2 Samuel 2:12-3:11

New King James Version

Israel and Judah at War

¹² Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to ^(A)Gibeon. ¹³ And ^(B)Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by ^(C)the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴ Then Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men now arise and compete before us.”

And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

¹⁵ So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. ¹⁶ And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called ^[a]the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. ¹⁷ So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

¹⁸ Now the ^(D)three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was ^(E)as fleet of foot ^(F)as a wild gazelle. ¹⁹ So Asahel pursued Abner, and in going he did not turn to the right hand or to the left from following Abner.

²⁰ Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Are you Asahel?”

He answered, “I am.”

²¹ And Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. ²² So Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I face your brother Joab?” ²³ However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him ^(G)in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood ^(H)still.

²⁴ Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner. And the sun was going down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by the road to the Wilderness of Gibeon. ²⁵ Now the children of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became ^[b]a unit, and took their stand on top of a 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 latter end? How long will it be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their brethren?”

²⁷ And Joab said, “As God lives, ^[c]unless ^(I)you had spoken, surely then by morning all the people would have given up pursuing their brethren.” ²⁸ So Joab blew a trumpet; and all the people stood still and did not pursue Israel anymore, nor did they fight anymore. ²⁹ Then Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron; and they came to Mahanaim.

³⁰ So Joab returned from pursuing Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel. ³¹ But the servants of David had struck down, of Benjamin and Abner’s men, three hundred and sixty men who died. ³² Then they took up Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb, which was in ^(J)Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak.

Joab Kills Abner

3 Now there was a long ^(K)war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

Sons of David

² Sons were born ^(L)to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon ^(M)by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; ³ his second, ^[d]Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third, ^(N)Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king ^(O)of Geshur; ⁴ the fourth, ^(P)Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; ⁵ and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Joins Forces with David

⁶ Now it was so, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner was strengthening his hold on the house of Saul.

⁷ And Saul had a concubine, whose name was ^(Q)Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you ^(R)gone in to my father’s concubine?”

⁸ Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and said, “Am I ^(S)a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman? ^9 (T)May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David ^(U)as the Lord has sworn to him— ¹⁰ to transfer the kingdom from the ^[e]house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, ^(V)from Dan to Beersheba.” ¹¹ And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.