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.
17 The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David’s men.
18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle. 19 He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him. 20 Abner looked behind him and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“It is,” he answered.
21 Then Abner said to him, “Turn aside to the right or to the left; take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
22 Again Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?”
23 But Asahel refused to give up the pursuit; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and died on the spot. And every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.
24 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and as the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon. 25 Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill.
26 Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?”
27 Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.”
28 So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.
29 All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, continued through the morning hours and came to Mahanaim.
30 Then Joab stopped pursuing Abner and assembled the whole army. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were found missing. 31 But David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner. 32 They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.
Here is the link to the Bible Study I use.Let the young men now arise and compete before us: Abner suggested some kind of contest or duel between a select group of his men and Joab’s men. When the two groups of 12 met, it quickly degenerated into a mutual bloodbath (each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side; so they fell down together). Yet David’s men under the command of Joab prevailed in the very fierce battle that followed this bloodbath at the Field of Sharp Swords.
Asahel pursued Abner: In the pressure and confusion of battle, Asahel got close enough to Abner, the commander of Ishbosheth’s armies. It came down to a simple chase, and if Asahel caught up to Abner, he would surely kill him.
Lay hold of one of the young men and take his armor for yourself: It seems that Asahel pursued Abner in part for the glory of killing the commander of Ishbosheth’s army and taking his armor as a trophy.
Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach... he fell down there and died on the spot: Clearly, Abner killed Asahel in self-defense — it was the only thing he could do. Yet his concern (How then could I face your brother Joab) was entirely justified, and Joab will make it his passion to avenge his brother’s death.
Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner: Now more than the cause of David motivated them. They wanted to avenge the killing of their brother Asahel.
Shall the sword devour forever: When his armies were in full retreat and ready for a final do-or-die stand — and when two angry brothers wanted blood revenge — Joab found it easy to make the plea for peace. It was certainly to his advantage to give peace a chance.
Joab blew a trumpet; and all the people stood still: Joab agreed to this cease-fire, probably to both rest his exhausted army and to of avoid a long, bloody civil war.
There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: This shows how wrong it was for Joab to accept Abner’s appeal for a cease-fire at the battle of The Field of Sharp Swords. The fact was that they couldn’t just get along, and that there could be no peace between the rightful king David and the pretender to the throne, Ishbosheth. The cease-fire seemed to make things better, but in reality, it only made things worse and it led to the long war.
Yep... I left out the part about David singing over Saul and Jonathan. I also left out how God told David he could take his troops [and their families] to Hebron. I also left out the part where the people of Judah anointed David king.
So as this opens.... Saul's commander decided to get Ish-Bosheth to take over Saul's kingdom. He put Ish-Bosheth on the throne. Ish-Bosheth was Saul's son. Makes sense, right?
Of course, when Saul died his son should take the throne. That's how it works in England... so why wouldn't it work in Hebron or Judea or the rest of Israel?
God anointed the king in Israel.... not the people. God anointed Saul because the people wanted a king like everyone else had. Saul was rich, good looking, and well known. It's good that Saul's commander was so loyal as to hunt down Saul's "last son" and make him king.
BUT... when Saul didn't do what God told him to do, kill every single Amalekite, God anointed David to take the throne.
Now check out verse 15. It was hand to hand combat. It was a way to solve the issue of who would be king. Twelve men from the tribe of Benjamin [Jacob's baby son] and twelve men from David's troops. They all killed each other. So that didn't solve anything much.
The three sons of Zeruiah: Zeruiah was David’s sister (1 Chronicles 2:16). Joab and Abishai and Asahel were the nephews of David, but since David was the youngest of eight sons, they may have been about the same age or older than David.
Abner didn't mean to kill Asahel. Abner knew that Joab's brothers [David's Nephews] would come after him for killing Asahel. Abner tried to outrun him but couldn't. Abner knew it would make the war worse. If Saul's Commander of the Army, Abner, killed David's nephew, Asahel, then it would be worse even yet. But Asahel would not give up. Abner finally had to defend himself. Asahel lost. David's nephew was dead.
19 of David's troops died in these battles. 360 of Abner's [Ish-Bosheth's] troops died in these battles.
Asahel's brother, Joab, decided to go after Abner [Saul's commander] for killing David's nephew
David's nephew, Asahel, was buried in Bethlehem.
Abner asked for a cease fire. Abner blew his horn and the fighting stopped.
I guess the title for these verses should be...
Abner asked for a cease fire.
