2 Samuel 2
2
David is Anointed King
1 Afterward David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” The Lord told him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where should I go?” The Lord replied,#tn Heb “he said.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons. “To Hebron.” 2 So David went up, along with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, formerly the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 David also brought along the men who were with him, each with his family. They settled in the cities#tc The expression “the cities of Hebron” is odd; we would expect the noun to be in the singular, if used at all. Although the Syriac Peshitta has the expected reading “in Hebron,” the MT is clearly the more difficult reading and should probably be retained here. of Hebron. 4 The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people#tn Heb “house.” of Judah.
David was told,#tn Heb “and they told David.” The subject appears to be indefinite, allowing one to translate the verb as passive with David as subject. “The people#tn Heb “men.” of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.” 5 So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness#tn Or “loyalty.” to your lord Saul by burying him. 6 Now may the Lord show you true kindness!#tn Or “loyalty and devotion.” I also will reward you,#tn Heb “will do with you this good.” because you have done this deed. 7 Now be courageous#tn Heb “let your hands be strong.” and prove to be valiant warriors, for your lord Saul is dead. The people of Judah have anointed me as king over them.”
David’s Army Clashes with the Army of Saul
8 Now Abner son of Ner, the general in command of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son Ish-bosheth#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.” and had brought him to Mahanaim. 9 He appointed him king over Gilead, the Geshurites,#tc The MT here reads “the Ashurite,” but this is problematic if it is taken to mean “the Assyrian.” Ish-bosheth’s kingdom obviously was not of such proportions as to extend to Assyria. The Syriac Peshitta renders the word as “the Geshurite,” while the Targum has “of the house of Ashur.” We should probably emend the Hebrew text to read “the Geshurite.” The Geshurites lived in the northeastern part of the land of Palestine. Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people#tn Heb “house.” of Judah followed David. 11 David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven and a half years.#tn Heb “And the number of the days in which David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.”
12 Then Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and confronted them at the pool of Gibeon. One group stationed themselves on one side of the pool, and the other group on the other side of the pool. 14 Abner said to Joab, “Let the soldiers get up and fight#tn Heb “play.” What is in view here is a gladiatorial contest in which representative groups of soldiers engage in mortal combat before the watching armies. Cf. NAB “perform for us”; NASB “hold (have NRSV) a contest before us”; NLT “put on an exhibition of hand-to-hand combat.” before us.” Joab said, “So be it!”#tn Heb “let them arise.”
15 So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16 As they grappled with one another, each one stabbed his opponent with his sword and they fell dead together.#tn Heb “and they grabbed each one the head of his neighbor with his sword in the side of his neighbor and they fell together.” So that place is called the Field of Flints;#tn The meaning of the name “Helkath Hazzurim” (so NIV; KJV, NASB, NRSV similar) is not clear. BHK relates the name to the Hebrew term for “side,” and this is reflected in NAB “the Field of the Sides”; the Greek OT revocalizes the Hebrew to mean something like “Field of Adversaries.” Cf. also TEV, NLT “Field of Swords”; CEV “Field of Daggers.” it is in Gibeon.
17 Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers.#tn Heb “servants.” So also elsewhere. 18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there – Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field.) 19 Asahel chased Abner, without turning to the right or to the left as he followed Abner.
20 Then Abner turned and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” He replied, “Yes it is!” 21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left. Capture one of the soldiers#tn Heb “young men.” So also elsewhere. and take his equipment for yourself!” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 22 So Abner spoke again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me! I do not want to strike you to the ground.#tn Heb “Why should I strike you to the ground?” How then could I show#tn Heb “lift.” my face in the presence of Joab your brother?” 23 But Asahel#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity. refused to turn aside. So Abner struck him in the abdomen with the back end of his#tn Heb “the.” The article functions here as a possessive pronoun. spear. The spear came out his back; Asahel#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity. collapsed on the spot and died there right before Abner.#tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abner) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Everyone who now comes to the place where Asahel fell dead pauses in respect.#tn Heb “and they stand.”
24 So Joab and Abishai chased Abner. At sunset they came to the hill of Ammah near Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 The Benjaminites formed their ranks#tn Heb “were gathered together.” behind Abner and were like a single army, standing at the top of a certain hill.
26 Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?” 27 Joab replied, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said this, it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit#tn The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (na’alah) used here is the Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular of עָלָה (’alah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon…especially of an army raising a siege…” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 244). of their brothers!” 28 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn and all the people stopped in their tracks.#tn Heb “stood.” They stopped chasing Israel and ceased fighting.#tn Heb “they no longer chased after Israel and they no longer fought.” 29 Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan River#tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. and went through the whole region of Bitron#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.” and came to Mahanaim.
