Font Size
2 Samuel 2:12-3:39
Contemporary English Version
2 Samuel 2:12-3:39
Contemporary English Version
The War between David and Ishbosheth
12 One day, Abner and the soldiers of Ishbosheth[a] left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13 Meanwhile, Joab the son of Zeruiah[b] was leading David's soldiers, and the two groups met at the pool in Gibeon.[c] Abner and his men sat down on one side of the pool, while Joab and his men sat on the other side. 14 Abner yelled to Joab, “Let's get some of our best soldiers to stand up and fight each other!”
Joab agreed, 15 and twelve of Ishbosheth's men from the tribe of Benjamin got up to fight twelve of David's men. 16 They grabbed each other by the hair and stabbed each other in the side with their daggers. They all died right there! That's why the place in Gibeon is called “Field of Daggers.”[d] 17 Then everyone started fighting. Both sides fought very hard, but David's soldiers defeated Abner and the soldiers of Israel.
18 Zeruiah's three sons were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel could run as fast as a deer in an open field, 19 and he ran straight after Abner, without looking to the right or to the left.
20 When Abner turned and saw him, he said, “Is that you, Asahel?”
Asahel answered, “Yes it is.”
21 Abner said, “There are soldiers all around. Stop chasing me and fight one of them! Kill him and take his clothes and weapons for yourself.”
But Asahel refused to stop.
22 Abner said, “If you don't turn back, I'll have to kill you! Then I could never face your brother Joab again.”
23 But Asahel would not turn back, so Abner struck him in the stomach with the back end of his spear. The spear went all the way through and came out of his back. Asahel fell down and died. Everyone who saw Asahel lying dead just stopped and stood still. 24 But Joab and Abishai went after Abner. Finally, about sunset, they came to the hill of Ammah, not far from Giah on the road to Gibeon Desert. 25 Abner brought the men of Benjamin together in one group on top of a hill, and they got ready to fight.
26 Abner shouted to Joab, “Aren't we ever going to stop killing each other? Don't you know that the longer we keep on doing this, the worse it's going to be when it's all over? When are you going to order your men to stop chasing their own relatives?”
27 Joab shouted back, “I swear by the living God, if you hadn't spoken, my men would have chased their relatives all night!” 28 Joab took his trumpet and blew the signal for his soldiers to stop chasing the soldiers of Israel. At once, the fighting stopped.
29 Abner and his troops marched through the Jordan River valley all that night. Then they crossed the river and marched all morning[e] until they arrived back at Mahanaim.
30 As soon as Joab stopped chasing Abner, he got David's troops together and counted them. There were 19 missing besides Asahel. 31 But David's soldiers had killed 360 of Abner's men from the tribe of Benjamin. 32 Joab and his troops carried Asahel's body to Bethlehem and buried him in the family burial place. Then they marched all night and reached Hebron before sunrise.
3 This battle was the beginning of a long war between the followers of Saul and the followers of David. Saul's power grew weaker, but David's grew stronger.
David's Sons Born in Hebron
(1 Chronicles 3.1-4)
2-5 Several of David's sons were born while he was living in Hebron. His oldest son was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel. David's second son was Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, who had been married to Nabal from Carmel. Absalom was the third. His mother was Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur. The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital. The sixth was Ithream, whose mother was Eglah, another one of David's wives.
Abner Decides To Help David
6 As the war went on between the families of David and Saul, Abner was gaining more power than ever in Saul's family. 7 He had even slept with a wife[f] of Saul by the name of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah. But Saul's son Ishbosheth[g] told Abner, “You shouldn't have slept with one of my father's wives!”
8 Abner was very angry because of what Ishbosheth had said, and he told Ishbosheth:
Am I some kind of worthless dog from Judah? I've always been loyal to your father's family and to his relatives and friends. I haven't turned you over to David. And yet you talk to me as if I've committed a crime with this woman.
9 I ask God to punish me if I don't help David get what the Lord promised him! 10 (A) God said that he wouldn't let anyone in Saul's family ever be king again and that David would be king instead. He also said that David would rule both Israel and Judah, all the way from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south.[h]
11 Ishbosheth was so afraid of Abner that he could not even answer.
12 Abner sent some of his men to David with this message: “You should be the ruler of the whole nation. If you make an agreement with me, I will persuade everyone in Israel to make you their king.”
