Abner (to David): Let me go now and enlist all of Israel behind you my lord, the king, so that they may make a covenant with you, and you will be ruler over all your heart desires. David dismissed Abner then and sent him away in peace.

After the ceremony, the people came to David and tried to convince him to eat something that day, but he turned them away because fasting until evening was part of the mourning ritual. David: May the True God punish me severely if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets.

Joab: I can’t stand here talking to you all day. Joab took three spears, and finding Absalom still dangling by his hair inside the oak, he thrust them into his heart.

Here is a list of the warriors who fought for David: Josheb-basshebeth the Tahchemonite was the most powerful of David’s three most-honored warriors; he took up his spear and killed 800 in one battle.