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Union between Abner and David. Abner's violent death. 2 Samuel 3:1. And there was a long strife between the house of Saul and the house of David. David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul weakened more and more. “David’s advantage over Ishbosheth was that his kingdom, although small, was densely populated, did not contain heterogeneous elements, had rounded borders and was not threatened by anyone. David himself was a brilliant commander and administrator and was surrounded by talented, determined and devoted people who, even during Saul’s life, gathered to him from all tribes, not excluding Veniaminov. The kingdom of Ish-bosheth, although it was vast, was heterogeneous, cut by the Jordan into two halves, which differed quite greatly from each other. Ishbosheth was a weak man, incapable of initiative and decisive action. His personality was obscured not only in front of the personality of David, but also of his own military leader. The fall of his kingdom was inevitable sooner or later, and the circumstances that prepared David’s autocracy quickly matured” (Ya. Bogorodsky, “Jewish Kings”, pp. 142–143). 2 Samuel 3:2. And [six] sons were born to David in Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelite, 2 Samuel 3:3. and his second [son] was Daluiah, by Abigail, the former wife of Nabal, the Carmelite; the third is Absalom, the son of Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; See (1 Samuel 25:42). Gessur - in the northern part of eastern Transjordan, at the foot of Mount Great Hermon. 2 Samuel 3:6. When there was a quarrel between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner supported the house of Saul. 2 Samuel 3:7. Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aya [and Abner went in to her]. And [Ishbosheth] said to Abner, Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine? 2 Samuel 3:8. Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth and said: Am I a dog’s head? I have now shown kindness against Judah to the house of Saul your father, his brothers and his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David, and now you are exacting sin on me because of a woman. 2 Samuel 3:9. Let God do this and that for Abner and do even more for him! As the Lord swore to David, so will I do to him [this day]: 2 Samuel 3:10. I will take away the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba. 2 Samuel 3:11. And Ish-bosheth could not object to Abner, for he was afraid of him. “Avenir considered the cause of Ishbosheth completely lost and planned, perhaps, to found his own on the ruins of his kingdom. He seduced Saul's former concubine Respha and took possession of her. According to the concepts of that time, this meant that Abner, as it were, entered into the rights of Saul himself. What he would have done next as, so to speak, the father of Ishbosheth is unknown. What is most certain is that he would, one way or another, gradually transfer to himself all the prerogatives of royal power and, without, perhaps, doing any physical violence against Ishbosheth, would deprive him of even the shadow of royal power. Ishbosheth, however, sensed the danger and, with a firmness unexpected for Abner, confronted him with the dishonesty of his action. Having never felt like a real subject of Ishbosheth, instead of fear and repentance, Abner responded to this fair remark with a flash of unbridled anger. Nevertheless, he had to abandon his original plan, the success of which was based mainly on the supposed inability of Ishbosheth to make any kind of protest, and decided in annoyance (otherwise it is difficult to explain) to carry out his threat: to change Ishbosheth in favor of David” (Ya. Bogorodsky, “The Jewish Kings”, pp. 142–143). 2 Samuel 3:12. And Abner sent messengers from himself to David [to Hebron, where he was] saying: Whose land is this? And also to say: make a covenant with me, and my hand will be with you, to turn all the people of Israel to you. “Whose land is this?”, i.e., who should the land of the Jews belong to? “All the people of Israel,” that is, the entire kingdom of Ish-bosheth. 2 Samuel 3:13. And [David] said: good, I will make an alliance with you, I only ask you one thing, namely, you will not see my face unless you bring Michal, the daughter of Saul, with you when you come to see me. “What would have happened if David had not accepted Abner’s offer? It would have been that in the place of Ishbosheth, a usurper would soon have appeared - if not Abner himself, then someone else - whom David could not, and should not have tolerated. It would be necessary to undertake a new, perhaps long, internecine war. Neighboring nations hostile to the Jews could take advantage of this, and Israel would be reduced to complete political insignificance. Due to such and such considerations, one must think, David decided to speed up the inevitable denouement” (Ya. Bogorodsky, “Jewish Kings”, p. 144). “You will not see my face unless you bring Michal, the daughter of Saul, with you” (1 Samuel 18:20,26,25:44). The return of Michal, who was forcibly given by Saul to another, would be the restoration of David's honor, and at the same time the restoration of his connection with the reigning house of Saul, which confirmed in the eyes of the people his rights to the Jewish throne. 