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2 Samuel 2:12-17
New International Version
2 Samuel 2:12-17
New International Version
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)
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 2:16 Helkath Hazzurim means field of daggers or field of hostilities.
2 Samuel 2:12-17
New American Standard Bible
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
New International Version (NIV) 
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New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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