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2 SAMUEL 3

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:1
  ¹Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually.

3:1 "there was a long war" The civil war between Abraham's seed (i.e., the tribes of Israel) continued for a protracted period.

▣ "David grew steadily stronger" This was a sign of YHWH's favor with David/Judah. This same favor is shown in 2 Sam. 2:30-31.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:2-5
  ²Sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; ³and his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; ⁴and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; ⁵and the sixth, Ithream, by David's wife Eglah. These were born to David at Hebron.

3:2-5 This paragraph lists David's children born during his seven years at Hebron (2 Sam. 2:11).

1. Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess
2. Chileab by Abigail, the widow of Nabal, the Carmelite (called Daniel in 1 Chr. 2:1)
3. Absalom by Maacah, the daughter of the King of Geshur (small semi-independent state east of the Sea of Chinnereth)
4. Adonijah by Haggith
5. Shephatiah by Abital
6. Ithream by Eglah

Numbers 1, 3, and 4 caused major problems later in life, while the other three are never mentioned again; possibly they died early.

This list of David's children differs from 1 Chr. 3:1-3, see detailed notes there online.

Notice only the first male child is named, surely there were female children and other males not listed.

These marriages were, in one sense, political ways of assuring support. David's kingdom was growing but Ish-bosheth had only Abner as a supporter. How quickly the tribes followed Abner's suggestion in vv. 17-19 shows the weakness of Ish-bosheth.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:6-11
  ⁶It came about while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. ⁷Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?" ⁸Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, "Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman. ⁹May God do so to Abner, and more also, if as the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him, ¹⁰to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba." ¹¹And he could no longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him.

3:6 "Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul" Abner was the power behind the throne. Ish-bosheth was a weak figurehead (cf. v. 11).

3:7 "Saul had a concubine" One wonders how the VERB is functioning.

1. does it denote a sexual act ("gone in to," stated later in v. 7)
2. does it denote he possessed her for a period of time

The MT has no VERB but one must be supplied in English (and Greek).

▣ "concubine" Concubines were socially accepted as legal marital partners. They did not have the full rights of a wife but they did have limited rights and limited inheritance for their children, NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 615-619.

▣ "Aiah" This is a masculine name (BDB 17 II, cf. Gen. 36:24; 1 Chr. 1:40). The name appears in 2 Sam. 21:8,10,11, where he is mentioned as the father of Aiah who bore Saul two sons.

▣ "Why have you gone in to my father's concubine" This could be viewed as an attempt by Abner to claim the throne.

1. see 2 Sam. 16:22 for Absalom's actions
2. see 1 Kgs. 2:22-23 for Adonijah's request
3. note this is why David wanted Michal, Saul's daughter back (v. 13)

3:8-10 Abner took Ish-bosheth's words as a charge of treason. Abner denied this in vivid idiomatic language. However, the charge of treason after all he had done for Ish-bosheth, made him very angry. He will actively become the one who facilitates David's ascension over Ish-bosheth's kingdom.

3:9 "May God do so to Abner, and more also" This is a self-induced curse formula (cf. Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam. 14:44; 1 Kgs. 2:23; 19;2). It has two IMPERFECTS used in a JUSSIVE sense.

1. do ‒ BDB 793, KB 889, Qal IMPERFECT
2. do again ‒ BDB 414, KB 418, Hiphil IMPERFECT

3:10 "Dan, even to Beersheba" Dan was the farthest northern city of Israel, while Beersheba was a very southern city of Judah. This became a descriptive idiom for all the Promised Land (cf. Jdgs. 20:1; 1 Sam. 3:20; 2 Sam. 17:11; 1 Kgs. 4:25).

3:11 Ish-bosheth was a weak and fearful person who was not fit to rule.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:12-16
  ¹²Then Abner sent messengers to David in his place, saying, "Whose is the land? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you." ¹³He said, "Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing of you, namely, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see me." ¹⁴So David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, "Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines." ¹⁵Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶But her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her as far as Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go, return." So he returned.

3:12 The uniting of all Israel under one king was David's goal! This desire was thwarted again and again. David saw a golden opportunity.

In this chapter, after Abner's murder David does several things to show Israel that he had no part in Abner's murder.

1. cursed Joab
2. made Joab a public participant of Abner's funeral
3. David publicly and intensely mourned Abner's death
   1. wrote a lament
   2. refused to eat at the funeral meal
4. David praised Abner (vv. 38-39)

The result was that Israel did not hold David responsible for Abner's death (vv. 36-37). Still it took years for the reality of a united monarchy to come to pass.

The MT has "to whom the land?" This cryptic phrase is left out in both LXX and NJB. It seems to assert that Ish-bosheth is not the God-ordained leader.

3:13 The return of Michal, Saul's daughter, as David's wife (cf. 1 Sam. 17:25; 18:17-19; 25:44) gave some credence to David's claim of kingship.

David was publicly shamed by Saul when he gave his wife to another man (cf. 1 Sam. 25:44). This royal honor must be restored!

3:14 This was a task required for David to become Saul's son-in-law (cf. 1 Sam. 18:20-27).

3:15-16 Abner's power is seen by his demand to Ish-bosheth to return David's first wife.

What a sad story of the terrible condition of women in the ANE. They were seen as property!

SPECIAL TOPIC: WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:17-19
  ¹⁷Now Abner had consultation with the elders of Israel, saying, "In times past you were seeking for David to be king over you. ¹⁸Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken of David, saying, 'By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.'" ¹⁹Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin; and in addition Abner went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.

3:17 "the elders of Israel" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ELDERS.

▣ "In times past you were seeking David to be king over you" This is never stated in 1 Samuel. It could refer to

1. Samuel's anointing at Jesse's house in Bethlehem, 1 Sam. 16:13
2. the women's song of David's valor, 1 Sam. 18:6-7,16
3. the desertion of many of Saul's people to David's army, 1 Sam. 22:1-2
4. possibly a reference to Israel's desire for a king, 1 Sam. 8:4-9

3:18 This may refer to 1 Sam. 9:16 or 15:28.

▣ "hand" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND.

▣ "My servant" See SPECIAL TOPIC: MY SERVANT.

The MT has a Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT (BDB 446, KB 448) or it may be a Hiphil PERFECT. This uncertainty has caused some Hebrew texts and ancient versions to have

1. I will save.
2. I have saved.
3. I am saving.

It is surely possible that the grammar implies "God will surely save." The MT has "he," which obviously refers to YHWH. He will deliver Israel from all her enemies, through David, His anointed King.

3:19 Notice the different groups then agreed to a united monarchy.

1. tribe of Benjamin, Saul's tribe
2. tribe of Judah of which David was king
3. Israel, the other tribes from Jacob

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:20-21
  ²⁰Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹Abner said to David, "Let me arise and go and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may be king over all that your soul desires." So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

3:20 "Hebron" David's capital was Hebron for a long period of time. Jerusalem was not captured until much later in David's lifetime. It was still a strong Canaanite city under the Jebusites. See note at 2 Sam. 2:1.

▣ "David made a feast" The covenant was accompanied by a feast to seal the pact.

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

3:21 This verse has three opening cohortatives.

1. arise ‒ BDB 877, KB 1086, Qal
2. go ‒ BDB 229, KB 246, Qal
3. gather ‒ BDB 867, KKB 1062, Qal

Abner commits himself to act in order to assure a new united Israel.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:22-25
  ²²And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. ²³When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace." ²⁴Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone? ²⁵You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to learn of your going out and coming in and to find out all that you are doing."

3:22-25 Joab was not present when David and Abner made the covenant. It is uncertain from the text if Joab

1. did not trust Abner, v. 25
2. wanted revenge for Asahel's death (he was acting as the blood avenger for his family, v. 30)
3. wanted to eliminate a rival to his position as military commander (i.e., 2 Sam. 19:13; 20:9-10)

3:22 "he had gone in peace" This important phrase is repeated in v. 23. Abner was under the protection of his covenant with David. This is what makes Joab's act of revenge so unacceptable.

3:24 "he is already gone" This is an emphatic construction of an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and an IMPERFECT VERB from the same root (BDB 229, KB 246, Qal).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:26-30
  ²⁶When Joab came out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know it. ²⁷So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother. ²⁸Afterward when David heard it, he said, "I and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ²⁹May it fall on the head of Joab and on all his father's house; and may there not fail from the house of Joab one who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who takes hold of a distaff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread." ³⁰So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

3:26 Joab gave orders to give Abner a message that David knew nothing about.

