2 Samuel 2:8-11
New English Translation
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[a] and had brought him to Mahanaim. 9 He appointed him king over Gilead, the Geshurites,[b] 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[c] of Judah followed David. 11 David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven-and-a-half years.[d]
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- 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.”
- 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.
- 2 Samuel 2:10 tn Heb “house.”
- 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.”
2 Samuel 2:8-11
Common English Bible
Israel’s King Ishbosheth
8 Meanwhile, Abner, Ner’s son, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth,[a] Saul’s son, and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 There he made him king over Gilead, the Geshurites,[b] Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel. 10 Saul’s son Ishbosheth was 40 years old when he became king over Israel, and he ruled for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. 11 The amount of time David ruled in Hebron over the house of Judah totaled seven and a half years.
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- 2 Samuel 2:8 Ishbosheth means man of shame; shame (Heb bosheth) may be a deliberate alteration from Baal (cf Esh-baal, man of Baal in 1 Chron 8:33; 9:39; see also 2 Sam 4:4); one manuscript of LXXL reads Ishbaal.
- 2 Samuel 2:9 Syr, Vulg; MT Ashurites or Assyrians; cf Tg, LXXL, Judg 1:32 Asherites
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