30 Now Joab returned from chasing Abner and assembled all the people. Nineteen of David’s soldiers were missing, in addition to Asahel. 31 But David’s soldiers had slaughtered the Benjaminites and Abner’s men – in all, 360 men had died! 32 They took Asahel’s body and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem.#map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4. Joab and his men then traveled all that night and reached Hebron by dawn.
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2 Samuel 2
2
1After this, Dauid asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I go vp into any of the cities of Iudah? And the Lord sayd vnto him, Goe vp. And Dauid sayd Whither shall I goe? Hee then answered, Vnto Hebron. 2So Dauid went vp thither, and his two wiues also, Ahinoam the Izreelite, and Abigail Nabals wife the Carmelite. 3And Dauid brought vp the men that were with him, euery man with his houshold, and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4Then the men of Iudah came, and there they anoynted Dauid King ouer the house of Iudah. And they tolde Dauid, saying, that the men of Iabesh Gilead buried Saul. 5And Dauid sent messengers vnto the men of Iabesh Gilead, and said vnto them, Blessed are ye of the Lord, that yee haue shewed such kindenes vnto your lord Saul, that you haue buried him. 6Therefore now the Lord shewe mercie and trueth vnto you: and I will recompence you this benefite, because ye haue done this thing. 7Therefore nowe let your handes be strong, and be you valiant: albeit your master Saul bee dead, yet neuerthelesse the house of Iudah hath anoynted me King ouer them. 8But Abner the sonne of Ner that was captaine of Sauls hoste, tooke Ish-bosheth the sonne of Saul, and brought him to Mahanaim, 9And made him King ouer Gilead, and ouer the Ashurites, and ouer Izreel, and ouer Ephraim, and ouer Beniamin, and ouer al Israel. 10Ish-bosheth Sauls sonne was fourtie yeere olde when he began to reigne ouer Israel, and reigned two yeere: but the house of Iudah followed Dauid. 11(And the time which Dauid reigned in Hebron ouer the house of Iudah, was seuen yeere and sixe moneths) 12And Abner the sonne of Ner, and the seruantes of Ish-bosheth the sonne of Saul went out of Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13And Ioab the sonne of Zeruiah, and the seruants of Dauid went out and met one another by the poole of Gibeon: and they sate downe, the one on the one side of the poole, and the other on the otherside of the poole. 14Then Abner saide to Ioab, Let the yong men nowe arise, and play before vs. And Ioab said, Let them arise. 15Then there arose and went ouer twelue of Beniamin by number, which perteined to Ish-bosheth the sonne of Saul, and twelue of the seruants of Dauid. 16And euery one caught his fellowe by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellowes side, so they fell downe together: wherefore ye place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17And the battel was exceeding sore that same day: for Abner and the men of Israel fell before the seruants of Dauid. 18And there were three sonnes of Zeruiah there, Ioab, and Abishai, and Asahel. And Asahel was as light on foote as a wilde roe. 19And Asahel followed after Abner, and in going he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from Abner. 20Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, Yea. 21Then Abner said, Turne thee either to the right hande, or to the left, and take one of the yong men, and take thee his weapons: and Asahel would not depart from him. 22And Abner saide to Asahel, Depart from me: wherefore shoulde I smite thee to the grounde? howe then shoulde I be able to holde vp my face to Ioab thy brother? 23And when he woulde not depart, Abner with the hinder ende of the speare smote him vnder the fift ryb, that the speare came out behind him: and he fell downe there, and dyed in his place. And as many as came to the place where Asahel fell downe and dyed, stoode still. 24Ioab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sunne went downe, when they were come to the hill Ammah, that lieth before Giah, by the way of the wildernesse of Gibeon. 25And the children of Beniamin gathered them selues together after Abner, and were on an heape and stoode on the top of an hill. 26Then Abner called to Ioab, and said, Shall the sworde deuoure for euer? knowest thou not, that it will be bitternesse in the latter ende? howe long then shall it be, or thou bid the people returne from following their brethren? 27And Ioab sayde, As God liueth, if thou haddest not spoken, surely euen in the morning the people had departed euery one backe from his brother. 28So Ioab blew a trumpet, and all the people stoode still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. 29And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plaine, and went ouer Iorden, and past through all Bithron till they came to Mahanaim. 30Ioab also returned backe from Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of Dauids seruants nineteene men and Asahel. 31But the seruants of Dauid had smitten of Beniamin, and of Abners men, so that three hundreth and threescore men dyed. 32And they tooke vp Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem: and Ioab and his men went all night, and when they came to Hebron, the day arose.
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