13 David sent this message back: “Good! I'll make an agreement with you. But before I will even talk with you about it, you must get Saul's daughter Michal back for me.”
14 (B) David sent a few of his officials to Ishbosheth to give him this message: “Give me back my wife Michal! I killed 100 Philistines so I could marry her.”[i]
15 Ishbosheth sent some of his men to take Michal away from her new husband, Paltiel the son of Laish. 16 Paltiel followed Michal and the men all the way to Bahurim, crying as he walked. But he went back home after Abner ordered him to leave.
17 Abner talked with the leaders of the tribes of Israel and told them, “You've wanted to make David your king for a long time now. 18 So do it! After all, God said he would use his servant David to rescue his people Israel from their enemies, especially from the Philistines.”
19 Finally, Abner talked with the tribe of Benjamin. Then he left for Hebron to tell David everything that the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of the people of Israel wanted to do. 20 Abner took 20 soldiers with him, and when they got to Hebron, David gave a big feast for them.
21 After the feast, Abner said, “Your Majesty, let me leave now and bring Israel here to make an agreement with you. You'll be king of the whole nation, just as you've been wanting.”
David told Abner he could leave, and he left without causing any trouble.
Joab Kills Abner
22 Soon after Abner had left Hebron, Joab and some of David's soldiers came back, bringing a lot of things they had taken from an enemy village. 23 Right after they arrived, someone told Joab, “Abner visited the king, and the king let him go. Abner even left without causing any trouble.”
24 Joab went to David and said, “What have you done? Abner came to you, and you let him go. Now he's long gone! 25 You know Abner—he came to trick you. He wants to find out how strong your army is and to know everything you're doing.”
26 Joab left David, then he sent some messengers to catch up with Abner. They brought him back from the well at Sirah,[j] but David did not know anything about it. 27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pretended he wanted to talk privately with him. So he took Abner into one of the small rooms that were part of the town gate and stabbed him in the stomach. Joab killed him because Abner had killed Joab's brother Asahel.
Abner's Funeral
28 David heard how Joab had killed Abner, and he said, “I swear to the Lord that I am completely innocent of Abner's death! 29 Joab and his family are the guilty ones. I pray that Joab's family will always be sick with sores and other skin diseases. May they all be cowards,[k] and may they die in war or starve to death.”
30 Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.
31 David told Joab and everyone with him, “Show your sorrow by tearing your clothes and wearing sackcloth![l] Walk in front of Abner's body and cry!”
David walked behind the stretcher on which Abner's body was being carried. 32 Abner was buried in Hebron, while David and everyone else stood at the tomb and cried loudly. 33 Then the king sang a funeral song about Abner:
Abner, why should you
have died like an outlaw?[m]
34 No one tied your hands
or chained your feet,
yet you died as a victim
of murderers.
Everyone started crying again. 35 Then they brought some food to David and told him he would feel better if he had something to eat. It was still daytime, and David said, “I swear to God that I won't take a bite of bread or anything else until sunset!”
36 Everyone noticed what David did, and they liked it, just as they always liked what he did. 37 Now the people of Judah and Israel were certain that David had nothing to do with killing Abner.
38 David said to his officials, “Don't you realize that today one of Israel's great leaders has died? 39 I am the chosen king, but Joab and Abishai have more power than I do. So God will have to pay them back[n] for the evil thing they did.”
Footnotes
- 2.12 Ishbosheth: See the note at 2.8.
- 2.13 the son of Zeruiah: Zeruiah was David's older sister, so Joab was David's nephew (see 1 Chronicles 2.12-17 and the note at 2 Samuel 17.25).
- 2.13 pool in Gibeon: This pool was located just inside the city wall and was used for storing water. It was in the shape of a circle and was eleven meters wide and eleven meters deep.
- 2.16 Field of Daggers: Or “Field of Opponents” or “Battlefield.”
- 2.29 all morning: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 3.7 wife: This translates a Hebrew word for a woman who was legally bound to a man, but without the full privileges of a wife.
- 3.7 Ishbosheth: See the note at 2.8.
- 3.10 from … south: Hebrew “from Dan to Beersheba.” This was one way of describing all of the Israelite land, from north to south.
