2 SAMUEL LESSON 2
II Samuel 2:1 "And it came to pass after this, that David
inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of
Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither
shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron."
David mourned greatly for Saul and Jonathan. When he had finally
recovered from his grief, he began to think of his homeland. David
always consulted the LORD, before he did anything. He prayed and asked
the LORD, if he should go back to his homeland. When the LORD told him
that he should, he prayed, again, and asked the LORD where should he
go. The Lord told him to go to Hebron, which is a short distance from
Jerusalem. We must remember that Samuel, on instructions from the
LORD, had anointed David to be king.
II Samuel 2:2 "So David went up thither, and his two wives also,
Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite."
II Samuel 2:3 "And his men that [were] with him did David bring up,
every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron."
David had been living in exile in Ziklag. We will find that,
after the death of Saul and his three sons in the battle against the
Philistines, many of the men of Judah had come to be with David. It
was, now, time for him to go home, and pull his countrymen together.
He is moving permanently out of the Philistine territory, so he
carries the families with them. David's nephew gathered a large group
of men to come and join him, to show that the people were behind
David. We will find that David did nothing without a Word from the
LORD. Abiathar was in charge of the ephod at this time. The LORD
spoke to David through this ephod. David and his men took their
families with them to Hebron, and carried the flocks they had, as
well.
They would not be a burden to the land, but an asset.
II Samuel 2:4 "And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed
David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying,
[That] the men of Jabesh-gilead [were they] that buried Saul."
The anointing from Samuel, of David, was an anointing from God.
This anointing from the people was to make him an earthly king. David
will never stop being the LORD's king for this earth. The people
admire him for his physical strength and his power in battle. They are
unaware that the LORD had Samuel to anoint him. This just proves that
those the LORD chooses to be king, will be made king in the secular
world.
II Samuel 2:5 "And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-
gilead, and said unto them, Blessed [be] ye of the LORD, that ye have
shewed this kindness unto your lord, [even] unto Saul, and have buried
him."
This is the first thing that David did as king. David never
stopped loving Saul, in spite of Saul trying to destroy him. Anyone
that did a kindness to Saul was thought of highly by David. We
remember, how the Philistines had nailed him to the wall, and these
men went and got his body and buried him.
II Samuel 2:6 "And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you:
and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this
thing."
David is pleased that these men have been kind to Saul and
Jonathan, and now, he is speaking a blessing upon these men. David
will show kindness to them, because of their kindness.
II Samuel 2:7 "Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and
be ye valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of
Judah have anointed me king over them."
David's message to them is a message that would, generally, be
sent by the king. In a sense, he is telling them not to give up,
because their leader has fallen. He, also, explains to them that he
has been anointed king in the stead of Saul. The people of Judah have
already accepted David as their king.
II Samuel 2:8 "But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host,
took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;"
We must remember that, Abner had been with Saul, when he sought
David to kill. It would be a natural thing for the remainder of the
men of Saul to elevate Abner to continue to lead them. All they had
known was the leadership of Saul. They had been trained to follow
Abner. Ish-bosheth was the youngest of Saul's 4 sons. His name means
man of shame. Abner was his uncle, and he thought the rule should go
to the surviving son of Saul. At this point, there was very little to
lead. The Philistines had destroyed many of their cities. There was,
also, just a remnant of the three thousand soldiers Saul had. He only
reigns 2 years. His reign is actually in name only, anyway. Abner is
their true leader. Mahanaim was on the east of the Jordan river, on
the border of Manasseh and Gad.
II Samuel 2:9 "And made him king over Gilead, and over the
Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and
over all Israel."
His rule was of just the families listed above. This is the first
breaking of the twelve tribes. This was not absolute rule over these
people, because of the weakness of Abner and Ish-bosheth.
II Samuel 2:10 "Ish-bosheth Saul's son [was] forty years old when
he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of
Judah followed David."
He was not a youngster when he began to reign, but the country
never quite accepted him as king. His reign was short and uneventful.
