2 Samuel 2:12-17
New American Standard Bible
Civil War
12 Now Abner the son of Ner, went 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]Abner’s men on the one side of the pool and [c]Joab’s men on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Now have the young men arise and (C)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 [d]opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his [e]opponent’s side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called [f]Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17 That day the battle was very severe, and (D)Abner and the men of Israel were defeated [g]by the servants of David.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 2:12-17
International Standard Version
12 Ner’s son Abner and the servants of Saul’s son Ish-bosheth set out from Mahanaim for Gibeon. 13 Zeruiah’s son Joab and some of David’s staff went out to meet them at the pool of Gibeon. One side encamped on one side of the pool while the other encamped on the other side of the pool.
14 Abner told Joab, “Let’s have the young men get up and fight in our presence.”
Joab replied, “Let them come.”
15 So they got up and twelve were counted to represent Benjamin and Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and twelve to represent members of David’s staff. 16 Each man grabbed his opponent by the head, plunged[a] his sword into his opponent’s side, and then they both fell together. That’s why the place at Gibeon was named The Field of Swords.[b] 17 The battle was very violent that day, with Abner and the men of Israel being defeated in the presence of David’s servants.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Samuel 2:16 The Heb. lacks plunged
- 2 Samuel 2:16 Lit. Helkath-hazzurim
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