2 Samuel 2:8-11
2:8 a Abner: See study note on 1 Sam 20:25.• Mahanaim was located east of the Jordan River, deep in the highlands of Gilead near a plentiful source of fresh water. Saul and his family had close ties to Gilead (1 Sam 11:1-11 b; 31:11-13 c). Locating east of the Jordan made Ishbosheth’s regime less susceptible to attack by David’s forces. This same area was later King David’s temporary refuge after Absalom’s coup (2 Sam 17:24 d, 27 e).
• Ishbosheth means “man of shame.” His original name, Esh-baal, means “man of Baal.” The name Baal (“lord, master, possessor”) was associated with a pagan Canaanite deity (e.g., see Num 25:3 f), so it is likely that Ishbosheth’s name was later changed because of that association.
2:9 g Gilead was the easternmost district of the northern kingdom, Jezreel the northernmost, and Benjamin the southernmost, with Ephraim in the middle. It is unclear which area was the land of the Ashurites. All the rest of Israel refers to the tribes that Ishbosheth ruled over rather than to the geographical area of his kingdom.
Summary for 2Sam 2:10-11: 2:10-11 h Ishbosheth ... ruled from Mahanaim for two years at some point during David’s 7½-year reign from Hebron. Apparently a gap of five years occurred in which the northern tribes were without a king.
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