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2 Samuel 2
Legacy Standard Bible

David Anointed King of Judah

2 Now it happened afterwards that (A)David asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And Yahweh said to him, “Go up.” So David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “(B)To Hebron.” 2 So David went up there, and (C)his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 And (D)David brought up his men who were with him, each with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came and there (E)anointed David king over the house of Judah.

And they told David, saying, “It was (F)the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.” 5 And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “(G)May you be blessed of Yahweh because you have [a]shown this lovingkindness with your lord, with Saul, and have buried him. 6 So now, (H)may Yahweh [b]show lovingkindness and truth to you; and I also will [c]show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. 7 So now, let your hands be strong and be [d]valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ish-bosheth Made King over Israel

8 Now (I)Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken [e]Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to (J)Mahanaim. 9 And he made him king over (K)Gilead, over the (L)Ashurites, over (M)Jezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he was king for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. 11 (N)And the [f]time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

Abner Defeated Before David

12 Now Abner the son of Ner, went out from Mahanaim to (O)Gibeon with the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul. 13 And (P)Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met [g]them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, [h]one on the one side of the pool and [i]the other on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Now let the young men arise and [j](Q)hold a contest before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” 15 So they arose and went over by count, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 And each one of them seized his [k]opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his [l]opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called [m]Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17 And that day the battle was very severe, and (R)Abner and the men of Israel were [n]defeated before the servants of David.

18 Now (S)the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel; and Asahel was (T)as [o]swift-footed as one of the gazelles which is in the field. 19 And Asahel pursued Abner and did not [p]turn to the right or to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner turned to look behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” 21 So Abner said to him, “[q]Turn to your right or to your left, and seize one of the young men for yourself, and take for yourself his spoil.” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 22 And Abner repeated again to Asahel, “Turn [r]aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? (U)How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23 However, he refused to turn aside; therefore 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 to the place where (V)Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.

24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. Now the sun was going down, and they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one band, and they stood on the top of a certain hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you [s]refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers?” 27 And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then the people would have only gone away in the morning, each from following his brother.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people stood still and pursued Israel no longer, (W)nor did they continue to fight anymore. 29 But Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to (X)Mahanaim.

30 Now Joab returned from following Abner. And he had gathered all the people together, and [t]nineteen of David’s servants besides Asahel were missing. 31 But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men, so that 360 men died. 32 And they took up Asahel and buried him (Y)in his father’s tomb which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men went all night until the day [u]dawned at Hebron.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:5 Lit done
  2. 2 Samuel 2:6 Lit do
  3. 2 Samuel 2:6 Lit do
  4. 2 Samuel 2:7 Lit sons of valor
  5. 2 Samuel 2:8 Lit man of shame, also known as Eshbaal, cf. 1 Chr 8:33
  6. 2 Samuel 2:11 Lit number of days
  7. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit them together
  8. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these
  9. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these
  10. 2 Samuel 2:14 Lit make sport
  11. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow
  12. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow’s
  13. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit the field of sword-edges
  14. 2 Samuel 2:17 Lit smitten
  15. 2 Samuel 2:18 Lit light in his feet
  16. 2 Samuel 2:19 Lit turn to go to
  17. 2 Samuel 2:21 Lit Turn for yourself
  18. 2 Samuel 2:22 Lit aside for yourself
  19. 2 Samuel 2:26 Lit not tell the people
  20. 2 Samuel 2:30 Lit nineteen men
  21. 2 Samuel 2:32 Lit lighted on them
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2 Samuel 2
International Standard Version

David Becomes King over Judah

2 Some time later, David inquired of the Lord to ask, “Am I to move[a] to any one of the cities of Judah?”

The Lord told him, “Go.”

So David asked, “To which one?”

He replied, “To Hebron.”

2 So David went there, along with his two wives Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, widow of Nabal from Carmel. 3 David brought his army[b] with him, each soldier accompanied by his household, and they settled in the cities of Hebron. 4 After this, the army of Judah arrived, and they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

There they informed David, “The men of Jabesh-gilead buried Saul.”

5 So David sent messengers to the people[c] of Jabesh-gilead and told them, “May the Lord bless you, because you showed gracious love like[d] this to your lord Saul by burying him. 6 Now may the Lord reward you with gracious love, as well as faithfulness, to you, too! And I will also reward you because you did this good thing. 7 So strengthen yourselves, and be valiant in heart, because your lord Saul has died, and the household of Judah has anointed me to be king over them.”

Abner’s Rebellion and the Battle at Gibeon

8 Meanwhile, Ner’s son Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son Ish-bosheth[e] and brought him to Mahanaim. 9 He installed him as king over Gilead, the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all of the rest of[f] Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth began to reign over Israel at the age of 40 years, and he reigned for two years, even though Judah’s lineage followed David. 11 The period of David’s kingship in Hebron lasted seven years and six months.

12 Ner’s son Abner and the servants of Saul’s son Ish-bosheth set out from Mahanaim for Gibeon. 13 Zeruiah’s son Joab and some of David’s staff went out to meet them at the pool of Gibeon. One side encamped on one side of the pool while the other encamped on the other side of the pool.

14 Abner told Joab, “Let’s have the young men get up and fight in our presence.”

Joab replied, “Let them come.”

15 So they got up and twelve were counted to represent Benjamin and Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and twelve to represent members of David’s staff. 16 Each man grabbed his opponent by the head, plunged[g] his sword into his opponent’s side, and then they both fell together. That’s why the place at Gibeon was named The Field of Swords.[h] 17 The battle was very violent that day, with Abner and the men of Israel being defeated in the presence of David’s servants.

Abner Kills Joab’s Brother Asahel

18 Zeruiah’s three sons Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were there. As a runner, Asahel was fast, like one of the wild gazelles. 19 So Asahel ran straight[i] after Abner, following him. 20 When Abner looked behind him, he said, “Is that you, Asahel?”

He answered, “I am.”

21 Abner told him, “Go off to your right or left after one of the young men and grab some war spoils.” But Asahel would not stop following him, 22 so Abner told Asahel again, “Stop following me. Why should I strike you down? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?”

23 But Asahel[j] refused to turn away, so Abner struck Asahel in the abdomen with the butt end of his spear, and the spear protruded through his back. He collapsed to the ground and died where he fell. Everyone gathered round the place where Asahel had collapsed and died, and stood still there.

24 Meanwhile, Joab and Abishai continued to chase Abner. At dusk, as they approached the hill of Ammah that is located near Giah on the way to the Gibeon desert, 25 the descendants of Benjamin rallied around Abner, forming a single military force. They took their stand on top of the hill.

26 Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the battle sword keep on devouring forever? Don’t you realize that the end result is bitterness? How long will it take for you to order your army[k] to stop pursuing their own relatives?”

27 Joab answered, “As God lives, if you hadn’t spoken up, by morning my army would have broken off their pursuit of their own relatives.” 28 So Joab sounded his battle trumpet, his entire army stopped pursuing Israel any longer, and they quit fighting.

29 Abner and his army traveled through the Arabah by night, crossed the Jordan, and arrived at Mahanaim after marching all morning. 30 Joab returned from his pursuit of Abner, and when he had mustered his entire army, nineteen of David’s soldiers[l] were missing besides Asahel. 31 Meanwhile, other[m] soldiers of David had killed 360 of Abner’s men from the tribe of[n] Benjamin. 32 They retrieved Asahel’s body and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night until daybreak and arrived back in Hebron.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:1 Lit. to go up
  2. 2 Samuel 2:3 Lit. men
  3. 2 Samuel 2:5 Lit. men
  4. 2 Samuel 2:5 The Heb. lacks like
  5. 2 Samuel 2:8 MT means Shameful Man; cf. 1Chr 8:33, where he is named Esh-baal
  6. 2 Samuel 2:9 The Heb. lacks the rest of
  7. 2 Samuel 2:16 The Heb. lacks plunged
  8. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit. Helkath-hazzurim
  9. 2 Samuel 2:19 Lit. ran turning neither to the right nor to the left
  10. 2 Samuel 2:23 Lit. he
  11. 2 Samuel 2:26 Lit. people; and so throughout the chapter
  12. 2 Samuel 2:30 Lit. servants
  13. 2 Samuel 2:31 The Heb. lacks other
  14. 2 Samuel 2:31 The Heb. lacks the tribe of
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