Chapter Two
David Anointed King of Judah
2:1 After this David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.”
The death of Saul is a major turning point for David and the people of Israel. While it is true that Saul had been king of Israel for forty years, he was their first monarch and there were no protocols or history of any previous transitions to follow, therefore guidance was needed. David chose to seek that guidance from YHWH, likely still having access to the Urim and Thummim (see 1 Samuel 23:9-12; 30:7-8), he asks God if he should return to Judah, and then after hearing that he should return, he asks where, and is told to go to Hebron.
Hebron was a major city in Judah, it was located where a major east-west and a major north-south trade routes crossed, and was also higher than any other city in Judah being over 3,000 feet in elevation, offering some additional strategic advantages. Hebron was also a city of refuge (click here to read about the cities of refuge) and some believe that there may have been more than a few that thought that David was responsible for Saul’s death, living in a city of refuge may have other advantages.
2:2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. 4a And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
David moved his wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, as well as all of his men and their families to Hebron and its surrounding area (the “towns of Hebron” included settlements outside the walled city). Then the men of Judah came to him and they anointed David as the king over the house of Judah. David did not pursue the throne, even though he knew he would be king, we see that the people came to him. Some have difficulty with the idea that these “men of Judah” anointed David, as they believe they were acting impudently against the authority of God since David was already anointed by Samuel (see 1 Samuel 16:12-13) on behalf of God. This action was certainly not disrespectful or in any way defying God, as this was a public affirmation for all of Judah.
2:4b When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” 5 David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. 6 Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. 7 Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”
When David hears about what the men of Jabesh-gilead did for Saul (See 1 Samuel 31:11-13), he sent messengers to bless them, “May the LORD bless you for being so loyal to your master Saul and giving him a decent burial. May the LORD be loyal to you in return and reward you with his unfailing love! And I, too, will reward you for what you have done.” (2 Samuel 2:5b-6, NLT) And since Jabesh-gilead was not in Judah (not under his rule), but was within Saul’s jurisdiction, he invites them to be under his protection, “Now that Saul is dead, I ask you to be my strong and loyal subjects like the people of Judah, who have anointed me as their new king.” (2 Samuel 2:7, NLT) Though David knew he would be king over all of Israel one day, this extension of concern of potential ramifications due to their actions in Beth-shan (see 1 Samuel 31:12), was legitimate.
Considerations
A Potential Violation?
With David having two wives and then being made a king could have potentially been a violation of Deuteronomy 17:14-20, the verses that contain God’s rules for all future Israelite kings. The law reads, “And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away…” (Deuteronomy 17:17a, ESV) Of course there were no numbers mentioned, so how many are ‘many’? Having multiple wives will become a problem for David, but then when compared to Solomon, who ignored every one of the rules for kings, he doesn’t look that bad!
Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel
2:8 But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, 9 and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel.
Abner was first introduced in 1 Samuel 14:50, he was the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle, and was also the commander of Saul’s army. In an effort to continue Saul’s dynasty, Abner took Ish-bosheth, possibly the fourth son of Saul and Ahinoam (no record of birth), who is referred to in this book as Ish-bosheth (meaning “man of shame”), but in 1 Chronicles 8:33; 9:39, his name is Eshbaal (“man of Baal”), and brought him to Mahanaim, where he proclaimed him king over Gilead (east of the Jordan River), the Ashurites (an unknown group of people, some relate them to being the offspring of one of Abraham’s great-grandsons through Keturah, see Genesis 25:3, while others connect them to the Asherites of Judges 1:32), Jezreel (likely referring to the communities in the Jezreel Valley), Ephraim’s territory, Benjamin’s territory, and all of Israel (essentially all of Israel that was not Judah and Simeon).
Mahanaim was located east of the Jordan River southeast of Jabesh-gilead. The location was named by Jacob, who, on his way back home after fleeing from his brother Esau and staying with his uncle Laban for twenty years, saw angels of God. Jacob expressed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named it Mahanaim, which means “two camps” (or dual camp, one for Jacob and his family, and the other for God and the angels, see Genesis 32:1-2).
2:10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
We are told that Ish-bosheth was forty years old at this time and reigned over Israel for two years. We are also told that David was king in Hebron and reigned over Judah for seven and a half years.
The Battle of Gibeon
2:12 Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.
Abner takes his men from Mahanaim south to Gibson, in the territory of Benjamin, which is on or very near the northern border of Judah. Joab, the son of Zeruiah, the sister of David, the commander of David’s army, goes to Gibeon (probably to see what Ish-bosheth’s men were doing so close to Judah). The two forces meet at the pool (Hebrew bᵉrē·ḵǎṯ’, small body of water, a reservoir, a pond) of Gibeon and sat down on opposite sides.
2:14 And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”
This confrontation is the subject of debate, perhaps the greatest unsolved issue is in regard to the question, “Was this a friendly encounter or one of hostility?” The wording seems to imply a more friendly angle, as the Hebrew word that is translated here as ‘compete’ is yśǎ·ḥǎqû’, a verb that means to laugh, to celebrate, to amuse, also in the DSS), and the Greek word in the Septuagint paixatōsan refers to playing, to jest, to dance. Possibly to avoid a civil war between them, the two opposing leaders agree to let the younger men to fight.
