seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Samuel 2:8 Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.
10 Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David. 11 The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.
12 Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13 Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.
14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.”
“All right, let them do it,” Joab said.
15 So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. 16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.[a]
10 Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David. 11 The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.
12 Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13 Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.
14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.”
“All right, let them do it,” Joab said.
15 So they stood up and were counted off—twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David. 16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.[a]
a. 2 Samuel 2:16 Helkath Hazzurim means field of daggers or field of hostilities
As far as I know... there is one human... still alive... who knows that Samuel anointed David to be king of Israel when Saul passed. Samuel has passed and Saul has passed. That leaves only David.
King Saul died in battle. No one knows that David was anointed to take his place.
Saul had sons.... so one of them should be king... out of four sons.... one is left... his name is Ish-Bosheth.
Saul also had a loyal commander. His name was Abner, Son of Ner. Abner was also related to Saul. They were cousins. Abner saw to it that Ish-Bosheth became king over all of Israel except Judah.
In Judah, David has become King.
Israel is Split....
This is from the easy English site.
Saul had 4 sons (1 Chronicles 8:33). Three of Saul’s sons died with him in the battle (1 Samuel 31:2). His youngest son was Ish-Bosheth. Abner was Saul’s cousin (1 Samuel 14:50-51). After Saul’s death, Abner and Ish-Bosheth went to Mahanaim (verse 12). This was about 21 kilometres (13 miles) to the south of Jabesh Gilead. When a king died, his son usually became the new king. So, Abner appointed Ish-Bosheth to be the new king. This was against what the Lord had said in 1 Samuel 15:28. And it was also against what Saul had said in 1 Samuel 24:20-21. The Bible does not say whether the people of Israel wanted Ish-Bosheth as their king. Abner probably took Ish-Bosheth round Israel. They may have had many ceremonies to make him king in each region or tribe. Verses 10-11 suggest that this took about 5 years and 6 months. At last, Abner had made Ish-Bosheth king over all the nation of Israel, except over the tribe of Judah.
The nation of Israel now had two kings. The captains of each army wanted their king to rule the whole nation. Gibeon was Saul’s home town. It was near to the land of Judah and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Hebron. Each captain took a group of soldiers with him to Gibeon. But neither of the kings went. The two captains may have gone there to try to make a settlement without a war. They chose 12 men from each group to have a fight. Israel had 12 tribes. So perhaps the 12 men acted on behalf of the whole nation. Then whichever group won the fight, their king would rule all 12 tribes. This is similar to what happened with David and Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17 (see verses 8-9). The plan did not work at Gibeon. All the men died.
The nation of Israel now had two kings. The captains of each army wanted their king to rule the whole nation. Gibeon was Saul’s home town. It was near to the land of Judah and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Hebron. Each captain took a group of soldiers with him to Gibeon. But neither of the kings went. The two captains may have gone there to try to make a settlement without a war. They chose 12 men from each group to have a fight. Israel had 12 tribes. So perhaps the 12 men acted on behalf of the whole nation. Then whichever group won the fight, their king would rule all 12 tribes. This is similar to what happened with David and Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17 (see verses 8-9). The plan did not work at Gibeon. All the men died.
So... Judah and Israel are split... there are two kings in Israel. David is now King of Judah and Saul's youngest son, Ish-Bosheth was king of the rest of Israel. They don't want to fight each other.... they don't want to totally destroy one of their own tribes.
I found this at Bible.org.
David and Abner must know each other fairly well. Abner is the commander of Israel’s army, and David is a war hero who has been appointed commander of a thousand (1 Samuel 18:13). Through his military victories, David has won the respect of his fellow-commanders (18:30). Furthermore, Abner (like David) is a regular guest at Saul’s table (20:25).
So this has all the drama required for a really good movie!
