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Abner Defeated Before David

12 Now Abner the son of Ner, went out 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]one on the one side of the pool and [c]the other on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Now let the young men arise and [d](C)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 [e]opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his [f]opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called [g]Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17 And that day the battle was very severe, and (D)Abner and the men of Israel were [h]defeated before the servants of David.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit them together
  2. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these
  3. 2 Samuel 2:13 Lit these
  4. 2 Samuel 2:14 Lit make sport
  5. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow
  6. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit fellow’s
  7. 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit the field of sword-edges
  8. 2 Samuel 2:17 Lit smitten

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.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:16 Heb. Helkath Hazzurim

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)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 2:16 Helkath Hazzurim means field of daggers or field of hostilities.