- 3.14 I killed … marry her: See 1 Samuel 18.20-27.
- 3.26 well at Sirah: Or “oasis of Sirah” or “cistern at Sirah.”
- 3.29 cowards: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 3.31 sackcloth: Sackcloth was a rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat or camel hair and was used to make grain sacks. People wore sackcloth or tore their clothes in times of trouble or sorrow.
- 3.33 outlaw: Or “fool.”
- 3.39 God … back: Or “I pray that God will pay them back.”
2 Samuel 2:12-3:39
New International Version
2 Samuel 2:12-3:39
New International Version
12 Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon.(A) 13 Joab(B) son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.
14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.”
“All right, let them do it,” Joab said.
15 So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. 16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger(C) into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.[a]
17 The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated(D) by David’s men.(E)
18 The three sons of Zeruiah(F) were there: Joab,(G) Abishai(H) and Asahel.(I) Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle.(J) 19 He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him. 20 Abner looked behind him and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“It is,” he answered.
21 Then Abner said to him, “Turn aside to the right or to the left; take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
22 Again Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?”(K)
23 But Asahel refused to give up the pursuit; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel’s stomach,(L) and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and died on the spot. And every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.(M)
24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and as the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon. 25 Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill.
26 Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour(N) forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?”
27 Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.”
28 So Joab(O) blew the trumpet,(P) and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.
29 All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah.(Q) They crossed the Jordan, continued through the morning hours[b] and came to Mahanaim.(R)
30 Then Joab stopped pursuing Abner and assembled the whole army. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were found missing. 31 But David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner. 32 They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb(S) at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.
3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time.(T) David grew stronger and stronger,(U) while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.(V)
2 Sons were born to David in Hebron:
His firstborn was Amnon(W) the son of Ahinoam(X) of Jezreel;
3 his second, Kileab the son of Abigail(Y) the widow of Nabal of Carmel;
the third, Absalom(Z) the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;(AA)
4 the fourth, Adonijah(AB) the son of Haggith;
the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;
5 and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah.
These were born to David in Hebron.
Abner Goes Over to David
6 During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner(AC) had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had had a concubine(AD) named Rizpah(AE) daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”
8 Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s head(AF)—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman! 9 May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the Lord promised(AG) him on oath 10 and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.”(AH) 11 Ish-Bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.
12 Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you.”
13 “Good,” said David. “I will make an agreement with you. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me.”(AI) 14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, “Give me my wife Michal,(AJ) whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.”
15 So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband(AK) Paltiel(AL) son of Laish. 16 Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim.(AM) Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he went back.
17 Abner conferred with the elders(AN) of Israel and said, “For some time you have wanted to make David your king. 18 Now do it! For the Lord promised David, ‘By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines(AO) and from the hand of all their enemies.(AP)’”
19 Abner also spoke to the Benjamites in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole tribe of Benjamin(AQ) wanted to do. 20 When Abner, who had twenty men with him, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast(AR) for him and his men. 21 Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant(AS) with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.”(AT) So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.
Joab Murders Abner
22 Just then David’s men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23 When Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived, he was told that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that the king had sent him away and that he had gone in peace.
24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! 25 You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing.”
26 Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern at Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 Now when Abner(AU) returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him(AV) in the stomach, and he died.(AW)
28 Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent(AX) before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 29 May his blood(AY) fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family!(AZ) May Joab’s family never be without someone who has a running sore(BA) or leprosy[c] or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.”
30 (Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
31 Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth(BB) and walk in mourning(BC) in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. 32 They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept(BD) aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.
33 The king sang this lament(BE) for Abner:
“Should Abner have died as the lawless die?
34 Your hands were not bound,
your feet were not fettered.(BF)
You fell as one falls before the wicked.”
And all the people wept over him again.
35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely,(BG) if I taste bread(BH) or anything else before the sun sets!”
36 All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. 37 So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part(BI) in the murder of Abner son of Ner.
38 Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen(BJ) in Israel this day? 39 And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah(BK) are too strong(BL) for me.(BM) May the Lord repay(BN) the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 2:16 Helkath Hazzurim means field of daggers or field of hostilities.
- 2 Samuel 2:29 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- 2 Samuel 3:29 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.