‏ 2 Samuel 2

Summary for 2Sam 2:1-32: 2:1-32  ^a After Saul died, those loyal to David (the tribe of Judah) clashed with those loyal to Saul’s son Ishbosheth (the remaining tribes of Israel). The Philistines, who at this time were essentially overlords of all Palestine west of the Jordan River, likely favored and encouraged this division because it made it easier for them to divide and conquer. 2:1  ^b David asked the Lord (cp. 5:23-24  ^c; Judg 1:1-2  ^d; 20:18  ^e; 1 Sam 10:22  ^f) by consulting the Urim and Thummim (see Exod 28:30  ^g; Lev 8:8  ^h; Deut 33:8  ⁱ; 1 Sam 14:41  ^j) administered by Abiathar, David’s priest (1 Sam 23:1-12  ^k; 30:7-8  ^l). David acted when God directed, not before.

• Hebron was nineteen miles southwest of Jerusalem. Abraham had lived in this area for a time and eventually purchased a nearby cave for a family burial plot (Gen 23  ^m). The people of the area were sympathetic toward David (see 1 Sam 30:26-31  ⁿ).
2:2  ^o Ahinoam: See study note on 1 Sam 25:43. David’s other wife, Saul’s daughter Michal, had been given to another man after David fled from Saul (1 Sam 25:44  ^p).

• Abigail: See 1 Sam 25  ^q.
Summary for 2Sam 2:4-7: 2:4b-7  ^r Once established in Hebron, David made good faith gestures to those still loyal to Saul, such as the men of Jabesh-gilead. However, because they were loyal to ... Saul and his dynasty, they rejected David as king (2:8-11  ^s). David was also in league with Nahash, king of the Ammonites (see 10:2  ^t; 17:27-29  ^u), who had caused havoc in Jabesh-gilead (1 Sam 11:1-15  ^v).
2:7  ^w David’s anointing by the people of Judah provided the legal basis of his kingship, just as it had for Saul (1 Sam 11:15  ^x). He had been anointed by the prophet Samuel years earlier (1 Sam 16:13  ^y).
2:8  ^z 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  ^aa; 31:11-13  ^ab). 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  ^ac, 27  ^ad).

• 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  ^ae), so it is likely that Ishbosheth’s name was later changed because of that association.
2:9  ^af 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  ^ag 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.
Summary for 2Sam 2:12-32: 2:12-32  ^ah A protracted civil war ensued between Judah (led by David) and the northern tribes (led by Saul’s dynasty). These events set the stage for Abner’s murder (3:22-39  ^ai). 2:12  ^aj Gibeon, about five miles northwest of Jerusalem, was a key city in Benjamin.
2:13  ^ak The pool of Gibeon extends down some 80 feet to the water table. Archaeologists estimate that the original diggers had to remove about 3,000 tons of limestone to create it.
2:14  ^al a few of our warriors: In the ancient world, enemy armies would sometimes choose individuals or small groups to fight each other as representative gladiators—a custom often referred to as champion warfare (see also 1 Sam 17  ^am).

• fight hand to hand: The Hebrew term usually includes a component of play. A contest of champions might have been seen as a type of high-stakes game. In this instance, it settled nothing; the fighting expanded into a much wider confrontation with heavier casualties (2 Sam 2:17-32  ^an).
2:17  ^ao The casualty count of this fierce battle is noted in 2:30-31  ^ap.
2:18  ^aq Zeruiah was David’s sister (1 Chr 2:15-16  ^ar), so Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were his nephews.
Summary for 2Sam 2:20-22: 2:20-22  ^as Go fight someone else! ... Get away from here! Abner’s words reflect respect between peers trained for the same career, as well as a sense of fair play. The youthful Asahel would have been no match for the more experienced Abner. Abner also knew that if he killed Asahel, the conflict with David would escalate and David’s forces would seek revenge (see 3:22-39  ^at).
2:24  ^au they set out after Abner: See 3:27  ^av.

• Ammah (“conduit”) and Giah (“gushing”) suggest that there was an aqueduct system connected to the pool at Gibeon (2:12-13  ^aw).
2:26  ^ax bitterness is the only result: Realizing that such wars go on generation after generation, Abner wisely negotiated a truce.
2:28  ^ay The ram’s horn signaled the beginning and end of combat (see also 18:16  ^az; Josh 6:15-16  ^ba). For other uses of the ram’s horn, see study note on 2 Sam 6:15.
2:29  ^bb Abner was wise to put as much distance as possible between his troops and Joab’s forces, recognizing that their desire for blood vengeance could overpower the truce.
2:31  ^bc The 360 who died were all from the tribe of Benjamin, Saul’s tribe, under the leadership of one of Saul’s relatives. This defeat was a direct blow to Saul’s dynasty (cp. 3:1  ^bd).

