Summary: The lines of Saul and David continue to war, and David’s side grows stronger (v.1). David has six sons (vv.2-5). Abner slept with one of Saul’s old concubines, and he got angry that Ish-Bosheth called him out on this (v.8). Abner decides to put David in charge of the kingdom, instead of Ish-Bosheth. David demands that he marry Michal, and she is forcibly divorced from her husband to marry David (v.15). Her husband was in distress over this (v.16). Joab was angry that Abner (a former enemy) could be an ally to David (v.23). Before Abner can round up the leaders of Israel, Joab stabs him in the stomach, because Abner had killed his brother, Asahel (v.27). Asahel was the fast “gazelle” who followed Abner (back in 2 Samuel 2:23).
David was a musician, and it seems like he is just sitting down and writing these songs (v.34; see also 1:19ff). David wept over the death of Abner (v.35). David was continually doing the right things in the eyes of the people (v.36).
(3:1) Youngblood understands this to be a summary statement regarding the battles of 2:8-32.[] During this time of war, David has six sons. This period was seven years long (2 Sam. 2:11).
(3:2) Amnon (David’s firstborn) would later be killed by Absalom (David’s third born; 2 Sam. 13:28-29).
(3:3) Chileab is only mentioned here.
Absalom was born from a Geshurite princess. Absalom flees to Geshur after killing Amnon (2 Sam. 13:37-38).
(3:4-5) Adonijah is later assassinated so that Solomon can take the throne (1 Kings 1-2).
We don’t know anything else about Shephatiah or Ithream.
David’s polygamy only increases during this time. It looks like all of these boys had different mothers.
(3:6) Abner is the true leader behind Ish-Bosheth. Note that he “made himself strong,” versus David who was “strengthened himself in the Lord” (1 Sam. 30:6).
(3:7) This question comes out of the blue. This was an “an act by Abner that probably is intended to assert his claim to Saul’s throne.”[]
(3:8) “Am I a dog’s head” is similar to Goliath’s statement: “Am I a dog?” (1 Sam. 17:43). Abner doesn’t deny the charge, but explains his loyalty to Ish-Bosheth. Abner implicitly threatens that he could have handed over the kingdom to David, if he had wanted to.
(3:9-10) Abner publicly states that he will hand the kingdom over to David.
(3:11) Again, Ish-Bosheth is a weakling. Abner is the true leader in this faction.
(3:12) Abner could be rhetorically saying that the land of Israel belongs to him, or he could be saying that it belongs to David. Either way, Abner proposes a covenant to give the land over to David.
(3:13) David accepts the contract with one condition: his wife Michal (1 Sam. 14:49). Saul had taken Michal away from David (1 Sam. 25:44), and he wanted her back. David is multiplying even more wives (cf. vv.1-5).
(3:14) David even goes directly to Ish-Bosheth, demanding his wife back. After all, he had paid a price to marry her in the first place (1 Sam. 18:25-27).
(3:15-16) Ish-Bosheth was losing the war (v.1) and losing his commander Abner (vv.9-10). This is why he is so passive in consenting to David’s commands.
(3:17-18) The men of Benjamin never desired David to be king (v.17), and God never made this statement about David (v.18). Instead, these two statements refer to Saul (cf. 1 Sam. 8:4; 9:16). Perhaps Abner is arguing that their hearts’ true desire was for a king like David—not like Saul.
(3:19) The Benjamites were attached to Saul, because Saul was from this tribe (1 Sam. 9:1). So, Abner pays them a special visit to persuade them.
(3:20-21) David is pleased with Abner’s work, and he promises peace toward him. As it turns out, one of David’s men was not in agreement with this peaceful covenant.
(3:22) Again, David’s “peace” is reemphasized here.
(3:23-24) Joab hears about David’s peaceful covenant with Abner—the man who killed his brother (2 Sam. 2:23). This sends Joab into a rage-filled rebuke of David.
(3:25) Joab emphasizes the this is “Abner son of Ner.” Ner was Saul’s cousin. Joab thinks that Abner is trying to double-cross David, learning about his movements so he can assassinate him.
(3:26) Joab rebukes David (the king!) and leaves without hearing David’s response. Joab sets up a meeting with Abner, setting up a trap for him.
(3:27) Joab gets his revenge. He kills Abner by stabbing him in the stomach, which was the same way Abner killed his brother, Asahel (2 Sam. 2:23).
(3:28) David instantly distances himself from Abner’s murder (cf. 1 Kings 2:33).
(3:29) These five curses include physical ailments (3), war (1), and famine (1). “One who has discharge” refers to “infectious conditions as diarrhea and urethral emissions.”[]
(3:30) Apparently Joab was working alongside his brother Abishai.
Later David tells Solomon that Joab was guilty for killing Abner during a time of peace, rather than war: “Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also shed the blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt about his waist, and on his sandals on his feet” (1 Kings 2:5).
(3:31) David makes Joab (the murderer!) come to the funeral.
The “bier” is the couch or bed for the deceased.
(3:32) Rather than burying Abner with his people (i.e. the Benjamites), David honors him by burying him in Hebron.[]
(3:33-35) The word “fool” (nābāl) could harken back to Nabal, whom David wanted to kill. We might expect David to feel happy that one of his enemies had died, but Youngblood comments that David’s lament is sincere: “If he mourned at length for Saul and Jonathan, he mourns no less for Abner.”[]
(3:36-37) The people believed the sincerity of David’s lament.
(3:38) Even though Abner had been David’s enemy, he calls him a “prince” and a “great man.”
(3:39) Joab and Abishail were sons of “Zeruiah” (2 Sam. 2:18). David’s dominance of being the king is overshadowed by his grief.
Just as he grieves over his mortal enemy Saul, David grieves over Abner. Why is David so tenderhearted toward his enemies after they die?
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 828.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 833.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 839.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 841.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 841.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
