2 Samuel 2
2
King of Judah
1And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. 2So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite. 3And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul. 5And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. 6And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing. 7Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.
The End of Saul's House
8But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; 9and made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 10Ish-bosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
12And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise. 15Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
18And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. 19And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am. 21And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him. 22And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? 23Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
24Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill. 26Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? 27And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. 28So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. 29And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.
30And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel. 31But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, so that three hundred and threescore men died. 32And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
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2 Samuel 2: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James Version2 Samuel 2
2
David Is Anointed King of Judah
1Later David asked the Lord for advice. David said, “Should I take control#2:1 take control Literally, “go up against.” of any of the cities of Judah?”
The Lord said to David, “Yes.”
David asked, “Where should I go?”
The Lord answered, “To Hebron.”
2So David and his two wives moved to Hebron. (His wives were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal from Carmel.) 3David also brought his men and their families. All of them made their homes in Hebron and the towns nearby.
4The men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David to be the king of Judah. Then they told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead buried Saul.”
5David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead. These messengers told the men in Jabesh: “The Lord bless you, because you have shown kindness to your lord Saul by burying him.#2:5 burying him The bodies of both Saul and Jonathan were burned and their bones were buried. See 1 Sam. 31:12. 6The Lord will be kind and true to you, and so will I. 7Now be strong and brave. Your lord, Saul, is dead, but the tribe of Judah has anointed me to be their king.”
Ish Bosheth Becomes King
8Abner son of Ner was the captain of Saul’s army. Abner took Ish Bosheth#2:8 Ish Bosheth In the ancient Greek version and 1 Chron. 8:33; 9:39, his name is Ish Baal or Eshbaal. Later Hebrew scribes substituted Bosheth (“shame”) for Baal (“Lord”), because Baal was also the name for a Canaanite god. son of Saul to Mahanaim 9and made him king of Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel.#2:9 Israel Sometimes this means the whole country, Judah and Israel. Here, it means only the tribes that were not united with Judah.
10Ish Bosheth son of Saul was 40 years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled Israel two years, but the tribe of Judah followed David. 11David ruled over the tribe of Judah from Hebron for seven years and six months.
The Deadly Contest
12Abner son of Ner and the officers of Ish Bosheth son of Saul left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13Joab, Zeruiah’s son, and the officers of David also went to Gibeon. They met Abner and Ish Bosheth’s officers at the pool of Gibeon. Abner’s group sat on one side of the pool. Joab’s group sat on the other side.
14Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young soldiers get up and have a contest here.”
Joab said, “Yes, let’s have a contest.”
15So the young soldiers got up. The two groups counted their men for the contest. They chose twelve men from the tribe of Benjamin to fight for Ish Bosheth son of Saul, and they chose twelve men from David’s officers. 16Each of the men grabbed his opponent’s head and stabbed him in the side with his sword, and then they fell down together. That is why this place in Gibeon is called “The Field of the Sharp Knives.”#2:16 The Field of the Sharp Knives Or “Helkath Hazzurim.” 17That contest turned into a terrible battle and David’s officers defeated Abner and the Israelites that day.
Abner Kills Asahel
18Zeruiah had three sons, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a fast runner, as fast as a wild deer. 19Asahel ran straight toward Abner and began chasing him. 20Abner looked back and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?”
Asahel said, “Yes, it’s me.”
21Abner didn’t want to hurt Asahel, so he said to Asahel, “Stop chasing me—go after one of the young soldiers. You could easily take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel refused to stop chasing Abner.
22Abner again said to Asahel, “Stop chasing me, or I will have to kill you. Then I will not be able to look your brother Joab in the face again.”
23But Asahel refused to stop chasing Abner. So Abner used the back end of his spear and pushed it into Asahel’s stomach. The spear went deep into Asahel’s stomach and came out of his back. Asahel died right there.
Joab and Abishai Chase Abner
Asahel’s body lay on the ground. Everyone who came that way stopped to look at Asahel, 24but Joab and Abishai#2:24 Joab and Abishai Brothers of Asahel, the man who Abner killed. See verse 18. continued chasing Abner. The sun was just going down when they came to Ammah Hill. (Ammah Hill is in front of Giah on the way to the desert of Gibeon.) 25The men from the tribe of Benjamin gathered around Abner at the top of the hill.
26Abner shouted to Joab and said, “Must we fight and kill each other forever? Surely you know that this will only end in sadness. Tell the people to stop chasing their own brothers.”
27Then Joab said, “As surely as God is alive, if you had not said something, people would still be chasing their brothers in the morning.” 28So Joab blew a trumpet, and his people stopped chasing the Israelites. They did not try to fight the Israelites anymore.
29Abner and his men marched all night through the Jordan Valley. They crossed the Jordan River and then marched all day until they came to Mahanaim.
30Joab stopped chasing Abner and turned back. Joab had gathered his men and learned that 19 of David’s officers were missing, including Asahel. 31But David’s officers had killed 360 of Abner’s men from the tribe of Benjamin. 32David’s officers took Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father at Bethlehem.
Joab and his men marched all night. The sun came up just as they reached Hebron.
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