2 Samuel 3:14. And David sent messengers to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, saying, Give my wife to Michal, whom I received for a hundred circumcisions of the Philistines. 2 Samuel 3:15. And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Phalti the son of Laishe. See (1 Samuel 25:44). According to the explanation of Blessed Theodoret, in this case there was no violation of the law set forth in (Deut. 24:4), since “David did not let Michal go from him; but her father, having unlawfully separated her from her husband, gave her to another. Therefore, a combination with another (Phaltius) was not marriage, but violence” (interpretation of 2 Kings, question 11). 2 Samuel 3:16. Her husband also went with her and accompanied her weeping to Bahurim; but Abner said to him: Go back. And he returned. Bahurim is a city of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 Samuel 3:17. And Abner turned to the elders of Israel, saying: Yesterday and the third day you desired that David should be king over you, “Yesterday and the third day,” that is, before, during the reign of Saul, you stubbornly wanted to see the conqueror of the Philistines—the brave, reasonable and modest David—as your king. 2 Samuel 3:18. now do this, for the Lord said to David: “By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.” See (1 Samuel 16:1–13; 2 Samuel 5:1–2). 2 Samuel 3:19. Abner said the same thing to the Benjamites. And Abner went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin desired. Everything Israel and the entire house of Benjamin wanted from their future king. 2 Samuel 3:27. When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him inside the gate, as if to talk to him secretly, and there he struck him in the stomach. And Abner died for the blood of Asahel the brother of Joab. And Abner died for the blood of Asahel. See (2 Samuel 2:18–23, 3:30). At the same time, another explanation for Joab’s action can be accepted: by killing Abner, Joab wanted to get rid of his rival under David. 2 Samuel 3:28. And David later heard about this and said: I am innocent and my kingdom is forever before the Lord in the blood of Abner, the son of Ner; 2 Samuel 3:29. let it fall on the head of Joab and on all his father's house; Let the house of Joab never be left without one who has a sore throat, or a leper, or one who leans on a staff, or one who falls by the sword, or one who needs bread. 2 Samuel 3:30. Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle of Gibeon. 2 Samuel 3:31. And David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear off your clothes and put on sackcloth and weep over Abner.” And King David followed his grave. 2 Samuel 3:32. When Abner was buried in Hebron, the king wept loudly over Abner’s tomb; All the people cried. 2 Samuel 3:33. And the king mourned Abner, saying: Shall Abner die a vile death? 2 Samuel 3:34. Your hands were not bound, and your feet were not in fetters, and you fell as those who fall before thieves. And all the people began to cry even more over him. 2 Samuel 3:35. And all the people came to offer David bread while it was still day; but David swore, saying: Let God do this and that to me, and even more, if I eat bread or anything before the sun goes down. 2 Samuel 3:36. And all the people knew this, and they liked it, just like everything that the king did, all the people liked it. 2 Samuel 3:37. And all the people and all Israel knew that day that it was not the king who killed Abner the son of Ner. 2 Samuel 3:38. And the king said to his servants: Do you know that a leader and a great man fell on this day in Israel? The unexpected death of the proven commander and talented politician (v. 38) Abner, death at the very moment when he was ready to bring the rest of the Jews into submission to David and thus again unite the kingdom, could not but have a depressing effect on the king. The matter of reuniting the tribes was postponed indefinitely. The newly formed desire of Israel for the house of David, under the influence and guidance of the friends of the house of Saul and under the unfavorable impression of the tragic death of Abner, could have been extinguished and even taken in a completely opposite direction. But this did not happen. David's sharply expressed grief for the untimely death of the commander convinced the people that David was not involved in the crime, and his noble and sympathetic heart tied the hearts of the Jews to him even more strongly. 2 Samuel 3:39. Now I am still weak, although I am anointed to the kingdom, and these people, the sons of Sarui, are stronger than me; May the Lord reward the one who does evil according to his malice! “These people, the sons (David’s sisters) Zeruiah (Joab and Abishai), are stronger than me,” that is, they enjoy enormous authority and love among the people for their courage and devotion to their homeland, which, by the way, explains the fact that David did not dare to punish Joab properly for his inappropriate observance of the custom of bloody revenge. You might be interested in: