2 Samuel 2
New American Standard Bible
David Made King over Judah
2 Then it came about afterward that (A)David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord 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 [a]widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 And (D)David brought up his men who were with him, each with his household; and they settled in the cities of Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came, and there they (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 So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “(G)May you be blessed of the Lord because you have [b]shown this kindness to Saul your lord, and have buried him. 6 And now (H)may the Lord [c]show kindness and truth to you; and I also will [d]show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. 7 Now then, let your hands be strong and be [e]valiant, since Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”
Ish-bosheth Made King over Israel
8 But (I)Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken [f]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 And (N)the [g]time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
Civil War
12 Now Abner the son of Ner, went 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 [h]them by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, [i]Abner’s men on the one side of the pool and [j]Joab’s men on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Now have the young men arise and (Q)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 [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 That day the battle was very severe, and (R)Abner and the men of Israel were defeated [n]by the servants of David.
18 Now (S)the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was (T)as [o]swift-footed as one of the gazelles that is in the field. 19 Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn [p]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? (U)How then could I [q]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 (V)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 [r]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, (W)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 (X)Mahanaim.
30 Then Joab returned from pursuing Abner; but he gathered all the people together, and [s]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 (Y)in his father’s tomb, which was in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men traveled all night until the day [t]dawned at Hebron.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 2:2 Lit wife
- 2 Samuel 2:5 Lit done
- 2 Samuel 2:6 Lit do
- 2 Samuel 2:6 Lit do
- 2 Samuel 2:7 Lit sons of valor
- 2 Samuel 2:8 I.e., man of shame; cf. 1 Chr 8:33, Eshbaal
- 2 Samuel 2:11 Lit number of days
- 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit them together
- 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these on
- 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these on
- 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow
- 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow’s
- 2 Samuel 2:16 I.e., the field of sword-edges
- 2 Samuel 2:17 Lit in front of
- 2 Samuel 2:18 Lit light in his feet
- 2 Samuel 2:19 Lit to go to
- 2 Samuel 2:22 Lit lift up
- 2 Samuel 2:26 Lit not tell the people
- 2 Samuel 2:30 Lit nineteen men
- 2 Samuel 2:32 Lit dawned for them
2 Samuel 2
New Living Translation
David Anointed King of Judah
2 After this, David asked the Lord, “Should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?”
“Yes,” the Lord replied.
Then David asked, “Which town should I go to?”
“To Hebron,” the Lord answered.
2 David’s two wives were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. So David and his wives 3 and his men and their families all moved to Judah, and they settled in the villages near Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came to David and anointed him king over the people of Judah.
When David heard that the men of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul, 5 he sent them this message: “May the Lord bless you for being so loyal to your master Saul and giving him a decent burial. 6 May the Lord be loyal to you in return and reward you with his unfailing love! And I, too, will reward you for what you have done. 7 Now that Saul is dead, I ask you to be my strong and loyal subjects like the people of Judah, who have anointed me as their new king.”
Ishbosheth Proclaimed King of Israel
8 But Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had already gone to Mahanaim with Saul’s son Ishbosheth.[a] 9 There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.
10 Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king, and he ruled from Mahanaim for two years. Meanwhile, the people of Judah remained loyal to David. 11 David made Hebron his capital, and he ruled as king of Judah for seven and a half years.
War between Israel and Judah
12 One day Abner led Ishbosheth’s troops from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 About the same time, Joab son of Zeruiah led David’s troops out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. The two groups sat down there, facing each other from opposite sides of the pool.
14 Then Abner suggested to Joab, “Let’s have a few of our warriors fight hand to hand here in front of us.”
“All right,” Joab agreed. 15 So twelve men were chosen to fight from each side—twelve men of Benjamin representing Ishbosheth son of Saul, and twelve representing David. 16 Each one grabbed his opponent by the hair and thrust his sword into the other’s side so that all of them died. So this place at Gibeon has been known ever since as the Field of Swords.[b]
17 A fierce battle followed that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the forces of David.
The Death of Asahel
18 Joab, Abishai, and Asahel—the three sons of Zeruiah—were among David’s forces that day. Asahel could run like a gazelle, 19 and he began chasing Abner. He pursued him relentlessly, not stopping for anything. 20 When Abner looked back and saw him coming, he called out, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“Yes, it is,” he replied.
21 “Go fight someone else!” Abner warned. “Take on one of the younger men, and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel kept right on chasing Abner.
22 Again Abner shouted to him, “Get away from here! I don’t want to kill you. How could I ever face your brother Joab again?”
23 But Asahel refused to turn back, so Abner thrust the butt end of his spear through Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He stumbled to the ground and died there. And everyone who came by that spot stopped and stood still when they saw Asahel lying there.
24 When Joab and Abishai found out what had happened, they set out after Abner. The sun was just going down as they arrived at the hill of Ammah near Giah, along the road to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 Abner’s troops from the tribe of Benjamin regrouped there at the top of the hill to take a stand.
26 Abner shouted down to Joab, “Must we always be killing each other? Don’t you realize that bitterness is the only result? When will you call off your men from chasing their Israelite brothers?”
27 Then Joab said, “God only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t spoken, for we would have chased you all night if necessary.” 28 So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men stopped chasing the troops of Israel.
29 All that night Abner and his men retreated through the Jordan Valley.[c] They crossed the Jordan River, traveling all through the morning,[d] and didn’t stop until they arrived at Mahanaim.
30 Meanwhile, Joab and his men also returned home. When Joab counted his casualties, he discovered that only 19 men were missing in addition to Asahel. 31 But 360 of Abner’s men had been killed, all from the tribe of Benjamin. 32 Joab and his men took Asahel’s body to Bethlehem and buried him there in his father’s tomb. Then they traveled all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