▣ "the well of Sirah" Josephus, Antiq. 7.1.5, says the well was about a half mile north of Hebron.

The NASB reflects the MT. The UBS Text Project, p. 214, gives the MT an "A" rating. Apparently there was a large gate at Hebron that had side rooms. Joab lured Abner into the small private place in order to surprise him with a knife thrust!

▣ "he struck him in the belly" This was the same painful and lingering wound that Abner had done to Asahel (cf. 2 Sam. 2:23). It is not stated how long it took Abner, or for that matter Asahel, to die.

3:28 There seem to be two possible backgrounds for David's statement.

1. The shedding of innocent blood was a major crime in Israel that had lasting consequences on those involved (i.e., individual and corporate).
2. David wanted a united monarchy; Joab's rash act jeopardized this.

3:29 This is David's curse on Joab's household (cf. v. 39). It is ironical that Joab killed Abner to save the honor of his house, but in so doing, brought down the curse of God on his descendants. David's curse involves

1. "one who has a discharge" would be ceremonially unclean to participate in temple ritual (cf. Leviticus 15)
2. "one who is a leper" was considered to be divinely cursed by God (cf. Leviticus 13-14)
3. "one who holds the distaff" refers either to men doing women's work or possibly all the children would be born cripples or slaves
4. "who falls by the sword" refers to ultimate defeat in every battle
5. "one who lacks bread" refers to a curse of poverty

The MT has the VERB (BDB 296, KB 297, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense), which means "to whirl," "to dance," "to writhe." It refers to Abner's blood! This type of imagery is similar to "Cain's blood crying to God from the ground" (Gen. 4:10). It demanded justice.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 3:31-39
  ³¹Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner." And King David walked behind the bier. ³²Thus they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. ³³The king chanted a lament for Abner and said,
 "Should Abner die as a fool dies?
 ³⁴"Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put in fetters;
 As one falls before the wicked, you have fallen."
And all the people wept again over him. ³⁵Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, "May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down." ³⁶Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, just as everything the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death. ³⁸Then the king said to his servants, "Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? ³⁹I am weak today, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too difficult for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil."

3:31 "David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him" Joab and his entire family had to attend the elaborate state funeral for Abner and participate in the mourning rites.

3:32 "wept" See SPECIAL TOPIC: BURIAL PRACTICES and SPECIAL TOPIC: GRIEVING RITES.

3:33b-34 This poetic lament clearly accuses Joab of a wicked, selfish act! Abner was tricked and suddenly attacked. It was an ambush by a supposed covenant representative.

3:35 "before the sun goes down" Usually the day of a funeral was a day of an elaborate meal but David refused to eat because he was fasting as a sign of mourning to show the people that he had no duplicity in Abner's death.

3:36 David was always a very popular figure with the people (cf. 1 Sam. 18:16). But Joab's tragic act delayed for many years the uniting of Israel and Judah under one monarch.

3:37 See note at 2 Sam. 3:29.

3:38 As often happens at funerals, hyperbolic language is used to accentuate the qualities of the dead. This description does not reflect Abner's character! David is using the opportunity to again affirm that he had no part in Abner's murder!

3:39 "anointed king" Three offices were anointed in the OT: prophet, priest, and king. This became John Calvin's categories for Christology (cf. Heb. 1:1-3). Anointing shows YHWH's special calling and equipping to a specific task.

SPECIAL TOPIC: "ANOINTING" IN THE BIBLE

▣ "Zeruiah" This was David's sister.

▣ "May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil" David had the same problem at court that Ish-bosheth had in relation to a right hand man who was impulsive and powerful. David decided to leave Joab's punishment to YHWH. The punishment was specifically given to Solomon at David's death (cf. 1 Kgs. 2:5-6,28-34).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. What was the purpose of royal marriages?
2. Why was Ish-bosheth so concerned about Abner taking a concubine of Saul?
3. Why was David so happy about Abner's request for a covenant and so angry about Joab killing him?
4. Why did David demand Michal be returned to him?
5. Explain the significance of 2 Sam. 3:17-19.
6. What was Joab's motive in killing Abner?
7. List the ways David showed his displeasure of Abner's death.

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