1 Sam 3.1-39 tells us about the continuing war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David’s wives and and sons; a disagreement between Abner and Ish-boshet; Abner proposes to make an agreement with David but wants Michal back first; Abner and the elders of Israel in favor of David; Joab returns and disagreed with David for letting him go after their meeting; Joab sends for Abner and kills him; David clears himself from the murder and pronounces judgment on Joab and his family; Abner is buried with great sorrow.
v 1…Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David (showing how wrong it was to accept Abner’s cease fire; he should have been defeated right away), and David grew steadily stronger, but the house of Saul grew weaker continually.
v 2…Sons were born to David at Hebron: his first born Amnon (faithful), by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
v 3…and his second, Chileab (like his father, AKA Daniel in 1 Chr 3.1;), by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom (father of peace) the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur (a small kingdom NE of Bashan-Deut 3.14);
v 4…and the fourth, Adonijah (my Lord is Yehovah) the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah (Yehovah judges) the son of Ahital (my father is the dew);
v 5…and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah (heifer). These were born to David at Hebron (David has six sons by six wives, and six is the number of man and sin. This was not against Deut 17.17 by some scholars because they were not “foreign or pagan” wives who would turn his heart and lead him astray. Amnon raped his sister; Chileab/Daniel is not mentioned very often; Absalom murders his half-brother Amnon and revolts against David, and he is a picture of the False Messiah as we shall see; Adonijah tried to seize the throne from his father, and tried to take one of David’s concubines, and will be executed. Shephatiah and Ithream are not mentioned much and little is known of them).
v 6…And it came about while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David that Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul (until the following contention between Abner and Ish-boshet; Abner supported Is-boshet because he was weak).
v 7…Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah (pavement), the daughter of Aiah (falcon) and Ish-boshet accused Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine (this was seen as ambitious; wives went to a king’s successor and it wasn’t Abner)?”
v 8…Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-boshet and said, “Am I a dog’s head (that copulates with anything) that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman (he doesn’t deny it, but thinks it was a small fault).
v 9…May God do so to Abner, and more also, if as the Lord has sworn to David (he knows he is fighting God in opposing David and setting up Ish-boshet), if I do not accomplish this for him (David),
v 10…to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba (Abner threatens to transfer his influence to David).”
v 11…And he could no longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him (Abner was a bully and Ish-boshet was weak).
v 12…Then Abner sent messengers to David in his place, saying, “Whose is the land (he knew it was David’s; he is setting up terms for himself)? Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel over to you (let’s forget the past).”
v 13…And he said (David), “Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I demand one thing from you, namely, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see me (to show that David had no bitterness towards the house of Saul, but David didn’t want her; by possessing her would incline some of the house of Saul to be more favorable to David in uniting Israel by being Saul’s son-in-law).
v 14…So David sent messengers to Ish-boshet, Saul’ son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, to whom I was betrothed for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines (she was taken from him, not divorced- 1 Sam 25.49).”
v 15…And Ish-boshet sent and took her from her husband, from Palti (God delivers) the son of Laish (lion).
v 16…But her husband went with her, weeping as he went (he loved her), and followed her as far as Bahurim (young men’s village). Then Abner said to him, “Go, return.” So he returned.
v 17…Now Abner had consultation with the elders of Israel (Abner doesn’t support David for the right reasons, but for revenge against Ish-boshet), saying, “In the past you were seeking for David to be king over you.
v 18…Now then, do it! For the Lord has spoken to David, saying, “By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hands of all their enemies.”
v 19…And Abner also spoke in the hearing of Benjamin (his tribe), and in addition Abner went to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin (he is consolidating the people to support David as king).
v 20…Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast (a covenant meal) for Abner and the men who were with him.
v 21…And Abner said to David, “Let me arise and go, and gather all Israel to my lord the king that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may be king over all that your soul desires (all of Israel and Judah, although David was waiting on the timing of Yehovah to take possession of the whole kingdom).” So David sent Abner away and he went in peace.
v 22…And behold, the servants (avadim/warriors) of David and Joab came from a raid (against robbers) and brought much spoil with them, but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace.
