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2 Samuel 2:12-32
New American Standard Bible

Civil War

12 Now Abner the son of Ner, went from Mahanaim to (A)Gibeon with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul. 13 And (B)Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met [a]them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, [b]Abner’s men on the one side of the pool and [c]Joab’s men on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Now have the young men arise and (C)hold a martial skills match in our presence.” And Joab said, “Have them arise!” 15 So they got up and went over by count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16 And each one of them seized his [d]opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his [e]opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called [f]Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17 That day the battle was very severe, and (D)Abner and the men of Israel were defeated [g]by the servants of David.

18 Now (E)the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was (F)as [h]swift-footed as one of the gazelles that is in the field. 19 Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn [i]to the right or to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind himself and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” And he said, “It is I!” 21 So Abner said to him, “Turn aside for your own good to your right or to your left, and take hold of one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his equipment.” But Asahel was unwilling to turn aside from following him. 22 Then Abner repeated again to Asahel, “Turn aside for your own good from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? (G)How then could I [j]show my face to your brother Joab?” 23 However, he refused to turn aside; so Abner struck him in the belly with the butt end of the spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died on the spot. And it happened that all who came thereafter to the place where (H)Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and when the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is opposite Giah by way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one troop, and they stood on the top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Should the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that it will be bitter in the end? So how long will you [k]refrain from telling the people to turn back from pursuing their kinsmen?” 27 Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, then the people of Judah certainly would have withdrawn in the morning, each from pursuing his brother.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the people halted and no longer pursued Israel, (I)nor did they continue to fight anymore. 29 Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to (J)Mahanaim.

30 Then Joab returned from pursuing Abner; but he gathered all the people together, and [l]nineteen of David’s servants were missing, besides Asahel. 31 However, the servants of David had struck and killed many of Benjamin and Abner’s men; 360 men were dead. 32 And they carried Asahel away and buried him (K)in his father’s tomb, which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men traveled all night until the day [m]dawned at Hebron.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit them together
  2. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these on
  3. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these on
  4. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow
  5. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow’s
  6. 2 Samuel 2:16 I.e., the field of sword-edges
  7. 2 Samuel 2:17 Lit in front of
  8. 2 Samuel 2:18 Lit light in his feet
  9. 2 Samuel 2:19 Lit to go to
  10. 2 Samuel 2:22 Lit lift up
  11. 2 Samuel 2:26 Lit not tell the people
  12. 2 Samuel 2:30 Lit nineteen men
  13. 2 Samuel 2:32 Lit dawned for them
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2 Samuel 2:12-32
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.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:16 Helkath Hazzurim means field of daggers or field of hostilities.
  2. 2 Samuel 2:29 See Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
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