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2 Samuel 2
New English Translation

David is Anointed King

2 Afterward David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” The Lord told him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where should I go?” The Lord replied,[a] “To Hebron.” 2 So David went up, along with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, formerly the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 David also brought along the men who were with him, each with his family. They settled in the cities[b] of Hebron. 4 The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people[c] of Judah.

David was told,[d] “The people[e] of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.” 5 So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness[f] to your lord Saul by burying him. 6 Now may the Lord show you true kindness![g] I also will reward you,[h] because you have done this deed. 7 Now be courageous[i] and prove to be valiant warriors, for your lord Saul is dead. The people of Judah have anointed me as king over them.”

David’s Army Clashes with the Army of Saul

8 Now Abner son of Ner, the general in command of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son Ish Bosheth[j] and had brought him to Mahanaim. 9 He appointed him king over Gilead, the Geshurites,[k] Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 10 Ish Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people[l] of Judah followed David. 11 David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven-and-a-half years.[m]

12 Then Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish Bosheth son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and confronted them at the pool of Gibeon. One group stationed themselves on one side of the pool, and the other group on the other side of the pool. 14 Abner said to Joab, “Let the soldiers get up and fight[n] before us.” Joab said, “So be it!”[o]

15 So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16 As they grappled with one another, each one stabbed his opponent with his sword and they fell dead together.[p] So that place is called the Field of Flints;[q] it is in Gibeon.

17 Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers.[r] 18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there—Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field.) 19 Asahel chased Abner, without turning to the right or to the left as he followed Abner.

20 Then Abner turned and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” He replied, “Yes it is!” 21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right or to your left. Capture one of the soldiers[s] and take his equipment for yourself!” But Asahel was not willing to turn aside from following him. 22 So Abner spoke again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me! I do not want to strike you to the ground.[t] How then could I show[u] my face in the presence of Joab your brother?” 23 But Asahel[v] refused to turn aside. So Abner struck him in the abdomen with the back end of his[w] spear. The spear came out his back; Asahel[x] collapsed on the spot and died there right before Abner.[y] Everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell dead paused in respect.[z]

24 So Joab and Abishai chased Abner. At sunset they came to the hill of Ammah near Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 The Benjaminites formed their ranks[aa] behind Abner and were like a single army, standing at the top of a certain hill.

26 Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?” 27 Joab replied, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said this, it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit[ab] of their brothers.” 28 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn and all the people stopped in their tracks.[ac] They stopped chasing Israel and ceased fighting.[ad] 29 Abner and his men went through the rift valley[ae] all that night. They crossed the Jordan River[af] and went through the whole region of Bitron[ag] and came to Mahanaim.

30 Now Joab returned from chasing Abner and assembled all the people. Nineteen of David’s soldiers were missing, in addition to Asahel. 31 But David’s soldiers had slaughtered the Benjaminites and Abner’s men—in all, 360 men had died! 32 They took Asahel’s body and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Joab and his men then traveled all that night and reached Hebron by dawn.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:1 tn Heb “he said.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
  2. 2 Samuel 2:3 tc The expression “the cities of Hebron” is odd; we would expect the noun to be in the singular, if used at all. Although the Syriac Peshitta has the expected reading “in Hebron,” the MT is clearly the more difficult reading and should probably be retained here.
  3. 2 Samuel 2:4 tn Heb “house.”
  4. 2 Samuel 2:4 tn Heb “and they told David.” The subject appears to be indefinite, allowing one to translate the verb as passive with David as subject.
  5. 2 Samuel 2:4 tn Heb “men.”
  6. 2 Samuel 2:5 tn Or “loyalty.”
  7. 2 Samuel 2:6 tn Or “loyalty and devotion.”
  8. 2 Samuel 2:6 tn Heb “will do with you this good.”
  9. 2 Samuel 2:7 tn Heb “let your hands be strong.”
  10. 2 Samuel 2:8 sn The name Ish Bosheth means in Hebrew “man of shame.” It presupposes an earlier form such as Ish Baal (“man of the Lord”), with the word “baal” being used of Israel’s God. But because the Canaanite storm god was named “Baal,” that part of the name was later replaced with the word “shame.”
  11. 2 Samuel 2:9 tc The MT here reads “the Ashurite,” but this is problematic if it is taken to mean “the Assyrian.” Ish Bosheth’s kingdom obviously was not of such proportions as to extend to Assyria. The Syriac Peshitta and the Vulgate render the word as “the Geshurite,” while the Targum has “of the house of Ashur.” We should probably emend the Hebrew text to read “the Geshurite.” The Geshurites lived in the northeastern part of the land of Palestine.
  12. 2 Samuel 2:10 tn Heb “house.”
  13. 2 Samuel 2:11 tn Heb “And the number of the days in which David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.”
  14. 2 Samuel 2:14 tn Heb “play.” What is in view here is a gladiatorial contest in which representative groups of soldiers engage in mortal combat before the watching armies. Cf. NAB “perform for us”; NASB “hold (have NRSV) a contest before us”; NLT “put on an exhibition of hand-to-hand combat.”
  15. 2 Samuel 2:14 tn Heb “let them arise.”
  16. 2 Samuel 2:16 tn Heb “and they grabbed each one the head of his neighbor with his sword in the side of his neighbor and they fell together.”
  17. 2 Samuel 2:16 tn The meaning of the name “Helkath Hazzurim” (so NIV; KJV, NASB, NRSV similar) is not clear. BHK relates the name to the Hebrew term for “side,” and this is reflected in NAB “the Field of the Sides”; the Greek OT revocalizes the Hebrew to mean something like “Field of Adversaries.” Cf. also TEV, NLT “Field of Swords”; CEV “Field of Daggers.”
  18. 2 Samuel 2:17 tn Heb “servants.” So also elsewhere.
  19. 2 Samuel 2:21 tn Heb “young men.” So also elsewhere.
  20. 2 Samuel 2:22 tn Heb “Why should I strike you to the ground?”
  21. 2 Samuel 2:22 tn Heb “lift.”
  22. 2 Samuel 2:23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  23. 2 Samuel 2:23 tn Heb “the.” The article functions here as a possessive pronoun.
  24. 2 Samuel 2:23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  25. 2 Samuel 2:23 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  26. 2 Samuel 2:23 tn Heb “and they stand.”
  27. 2 Samuel 2:25 tn Heb “were gathered together.”
  28. 2 Samuel 2:27 tn The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (naʿalah) used here is the Niphal perfect third person masculine singular of עָלָה (ʿalah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon…especially of an army raising a siege…” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 244).
  29. 2 Samuel 2:28 tn Heb “stood.”
  30. 2 Samuel 2:28 tn Heb “they no longer chased after Israel and they no longer fought.”
  31. 2 Samuel 2:29 sn The rift valley is a large geographic feature extending from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here only a section of the Jordan Valley is in view.
  32. 2 Samuel 2:29 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
  33. 2 Samuel 2:29 tn Heb “and they went, all the Bitron.” The meaning of the Hebrew word “Bitron,” which is used only here in the OT, is disputed. The translation above follows BDB 144 s.v. בִּתְרוֹן in taking the word to be a proper name of an area east of the Jordan. A different understanding was advocated by W. R. Arnold, who took the word to refer to the forenoon or morning; a number of modern scholars and translations have adopted this view (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT). See W. R. Arnold, “The Meaning of בתרון,” AJSL 28 (1911-1912): 274-83 and HALOT 167 s.v. In this case one could translate “and they traveled all morning long.”
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2 Samuel 2
Amplified Bible