‏ 2 Samuel 3

Summary for 2Sam 3:1-39: 3:1-39  ^be The house of David increased, while Saul’s house dwindled. The crucial occasion came when Abner, the real political power in Saul’s camp, switched allegiance to David, taking a considerable number of his northern kinsmen with him. 3:1  ^bf a long war: This civil war likely continued for most of the seven-plus years that David ruled from Hebron. The truce called by Joab and Abner (2:26-28  ^bg) was short-lived.
Summary for 2Sam 3:2-5: 3:2-5  ^bh One way David “became stronger and stronger” (3:1  ^bi) was by taking more wives and having a son through each. Three of David’s Hebron-born sons died violent deaths, two during David’s reign (Amnon, Absalom), and one shortly after his death (Adonijah).
3:3  ^bj Geshur was a small Canaanite kingdom in upper Transjordan (the area east of the Jordan) near the Sea of Galilee. Marrying into neighboring royal families created political alliances and secured David’s position against the northern tribes. Solomon also followed this practice (1 Kgs 3:1  ^bk; 11:1  ^bl).
3:7  ^bm accused Abner of sleeping with one of [Saul’s] concubines: It is unclear whether Abner actually did so. Taking a king’s wife or concubine was often part of a usurper’s attempt to replace the king (see 12:8  ^bn; 16:21  ^bo; 1 Kgs 2:17-25  ^bp).

• Rizpah: See also 2 Sam 21:8-14  ^bq.
3:8  ^br some Judean dog: Cp. 1 Sam 17:43  ^bs.

• by not handing you over to David: Abner had control over the life and death of Saul’s son.
3:9  ^bt help David get what the Lord has promised him! Abner was aware that God had chosen David to be king over all Israel (see also 3:18  ^bu).
3:10  ^bv and give it to David: Cp. 1 Sam 28:17  ^bw.

• I will establish the throne of David: Whether an ally or enemy, Abner was a powerful man. Here he speaks like God (see 2 Sam 7:13  ^bx).
3:11  ^by didn’t dare say another word: Ishbosheth’s silence speaks loudly of his weakness as a ruler. Abner, who had installed him as king (2:8-9  ^bz), was the real power behind Ishbosheth’s reign.
3:12  ^ca In the proposed solemn pact (or covenant), Abner recognized that David would be king, while perhaps he hoped to be second-in-command.
3:13  ^cb Saul had given his daughter Michal to David as his wife (1 Sam 18:20-27  ^cc). However, when Michal saved David’s life from her father (1 Sam 19:11-17  ^cd), Saul terminated the marriage and gave Michal to another man, Palti (1 Sam 25:44  ^ce). For David to get her back now would further cement his claim to Saul’s kingdom (cp. 1 Kgs 2:13-25  ^cf).
3:14  ^cg the lives of 100 Philistines: Saul had hoped that David would be killed in his attempt to secure the bride-price (see 1 Sam 18:17-27  ^ch).
3:15  ^ci Ishbosheth took: Although Abner made the deal with David (3:12-13  ^cj), it was Ishbosheth who gave Michal to David. This transaction illustrates Ishbosheth’s weakness as a king and his fear of Abner (3:11  ^ck).
3:16  ^cl In spite of Palti’s anguished weeping, he was powerless to stop what was happening (cp. Judg 18:1-26  ^cm).

• Bahurim was probably a center of support for Saul’s clan just east of Jerusalem (cp. 2 Sam 16:5  ^cn).
3:17  ^co Apparently, there had been growing momentum among the elders of Israel in the north to accept David as king, though the text has made no mention of it to this point.
3:18  ^cp See also 3:9  ^cq. By bringing relief from the Philistines, David would accomplish what Saul had failed to do (1 Sam 9:16  ^cr).
3:19  ^cs Because Saul was from their tribe, the men of Benjamin no doubt viewed David, from Judah, as a usurper of Saul’s throne. However, Abner was well-respected in Saul’s regime and so was able to elicit support for David even among Saul’s own tribe.
3:21  ^ct The narrator emphasized that David sent Abner safely on his way as a friend and an ally (restated in 3:22-23  ^cu). David was at peace with Abner and was not involved in the renowned military leader’s murder (cp. 3:28-29  ^cv).

