terms of peace. Whatever Abner thought, we will never know, because when he returned to Hebron, the Bible relates this chilling tale: “When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside to the middle of the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died in revenge for the death of Asahel, Joab’s brother” (2 Sam. 3:27). David mourned, wept, and fasted. The people of Israel walked in the funeral procession to Abner’s tomb. Yet no amount of mourning