Old Testament · History

2 Samuel chapter 2

After this, David , “Should I go up to one of the towns of ?” Yahweh told him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where should I go?” He said, “To .”So David went up there with his two wives — from Jezreel and , the widow of Nabal from Carmel.David also brought the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in the towns around Hebron.Then the men of Judah came and David as king over the . When David was told that the men of had buried Saul,David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May Yahweh for this act of you showed your master Saul by giving him a proper burial.And now may Yahweh show you and . I myself will also treat you well because you did this.“So now, , because your master Saul is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”Meanwhile, son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Saul’s son and brought him across to .He made him king over , over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin — and over .Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he ruled for two years. But the house of Judah David.David ruled as king in Hebron over the house of Judah for seven years and six months.Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to . son of and David’s men also marched out and met them at the . One group sat down on one side of the pool and the other group on the opposite side.Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and in front of us.” Joab said, “Fine, let them.”So they stood up and were counted off — twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David’s men.Each man and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side, and they all fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was named .The battle that day was , and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s men.Now Zeruiah’s three sons were there: Joab, Abishai, and . Asahel was as fast on his feet as a .Asahel chased after Abner, as he pursued him.Abner looked behind him and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” He answered, “It is.”Abner said to him, “Turn aside — go after one of the younger soldiers and .” But Asahel refused to stop chasing him.Abner warned Asahel again, “Stop chasing me! Why should I have to strike you down? ?”But Asahel refused to turn away. So Abner thrust the into Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and . Everyone who came to the place where Asahel fell and died stopped there.But Joab and Abishai kept pursuing Abner. By sunset they reached the hill of , which is near Giah on the road to the wilderness of Gibeon.The rallied behind Abner, forming a single unit, and took their stand on top of a hill.Abner called out to Joab, “Must forever? Don’t you realize this will only end in ? How long before you tell your men to stop chasing ?”Joab replied, “, if you hadn’t spoken up, the men would have kept chasing their brothers until morning.”So Joab blew the , and all his men stopped. They no longer pursued Israel or continued fighting.Abner and his men marched through the all that night, crossed the Jordan River, marched through the entire morning, and arrived at Mahanaim.When Joab returned from chasing Abner and gathered all his men, nineteen of David’s men were missing, plus Asahel.But David’s men had struck down three hundred and sixty of the Benjaminites who were with Abner — that many died.They carried Asahel and buried him in at . Then Joab and his men marched through the night and reached Hebron at daybreak.