David Made King over Judah

2 So it happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where shall I go?” And He said, “To Hebron.” 2 So David went up there [to Hebron] with his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel [in Judah]. 3 And David brought up his men who were with him, each one with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

Then they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”(A) 5 So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you showed this graciousness and loyalty to Saul your lord (king), and buried him. 6 Now may the Lord show lovingkindness and truth and faithfulness to you. I too will show this goodness to you, because you have done this thing. 7 So now, let your hands be strong and be valiant; for your lord Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

Ish-bosheth Made King over Israel

8 Now [Saul’s cousin] Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to [a]Mahanaim. 9 He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, even over all Israel [except Judah]. 10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11 And the 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 and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 Joab [David’s nephew] the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David also went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. They sat down, with one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now stand and [b]have a contest before us.” And Joab said, “Let them stand.” 15 So they stood up and went over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 Each one of them seized his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponents side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim [that is, the Field of Sides], which is in Gibeon. 17 There was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

18 Three sons of Zeruiah [the half sister of David] were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as light and swift-footed as one of the [wild] gazelles in the field. 19 Asahel pursued Abner and did not turn to the right or to the left as he followed him. 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” He answered, “It is I.” 21 So Abner said to him, “Turn to your right or to your left, and grab one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel was not willing to turn away from pursuing Abner. 22 Abner repeated again, “Turn away from following me. Why should I have to strike you to the ground? How would I [c]be able to face Joab your brother [and look him in the eye]?” 23 But Asahel refused to turn away; so Abner struck him in the abdomen with the [d]butt end of his spear, and the spear came out his back; and he fell there and died on that spot. And it came about that everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell and died, stood still [and reflected].

24 But Joab and Abishai [Asahel’s brothers] pursued Abner. When the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which is in front of Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the sons of [the tribe of] Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one troop, and took their stand on the top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long [will it be] before you tell the people to stop pursuing their brothers?” 27 Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, then the people certainly would have stopped pursuing their brothers in the morning.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore. 29 Then Abner and his men went through the Arabah (desert region) all that night, crossed the Jordan, went through Bithron and walked the whole morning and came to Mahanaim [where Ish-bosheth ruled Israel].

30 Joab returned from pursuing Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, nineteen of David’s servants were missing, besides Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had struck down many of Benjamin and Abner’s men; so that three hundred and sixty men died. 32 And they picked up [the body of] Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men walked all night and they arrived in Hebron at daybreak.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:8 A fortified city in Gilead east of the river Jordan.
  2. 2 Samuel 2:14 Lit make sport.
  3. 2 Samuel 2:22 Lit lift up my face.
  4. 2 Samuel 2:23 Abner’s strength was legendary—there was a saying in Jewish tradition that it was easier to move a wall six cubits (nine feet) thick than to move one of Abner’s limbs.
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