v 23…When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.
v 24…Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you, why then have you sent him away and he is already gone?
v 25…You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to learn of your going out and coming in and to find out all that you are doing (Abner could be formidable and he knew Abner was a capable military commander, and he was popular with his army; but Joab was also angry because Abner killed his brother Asahel in 2 Sam 2.23).”
v 26…When Joab came out from David, he sent messengers after Abner (probably in David’s name) and they brought him back from the well of Sirah (the turning), but David did not know it.
v 27…So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak to him privately, and there he struck him in the belly (the same place Abner killed Asahel in 2 Sam 2.23; this is the first one he murders, and he will murder Amasa out of jealousy and the Lord will require it of him in 1 Kings 2.32) so that he did on account of the blood of Asahel his brother.
v 28…And afterward when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
v 29…May it fall on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house (who had a hand in this) and may there not fail from the house of Joab one (or more) who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who takes hold of a distaff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.”
v 30…So Joab and Abishai (he was in on it too) his brother killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon (they had no right as a “Goel” or an avenger of blood to do this because Asahel died in war).
v 31…Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and gird on sackcloth and lament before Abner (his body as it is carried to the grave).” And King David walked behind the bier.
v 32…Thus they buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.
v 33…And the king chanted (a “kinah” or lamentation) for Abner and said, “Should Abner die as a fool dies (NO!)?
v 34…Your hands were not bound nor your feet put in fetters; as one falls before the wicked, you have fallen.” And all the people wept again over him
v 35…Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was still day, but David vowed, saying, “May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down.”
v 36…Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them, just as everything the king did pleased the people (David had to show that his reign would not be one of brutality).
v 37…So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the will of the king to put Abner the son of Ner to death.
v 38…Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not know that a prince (Abner was the cousin of Saul and being of the royal family) and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?
v 39…And I am weak today though anointed king, and these men the sons of Zeruiah (his sister’s sons and his nephews) are too difficult for me (he knew they were going to be difficult; in respect to the kingdom, David was not able to inflict punishment on them, Joab was the general of his army and Abishai was an officer and a good warrior who was popular with his men). May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil.”
2 Sam 4.1-12 tells us about the concern Ish-boshet and the men of Israel had over the death of Abner; the murder of Ish-boshet by two of his commanders, and they bring the head of Ish-boshet to David; his two murderers are killed by David.
v 1…Now when Ish-boshet, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and Israel was disturbed (they were weak and trusted in men).
v 2…And Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of bands (troops in the army); the name of the one was Baanah (son of affliction) and the name of the other Rechab (driver) sons of Rimmon (pomegranate) the Beerothite (belonging to the wells); of the sons of Benjamin, for Beeroth was also considered part of Benjamin;
v 3…and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim (two wine presses), and have been aliens there until this day (forsook their city to the Philistines at the news of Saul).
v 4…Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephi-boshet (he was heir to the throne but was considered unfit; also called Mer-baal-1 Chr 8.34).
v 5…So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of Ish-boshet in the heat of the day, while he was taking his midday rest.
v 6…And they came to the middle of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.
v 7…Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night (from Mahanaim through the plain of the Jordan to Hebron).
v 8…Then they brought the head of Ish-boshet to David at Hebron (thinking he would be pleased), and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-boshet, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants (for all their evil; they thought they were “serving God”).
v 9…And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,
v 10…when one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news (basar), I seized him and killed him at Ziklag (the lying Amalekite in 2 Sam 1.15), which was the reward I gave him for his news.
v 11…How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man (in comparison) in his own house on his bed, shall I not require his blood from your hand, and destroy you from the earth?”
v 12…Then David commanded the young men (ne’arim or elite warriors), and they killed them and cut off their hands (which killed Ish-boshet) and feet (which were swift to shed blood and came swiftly to David) and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron (their bodies as a testimony of David’s strict justice in dealing with these criminals, and to show he had nothing to do with his death). But they took the head of Ish-boshet and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron (a kinsman; this shows the regard for the house of Saul).
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