Judah led the way in accepting David as king.
II Samuel 2:11 "And the time that David was king in Hebron over
the house of Judah was seven years and six months."
We will find that David reigns as king 40 years. The time listed
here, is the time that he reigned only in Judah. Even though David is
depicted as a bloody man, he does not seem to oppose Ish-bosheth and
try to take leadership over his people. To the end, he respected the
house of Saul. It seems as though, this was not so with Abner. He did
not respect, or receive David as king.
II Samuel 2:12 "And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of
Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon."
We can easily see, from this, that Abner was really the
controlling force, even though he was not king. It was Abner, who was
making the decisions.
II Samuel 2:13 "And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of
David, went out, and met together by 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."
This, Gibeon was about 6 miles from Jerusalem, and 26 miles from
Hebron. It was, also, 26 miles from Mahanaim. Even though David had no
intention of coming against Abner in force and taking the people,
Abner had other plans about David and Judah. Abner felt that Ish-
bosheth should be uncontested ruler of all the people. If Abner and
David finally war against each other, both would lose. The Philistines
would benefit from this internal war.
II Samuel 2:14 "And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now
arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise."
Abner represented Ish-bosheth in this, and Joab represented
David. These were not games, as you and I think of games. These young
men, chosen from each side, will enter into mortal combat. Those
chosen from each side will represent the entire army. The name "Joab"
means
Jehovah is father. Joab had confidence, even though Abner was the
aggressor.
II Samuel 2:15 "Then there arose and went over by number twelve
of Benjamin, which [pertained] to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and
twelve of the servants of David."
The number "twelve" has always been a representative of the
whole. Each side sends twelve of their best men to engage in combat
with the enemy.
II Samuel 2:16 "And they caught every one his fellow by the head,
and [thrust] his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down
together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which [is]
in Gibeon."
Helkath-hazzurim means field of swords. It appears, they had no
shields and by brute force, they grab the hair of the head of their
opponents and stab them through with the sword. It appears, to me,
this was a field of blood. It, also, appears, to me, that this shows
the cruelty of men toward each other. It seems that Abner, and Joab
thought very little of the bloodshed of these men.
II Samuel 2:17 "And there was a very sore battle that day; and
Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of
David."
This does not tell how many on each side of the twelve died.
Perhaps all 24 died. It does seem to start a battle between Abner and
Joab. The men they had with them on both sides begin to fight, and it
seems, that David's men, led by Joab, win.
II Samuel 2:18 "And there were three sons of Zeruiah there,
Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel [was as] light of foot as a
wild roe."
Zeruiah was the mother of the three sons mentioned above. She and
Abigail were earlier specified as the sisters of David. These three
young fighters for David are his nephews, then.
II Samuel 2:19 "And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he
turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner."
The name "Asahel" means made of God. His swiftness got him to
Abner before the others. He did not get distracted along the way. He
went directly within hearing distance of Abner.
II Samuel 2:20 "Then Abner looked behind him, and said, [Art]
thou Asahel? And he answered, I [am]."
The only reason I can think of for Abner hesitating to kill
Asahel, was because he was David's nephew. He knew he would have
trouble with David, if he killed his nephew. The fact that he could
ask this question, and get it answered, shows just how close they
really were.
II Samuel 2:21 "And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy
right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men,
and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from
following of him."
It seems that, Asahel felt if he could catch and kill Abner, the
kingship of Ish-bosheth would be over. The power behind him was Abner.
Abner must have had on armour, and told the young man to put on
armour. Asahel would not be distracted from his mission, however.
II Samuel 2:22 "And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside
from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how
then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?"
Abner did not want to kill him, because he knew his brother Joab
would come to fight with him, if he did. The battle had been
instigated by Abner. He had not taken into consideration that Joab was
a powerful man. He, also, thought the battle would be easily won, and
he lost instead.
II Samuel 2:23 "Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner
with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth [rib], that
the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the
same place: and it came to pass, [that] as many as came to the place
where Asahel fell down and died stood still."
