. But David didn’t know about it.

²⁷When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him to one side. He brought him to the entrance of the city gate. Joab acted as if he wanted to speak to him in private. But he really wanted to get even with him. That’s because Abner had spilled the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel. So Joab stabbed him in the stomach. And Abner died.

²⁸Later on, David heard about it. He said, “I and the people of my kingdom aren’t guilty of spilling the blood of Abner, the son of Ner. We are free of blame forever in the sight of the Lord.

²⁹“May Joab and his whole family line be held accountable for spilling Abner’s blood! May someone in Joab’s family always have an open sore or skin disease. May someone in his family always have to use a crutch to walk. May someone in his family be killed with a sword. And may someone in his family never have enough food to eat.”

³⁰Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner. They did it because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

³¹David spoke to Joab and all of the people who were with…

Read in Logos

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