2 Samuel 3

David grows stronger while Saul’s house fades. Abner, Saul’s general, falls out with Ish-bosheth and offers to bring all Israel to David. Then Joab murders Abner out of revenge, and David publicly mourns him and clears himself of the crime.

2 Samuel 3:1

The struggle between Saul’s family and David’s lasted a long time, but its direction was clear. David kept gaining strength while Saul’s house kept losing it. God’s promise was working itself out slowly, not all at once.

BSA: stronger (“walked, went”): The Hebrew pictures steady progress, a continual going forward, so David’s rise was gradual and constant.

See also: 2 Samuel 5:10.

2 Samuel 3:2-5

Six sons were born to David in Hebron, each by a different wife. The list shows his growing household and royal standing. It also quietly plants names that will matter later, such as Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah, whose stories bring great sorrow.

BSA: firstborn (“oldest child, holding a special status”): Amnon held the place of first heir, which makes his later fall all the more painful.

See also: 1 Chronicles 3:1-4.

2 Samuel 3:6

While the war dragged on, Abner kept building his own power inside Saul’s house. He was the real strength behind Ish-bosheth, who was king in name only. This sets up the clash that follows.

BSA: strengthen (“to make strong, to seize or conquer”): Abner was not merely supporting the king but taking firm hold of power for himself.

2 Samuel 3:7

Ish-bosheth accuses Abner of sleeping with Rizpah, Saul’s concubine. In that world, taking a dead king’s concubine was a way of claiming his throne. Whether or not it was true, the charge questioned Abner’s loyalty.

BSA: concubine (“a secondary wife, a woman who lives with a man but is not his wife”): She belonged to Saul’s household, so claiming her was seen as claiming his royal place.

See also: 2 Samuel 16:21-22.

2 Samuel 3:8

Abner explodes with anger. He insists he has been loyal to Saul’s family and could have handed Ish-bosheth to David. To call himself a dog’s head for Judah is to say he is no traitor, so he is outraged to be treated like one. His wounded pride starts a chain of events.

BSA: loyal (“faithful, showing kindness”): The word carries covenant kindness, which Abner claims he has shown, though he is about to abandon it.

2 Samuel 3:9-10

Abner swears a solemn oath to bring the kingdom to David. He admits that God had promised it. Abner had known the truth all along, and only now does he act on it. Dan to Beersheba means the whole land, north to south.

BSA: sworn (“made a solemn oath, promised”): God’s own oath stands behind David’s kingship, so Abner is joining what God had already settled.

See also: 1 Samuel 16:1; 1 Samuel 15:28.

2 Samuel 3:11

Ish-bosheth is frightened into silence. His weakness shows plainly that his throne rests on Abner, not on himself. Saul’s house has nothing left to stand on.

BSA: fear (“great awe, reverence”): The word means deep dread, and it shows how completely Abner held the real power.

2 Samuel 3:12-13

Abner offers David a covenant and the support of all Israel. David agrees, but sets one condition: Michal, Saul’s daughter and his first wife, must be returned. She was a link to Saul’s house, and bringing her back strengthened David’s claim and was also simply his right.

BSA: covenant (“agreement, promise”): This is a binding treaty between two parties, not a casual deal.

See also: 1 Samuel 18:27.

2 Samuel 3:14-16

David formally demands Michal from Ish-bosheth, reminding him of the price he paid for her. Ish-bosheth takes her from Paltiel, who weeps behind her until Abner sends him home. Political needs here run over a man’s heartbreak, and the cost is easy to see.

BSA: weeping (“in sorrow, lamenting”): Paltiel’s grief shows that he loved Michal, and that real people were hurt by this arrangement.

See also: 1 Samuel 25:44.

2 Samuel 3:17-19

Abner reminds Israel’s elders that they had once wanted David, and that God had promised him victory over the Philistines. He also speaks to Benjamin, Saul’s own tribe, whose agreement mattered most. Then he goes to Hebron to report what Israel was ready to accept.