2:15 Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon.
Twelve from Abner’s men and twelve from David’s men got up to meet the challenge, but the combat was less than friendly. Each one of the men caught their opponent by the head and promptly stabbed them in their sides, and so they all fell down dead. As a result the place was named Helkath-hazzurim, meaning “field of the swords” (or field of the enemies).
This contest may have originally been thought of being able to calm tensions, settle a friendly dispute, or perhaps even provide one side with “bragging rights,” but now as there was no winner, the battle quickly grew into a deadly confrontation.
2:17 And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
Very little is mentioned about this battle, other than it was fierce and that the men of Israel were defeated by David’s army, resulting in Abner and the men of Israel fleeing.
2:18 And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle.
We are told that the three sons of Zeruiah (David’s sister, see below) were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. We were introduced to Abishai back in 1 Samuel 26:6 as one who joined David to spy on Saul’s camp (technically that is when we were introduced to Joab as well, but just as a reference to being brothers). Here in this verse we are introduced to the third brother Asahel, who is described as being very fast, as “swift of foot as a wild gazelle.” We are not informed as the why Asahel followed Abner, some believe it was to obtain some form of trophy like a piece of armor (or other spoil), others believe he saw it as an opportunity to gain recognition of his own in David’s army (instead of just being known as the younger brother of the commanding officer).
2:19 And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” 21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22 And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23 But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.
Asahel tracked Abner and followed him, at one time Abner turned around and asked if his pursuer was Asahel. He responded that it was indeed him. Knowing who Asahel was, Abner also knew that if he killed Asahel that would probably irreparably damage any relationship between him and Joab, so he suggests to Asahel that he should seize one of the other men of Israel and take his spoil, but Asahel did not listen. Abner even asks Asahel, if he ends up killing him, how could he look at the face of his brother Joab again. Again, Asahel would not stop following him, so Joab engaged Asahel and struck him with the butt end of his spear in the stomach which ruptured out through his back, instantly killing him. As the men of Israel came to the place where Asahel had died they all stopped their pursuit.
2:24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill.
But Joab and Abishai continued to pursue Abner, soon the sun began to set and they came to the hill of Ammah, which is described as being before Giah (an unknown location) on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon, where the people of Israel gathered behind Abner creating one group (Hebrew ʾǎḡǔd·dā(h)’, banded together, fitted together) and took their stand ready to fight on the top of the hill.
2:26 Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?” 27 And Joab said, “As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning.” 28 So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.
Abner then called out to Joab, “Must we always be killing each other? Don’t you realize that bitterness is the only result? When will you call off your men from chasing their Israelite brothers?” (2 Samuel 2:26b, NLT) Joab agreed this was wrong, as he responded by saying, “God only knows what would have happened if you hadn’t spoken, for we would have chased you all night if necessary.” (2 Samuel 2:27b, NLT) So he blew the trumpet and the pursuit and fighting stopped.
2:29 And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to Mahanaim.
Abner and his men traveled that night through the Arabah (the Jordan River Valley), crossed the Jordan River, and proceeded the following morning to Mahanaim (approximately fifty miles).
2:30 Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel.
When Joab returned to where his brother Asahel was killed they counted that nineteen men, besides Asahel, were missing.
2:31 But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men.
But Abner’s loss was significantly higher as the men of David were able to strike down three hundred and sixty men.
2:32 And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.
Joab and David’s men brought Asahel’s body to Bethlehem (which was between Gibeon and Hebron) to be buried in the tomb of his father. They returned to Hebron as the day was breaking.
Considerations
Zeruiah
We read in 1 Chronicles 2:13-16 about the sons and daughters of David’s father Jesse, it states that Zeruiah was David’s sister. Making Joab, Abishai, and Asahel David’s nephews. But some believe that she was the daughter of Nahash based on 2 Samuel 17:25b where it reads, “Abigal the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.” (ESV, Abigal is equivalent to Abigail) as that raises the question, “How could Abigail (this is not the wife of David) have been at the same time daughter of Nahash and sister to the children of Jesse?” Some Jews proclaim that Nahash and Jesse were the same person. Others believe that Zeruiah and Abigail were David’s sisters-in-law or half-sisters.
The most natural supposition under all the circumstances is that Abigail and Zeruiah were sisters of David merely on the mother’s side; and that the mother, before she became the wife of Jesse, had been married to some person (apparently an Israelite, but otherwise unknown) named Nahash, to whom she had borne Abigail and Zeruiah. This seems to be countenanced by the peculiar manner in which they are mentioned in the genealogy of Chronicles—not as Jesse’s daughters, but as David’s sisters—as if their relationship to him were what alone entitled them to a place in it.[1]
⇐Previous (Introduction) Next⇒
[1] M’Clintock, J., & Strong, J. (1894). Na′hash. In Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (Vol. 6, p. 826). Harper & Brothers, Publishers.