References (53)
And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimath, and the name of the commander of the army was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.
And Kish was Saul's father, and Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel.
[Now follows a flashback in verses 55-66 with more details about what happened before the battle. Here we are given background information on , where Saul asks for the name of David's father so that he can find out more about the man who could potentially become his son-in-law. The image given here in verses 55-58 is also that of a king who is now unable to remember simple details, which also shows that God's Spirit had left Saul. David had previously played for Saul, see .]
And when Saul saw David going toward the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" And Abner replied, "As your soul lives, O king, I cannot tell you."
When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him to Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand.
And the king sat on his chair as at other times, on his chair by the wall, and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul's side, but David's place was empty.
Then David got up and went to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and [also] Abner, the son of Ner, the commander of the army. Saul lay inside the barricade, and the people camped around him.
So David and Avishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul was lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Avner and the people were lying around him.
And David called to the people and to Abner, the son of Ner, and said, "Will you not answer, Abner?" And Abner answered and said, "Who are you who calls to the king?"
And David said to Abner, "Are you not a brave man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy the king, your lord."
But Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, had taken Ish-Bosheth, Saul's [youngest] son, and brought him over to Mahanaim,
And [Saul's commander] Abner, the son of Ner, together with the servants of Saul's [youngest] son Ish-Bosheth, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
And Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men, I beg you, stand up and compete (duel) before us." And Joab said, "Let them stand up."
The battle was very fierce that day, and Avner was struck down, and the men of Israel before David's servants.
And Asahel pursued Avner, and he did not turn to the right or to the left, but followed Avner.
Then Avner turned around and asked, "Is that you, Asahel?" And he replied, "It is I."
And Avner said to him, "Turn to the right or to the left and stay behind one of the young men and take his armor." But Asahel did not stop (turn away from) following him.
And once again Avner said to Asahel, "Turn away from following me, why should I strike you to the ground? How then shall I show my face to your brother Joab?"
But he refused to turn aside, and Avner struck him in the belly (at the fifth rib) with the tip of his spear, so that the spear came out behind him, and he fell there and died on the spot. And it came to pass that those who came to the place where Asahel fell and died stood still.
But Joab and Avishai pursued Avner, and the sun was setting when they came to the hill of Amma, which is before Gihon, on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
And the sons of Benjamin gathered behind Abner and formed a troop and stood on the top of the hill.
And Avner called out to Joab and said, "Will the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it ends in bitterness? How long will it be before you ask the people to return from following their brothers?"
And Avner and his men went all night through the Arava, and they crossed the Jordan and went through all of Bitron and came to Mahanaim.
When Joab returned from pursuing Abner and gathered all the people, 19 men of David's servants were missing, besides Asahel.
But David's servants had struck down Benjamin, Avner's men—a total of 360 men had died. [In the duel (), 348 of Avner's men had died, compared to 7 of Joab's men.]
And it came to pass, when there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner proved himself strong (firm, secure, brave) in the house of Saul.
And Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, and he [Ish-Bosheth] said to Abner, "Why did you go in to my father's concubine?"
And Abner was very angry at Ish-Bosheth's words and said, "Am I a dog's head belonging to Judah? Today I have shown kindness (caring love – Hebr. chesed) to your father Saul's house, to your brothers and to his friends, and have not given you into David's hand, and you accuse me today of a sin with this woman!
May God (Elohim) do so to Avner and even more, if, as the Lord (Yahweh) has sworn to David, I do not do this to him,
But he [Ish-Bosheth] could not answer Avner a word, for he was afraid of him. [His behavior is reminiscent of his father's fear, see .]
Then Abner sent messengers to David, saying, "Whose is the land?" And he said, "Make a covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel to you."
Her husband [Paltiel] went with her, weeping as he followed her to Bahurim. [He followed them along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Bahurim is a village east of the Mount of Olives, see also ; . The village is identified with Almon, 6 km northeast of Jerusalem.] Finally, Abner said to him, "Go, turn back." So he turned back.
And Avner spoke to the elders of Israel and said, "Even before, even three days ago, you sought to make David king over you,
And Avner also spoke in Benjamin's ears [privately with the Benjaminites, out of earshot of the others], and Avner also went and spoke in David's ears in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.
And Avner came to David at Hebron, and 20 men with him. And David prepared a feast for Avner and the men who were with him.
And Avner said to David, "I will arise and go, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your soul desires." And David sent Avner away, and he went in peace (shalom).
And behold, David's servants and Joab came from a raid, and they had brought with them a great spoil. But Avner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.
When Joab and all his army that was with him had come, they told Joab and said, "Avner, the son of Ner, came to the king, and he sent him away, and he went in peace."
And Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Avner came to you, why did you send him away in peace? And he has already gone?
You know Avner, the son of Ner; he came to deceive you, to learn how you come and go and to know all that you do."
And when Joab came out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah [a cistern with water, according to tradition 3 km north of Hebron], but David did not know about it.
And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate to speak with him in secret, and there he struck him in the groin so that he died, for the blood of Asahel, his brother.
And afterward, when David heard it, he said, "I and my kingdom are without guilt before the Lord (Yahweh) forever for the blood of Avner, the son of Ner.
And Joab and Avishai, his brother, struck Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
And David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn for Abner." And King David followed the bier.
And they buried Abner in Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.
And the king chanted (mourned; sang monotonously and drawn out – Hebr. qinen) over Abner and said [sang the following lament]:
"Should Abner die as a fool dies?
And all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not the king who was behind the killing of Avner, the son of Ner.
And when Saul's son [Ish-Bosheth, who ruled the 11 tribes (except Judah) from the city of Machanajim on the east side of the Jordan River, see ] heard that Abner [his commander] was dead in Hebron, his hands became weak (he lost both strength and courage) and all the Israelites were dismayed. [Abner had been murdered by Joab, see . The opposite expression, "strengthened hands," is found in .]
And David commanded his young men, and they struck them and cut off their hands and their feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took Ish-Bosheth's head and buried it in Abner's tomb in Hebron. [Ish-Bosheth was 42 years old.]
And you [Solomon] also know what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me—how he struck down (killed) two of Israel's commanders, Abner, the son of Ner [], and Amasa, the son of Jether []. In times of peace, he struck them down as if in battle; when he shed their blood as in battle, he stained his belt around his hips and his sandals on his feet. [The words used for belt and sandals in this verse are never used in war (), which reinforces that the killing did not take place in a battle context.]
And the Lord (Yahweh) will return his blood upon his own head, because he struck down two men who were more righteous and better than he, and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know it. Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Israel [], and Amasa, the son of Jether, commander of Judah [].
And likewise all that the seer Samuel and Saul, son of Kish, and Abner, son of Ner, and Joab, son of Zeruiah, had consecrated. Everyone who consecrated anything left it in the care of Shelomith and his brothers.
for the other half of Manasseh, the one in Gilead, Jiddo, son of Zechariah,
for Benjamin Jaasiel, son of Abner,