BSA: save (“rescue, deliver”): God’s promise is that David will be the instrument of rescue for His people.

See also: 2 Samuel 5:1-3.

2 Samuel 3:20-21

David welcomes Abner and his twenty men with a feast. Abner promises to gather all Israel to make a covenant with David, and David sends him off in peace. A meal and a farewell mark a settled friendship.

BSA: peace (“shalom, completeness and wellness”): David sent Abner away with full goodwill and no ill intent, which makes what follows more shocking.

2 Samuel 3:22-23

Joab returns from a raid with plunder and learns that Abner has been to see the king and left safely. The repeated phrase ‘in peace’ stresses that David had given Abner a safe departure, making Joab’s coming act a betrayal of David’s word.

BSA: peace (“shalom, completeness, wellness”): David’s pledge of safety is what Joab will break.

2 Samuel 3:24-25

Joab confronts David and accuses Abner of being a spy. His anger probably hides a personal motive, since Abner had killed his brother and might replace him as commander. He puts his own wish for revenge into the language of loyalty to the king.

BSA: deceive (“to trick, entice”): Joab claims Abner is luring David into a false trust, a charge with no evidence.

2 Samuel 3:26-27

Without David’s knowledge, Joab has Abner called back and strikes him down privately at the gate. The text names the reason as the blood of Asahel. Joab used a false friendly talk to commit murder, and the gate, a place meant for justice, becomes the scene of a killing.

BSA: pulled him aside (“to stretch or spread out, into a private space”): Joab drew Abner away from any witnesses so that the killing would be sudden and hidden.

See also: 2 Samuel 2:23.

2 Samuel 3:28-29

David publicly declares that he and his kingdom are innocent of this blood. He calls down a lasting curse on Joab’s family: disease, weakness, death by the sword and hunger. Blood shed unjustly was taken seriously before God.

BSA: guiltless (“innocent, morally clean”): David wants it clear before God that he did not order or approve this murder.

See also: Numbers 35:33.

2 Samuel 3:30

The writer explains that Joab and Abishai killed Abner because he had killed Asahel at Gibeon. Their motive was revenge. Abner had killed Asahel in battle, after warning him, so this was personal vengeance and not justice.

BSA: murdered (“slew, put to death”): The word marks this as a deliberate killing, not a death in battle.

See also: 2 Samuel 2:18-23.

2 Samuel 3:31-32

David orders Joab and everyone to mourn openly with torn clothes and sackcloth, and he walks behind the bier himself. At the tomb he weeps aloud, and the people weep too. His grief is sincere, and it also shows publicly where he stands.

BSA: sackcloth (“a coarse cloth”): Rough, scratchy cloth was worn to show grief and humility.

2 Samuel 3:33-34

David’s lament asks whether Abner should die like a fool. He was not a prisoner in chains, but he was cut down by treachery, as someone falls before wicked men. It mourns a man who died without a fair chance to defend himself.

BSA: fool (“a wicked or unwise person, one who acts stupidly or against God”): Abner had not died as a careless or guilty man would, but was tricked and killed.

2 Samuel 3:35-37

The people urge David to eat, but he vows to fast until sunset. His sincere grief wins the people’s approval, and everyone becomes convinced that the king had no part in the murder. His honesty protected the peace that Abner had begun.

BSA: convinced (“fully understood, had no doubt”): The people saw David’s actions and drew the plain conclusion that he was innocent.

2 Samuel 3:38-39

David calls Abner a great prince fallen in Israel. He admits that although he is anointed king, he feels weak against the fierce sons of Zeruiah, Joab and Abishai. He leaves the punishment to the LORD, who repays the evildoer according to his evil.

BSA: anointed (“set apart, consecrated”): David was God’s chosen king, yet he still could not fully control his own commanders. repay (“reward, recompense”): David entrusts justice to God rather than taking it into his own hands.

See also: Romans 12:19; 1 Kings 2:5-6.