seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Samuel 3:22 Just then David’s men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23 When Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived, he was told that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that the king had sent him away and that he had gone in peace.
24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! 25 You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing.”
26 Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern at Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 Now when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and he died.
28 Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 29 May his blood fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family! May Joab’s family never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.”
30 (Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
31 Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and walk in mourning in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. 32 They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.
33 The king sang this lament for Abner:
“Should Abner have died as the lawless die?
34 Your hands were not bound,
your feet were not fettered.
You fell as one falls before the wicked.”
And all the people wept over him again.
35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”
36 All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. 37 So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.
38 Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? 39 And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”
Here's the link to the commentary I use.He died for the blood of Asahel his brother: The careful plot to murder Abner outside the city of refuge made the murder all the darker. It showed Joab knew that Abner had a rightful claim of self-defense and was protected inside the city of Hebron, yet he killed him anyway.
For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner: This whole affair was a mess, but it would not be the first or the last mess of David’s kingdom.
Zeruiah was David's sister. Her sons, David's nephews, fought for David. One of her three sons was Joab, David's commander of the army. Now back in chapter 2, one of her three sons, Asahel, set his eyes on murdering Abner, Saul's commander of the army.
Abner, as we learned, had been Saul's commander. When Saul died, Abner found Saul's son Ish-Bosheth and put him on the throne. So Abner was working for Ish-Bosheth when David's nephew, Asahel, caught him. It was an accident. Abner didn't mean to kill Asahel. It was an accident, but Joab wasn't going to let it slide.
Now Joab, David's nephew and commander of the David's army, and his brother Abishai, decided to put Abner to death to avenge the death of Asahel.
When Joab learned that David made an agreement to lay down their arms and David let Abner go in peace, he was furious.
Without David's knowledge, Joab sent messengers to bring Abner back. When Abner got back to Hebron, Joab took him just outside the city and ran him through with his sword, avenging his brother.
Joab, David's nephew, must have thought David would be pleased. After all, his nephew stood up for the family.
David was not pleased. He cried aloud at Abner's grave.
David, it seems, was very upset with Joab and Abishai.
Hebron was a "city of refuge". When God set up the rules and regulations, back when Moses was transcribing the law, God told them to set up cities that would be a good place to go if they killed someone by accident. Abner was killed by Joab in a city of refuge. Abner didn't mean to kill Asahel. It was self-defense. It was an accident. David's nephew was found, with a dead body, in a city of refuge.
It happened in a city of refuge.
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