• Despite the murder of Abner (3:27  ^cw), the northern tribes eventually did make a covenant with David to make him their king, just as Abner had promised (5:1-3  ^cx).
3:26  ^cy The precise location of the well of Sirah is unknown; presumably it was not far from Hebron.

• David knew nothing about it: See study note on 3:21.
3:27  ^cz as if to speak with him privately: Joab accused Abner of deception (3:25  ^da), but he used deception himself to lure Abner to his death.

• in revenge: Joab was motivated by the practice of blood vengeance, avenging the death of a kinsman by killing the killer.
3:28  ^db David made it clear that he had nothing to do with Abner’s death, labeling it as a crime. David knew that because his second-in-command had killed Abner, rumors would circulate among those loyal to Saul’s dynasty that David had ordered the killing.

• I vow by the Lord: David called on the Lord to hold him accountable if he were lying.
3:29  ^dc leprosy: While leprosy is a possible translation, the Hebrew here probably refers to a broader range of skin inflammations, not only Hansen’s disease.

• who walks on crutches: This curse effectively alienated Joab from David, and from this point on they had only a professional relationship. David’s deathbed order to Solomon to get rid of Joab (1 Kgs 2:5-6  ^dd) and Solomon’s exoneration of David in Abner’s death (1 Kgs 2:31-33  ^de) indicate that David’s mourning over Abner was genuine.
3:30  ^df See 2:18-28  ^dg.
3:31  ^dh David himself walked: David’s public presence in the mourning procession, his open weeping at the gravesite (3:32  ^di), and his dramatic fast (3:35  ^dj) made evident to the public that he had not ordered Abner’s killing (3:37  ^dk).
3:32  ^dl Burying Abner in Hebron, David’s capital city at the time, rather than at some northern site reinforced Abner’s shift of support from Saul to David. Presumably it encouraged others from the northern tribes to follow Abner’s example.
3:33  ^dm as fools die: Abner was deceived by Joab, an enemy who posed as a friend (see 3:27  ^dn).
3:34  ^do a wicked plot: Normal warfare could not defeat Abner, a seasoned warrior. Only treachery could.
3:35  ^dp begged him to eat: See also 12:17  ^dq.
3:37  ^dr See study note on 3:31.
3:39  ^ds too strong for me to control: Just as Ishbosheth could not control Abner, David could not control Joab. However, David had faith that the Lord would repay Joab for murdering Abner.

‏ 2 Samuel 4

4:1  ^dt all Israel became paralyzed with fear: Abner’s true power was evident in Ishbosheth’s reaction to his death (cp. Josh 2:9-11  ^du; 5:1  ^dv). Ishbosheth’s timidity bred the same among his followers.
Summary for 2Sam 4:2-3: 4:2-3  ^dw Beeroth was located in Benjamin near Gibeon. Probably because of Saul’s persecution of the non-Israelite residents in that region (see 21:1-9  ^dx), the citizens of Beeroth had fled to Gittaim, the location of which is unknown.
4:4  ^dy This parenthetical statement shows that, with the death of Ishbosheth (4:5-7  ^dz), Saul’s dynasty was unable to continue—the only other heir was a young child who was crippled (see also 9:1-13  ^ea).

• Mephibosheth is a nickname meaning “from the mouth of shame,” possibly referring to his physical condition. No crippled animal could ever be offered to God, and no disabled priest was allowed to stand before God with the people’s offerings (Lev 21:19  ^eb). Likewise, Mephibosheth’s condition probably disqualified him from the crown. His name change from Merib-baal (see 1 Chr 9:40  ^ec) also removed association with Baal (see study note on 2 Sam 2:8).
4:6  ^ed Recab and Baanah believed they would gain David’s favor by committing this treacherous act.
4:8  ^ee your enemy Saul: As far as we know, David never referred to Saul as an enemy.

• the Lord has given ... revenge: Wrongdoers often presume upon God’s favor to justify political ambition. However, David would not reward treachery.
Summary for 2Sam 4:9-11: 4:9-11  ^ef Someone once told me: Cp. 1:1-16  ^eg.
4:12  ^eh cut off their hands and feet: Displaying the dismembered bodies of Ishbosheth’s killers shamed them by denying them proper burial (cp. 1 Sam 31:8-13  ^ei); it was also a public testimony of David’s innocence in Ishbosheth’s death.