Abner saw that Asahel was going to kill him, if he did not kill
him. The spear went through the heart of Asahel, and killed him.
II Samuel 2:24 "Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and
the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that
[lieth] before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon."
The pursuit of the other two brothers became even more intent,
after Abner killed Ahasel. They pursued after him all day long, until
the evening.
II Samuel 2:25 "And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves
together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an
hill."
Abner ran far enough, that he came to some troops to back him up.
The men of Benjamin joined him, to come against Joab and Abishai.
These men stood on a hill waiting for them, to ambush them.
II Samuel 2:26 "Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the
sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in
the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people
return from following their brethren?"
We see that, finally, Abner decides that fighting among the
tribes of Israel are of no advantage. He calls out to the two
brothers, who are in hot pursuit to avenge the death of their brother
Asahel. Abner had enough men with him, that he could have killed the
two brothers. He would not, however, be ahead, because this would
cause a bitter war with David. He shows that he is a statesman, here,
by trying to stop this futile battle.
II Samuel 2:27 "And Joab said, [As] God liveth, unless thou hadst
spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one
from following his brother."
Joab makes it very plain, that it was Abner who wanted this war
in the first place. Joab is willing to stop the war, before it goes
any further. Joab was just repelling an attack, not beginning an
attack.
II Samuel 2:28 "So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood
still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any
more."
It appears that, David's men had followed after Joab, and they
were just about to have an all-out war. When Joab blew the trumpet, it
was to stop the pursuit, which would have eventually wound up in a
war.
II Samuel 2:29 "And Abner and his men walked all that night
through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all
Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim."
Abner and his men left the place where the battle would have
taken place, and walked all night. The separation of the two armies
would stop any more confrontation.
II Samuel 2:30 "And Joab returned from following Abner: and when
he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's
servants nineteen men and Asahel."
We see, from this, there was a limited confrontation. Most of the
nineteen were, probably, the twelve which fought originally. The total
loss was 20 because Asahel, the nephew of David, was lost along with
the nineteen regular soldiers.
II Samuel 2:31 "But the servants of David had smitten of
Benjamin, and of Abner's men, [so that] three hundred and threescore
men died."
We read earlier that David's men had won the battle. We
definitely see, here, that was true. Abner's army lost 360 men in this
confrontation.
II Samuel 2:32 "And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the
sepulchre of his father, which [was in] Beth-lehem. And Joab and his
men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day."
The name of the father of Asahel is never given. It does appear
that, he was from Bethlehem, as was the mother of Asahel, since they
buried him in Bethlehem. David had set up his headquarters at Hebron.
The men, that Joab led, returned to Hebron at the same time that
Abner's men returned to their home. The battle is over.
2 Samuel 2 Questions
1. Where did the LORD tell David to go, to make his home?
2. Where is that city located?
3. Who were David's wives at this time?
4. Who went with David and his wives?
5. The men of Judah anointed David __________.
6. Why do they want David?
7. Who had buried Saul?
8. What was different about David's anointing by the people here?
9. What does David speak to these people, who buried Saul?
10. David offered them what?
11. Who did Abner set up as king?
12. Who was Ish-bosheth?
13. Where was Mahanaim located?
14. How old was Ish-bosheth, when he began to reign?
15. _________ led the way in accepting David as king.
16. How long was David king of just Judah?
17. How was David different from Abner?
18. Who went out and met against Abner?
19. Where did they meet?
20. What is play, in verse 14, speaking of?
21. How many men met in battle?
22. The number "twelve" has always been a ______________ number.
23. What was unusual about their fighting?
24. After the young men met and killed each other, what happened?
25. Who was Zeruiah?
26. How many sons did she have?
27. What does "Asahel" mean?
28. Why did Abner hesitate to kill Asahel?
29. When Asahel kept coming forward, what did Abner do to him?
30. In verse 26, what did Abner say, that stopped the bloodshed?
31. What did Joab do, to stop his troops?
32. How many of David's men were killed?
33. How many of Abner's men were killed?
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