Sometime after ordering the Amalekite to be put to death for killing Saul, David inquires of the Lord as to where to go, 2 Samuel 2:1.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘By means of Abiathar the priest; for he did not know whether the different tribes were willing to receive him, though he was fully persuaded that God had appointed him king over Israel.’
God tells him to go to Hebron, a town of Judah, 2 Samuel 2:1. David, his two wives and his men then go to Hebron and settle there, 2 Samuel 2:2-3. It’s here that David is anointed as king of Israel, 2 Samuel 2:4.
David’s days of being a shepherd boy and a giant killer are far behind him now. He’s come such a long way, and his relationship with God has become stronger as he has learned to trust him more with each step he makes.
David had been anointed as king three times now; his first anointing was by Samuel, 1 Samuel 10:1, which indicated God’s will and intention. Here in this passage, we find the second time, when the men of Judah exalted him over the house of Judah and finally when he was made king over all of Israel, 1 Chronicles 14:8.
The third anointing is found in 2 Samuel 5:1-5, following a civil war, the elders of all the tribes of Israel anointed David as king over the whole nation, recognizing him as king of all God’s people. As God’s anointed king, the first thing David does is show kindness to those who respected Saul, 2 Samuel 2:5-6, God’s first anointed king.
The people of Jabesh Gilead had shown a lot of respect for Saul; this is shown in the way they cared for his body after it had been desecrated by the Philistines, 1 Samuel 31:11-13. David’s messengers tell the men to be strong and brave, for Saul their master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed David king over you, 2 Samuel 2:7.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘David certainly wished to attach the men of Jabesh to his interest; he saw that they were generous and valiant, and must be of great service to him whose part they espoused and he was no doubt afraid that they would attach themselves to the house of Saul, in consideration of the eminent services Saul had rendered them in rescuing them from Nahash, king of the Ammonites.’
Because Israel demanded a king many years ago, 1 Samuel 8:6, it appears that their appetite to have another king to replace Saul was so great that the men in Israel began anointing their own kings.
Once again, they totally ignored the fact that God was their King and He would be the one who would select their next king. Abner goes ahead and totally ignores God’s will by personally anointing Ish-Bosheth as a king, 2 Samuel 2:8-9 / 1 Chronicles 8:33 / 1 Chronicles 9:39.
It appears that Abner was the only person in Northern Israel with any real power. He was possibly an uncle of Saul, 1 Chronicles 8:33, and was in full command of Saul’s army following Saul’s death.
Abner’s motives are very questionable here. It appears that proclaiming Ish-Bosheth as king was a tactical move on his part because, as we shall see later, he wants to become king himself, 2 Samuel 3:7-11.
It’s pretty clear that Abner took full control of Israel after Ish-Bosheth reigned for two years, 2 Samuel 2:10. Ish-Bosheth was more like a figurehead king over all of Israel because he was never anointed as king by God. And so, his strength was only from those around him and not from God.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning 2 Samuel 2:10.
‘It is well observed that Ish-Bosheth reigned all the time that David reigned in Hebron, which was seven years and six months. Perhaps the meaning of the writer is this: Ish-Bosheth reigned two years before any, but the tribe of Judah had attached themselves to the interest of David. Some think that Abner in effect reigned the last five years of Ish-Bosheth, who had only the name of king after the first two years. Or the text may be understood thus: When Ish-Bosheth had reigned two years over Israel, he was forty years of age.’
After the death of Ish-Bosheth, David stayed in Hebron. Afterwards, he went to Jerusalem and integrated his government and the faith of Israel in the city of Jerusalem. The length of David’s reign in Hebron was seven years and six months, 2 Samuel 2:11 / 2 Samuel 5:5.
After making Ish-Bosheth king, Abner, who was Saul’s former commander of his army, 1 Samuel 14:50, makes an aggressive move on Joab, who was the commander of David’s army, 2 Samuel 2:12-13.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This expedition to Gibeon may have been for the purpose of shifting his metropolis to his own tribe of Benjamin, and to his family place, ‘Gibeah of Saul, close to Gibeon, with the further purpose of attacking the kingdom of David. ‘To go out’, 2 Samuel 2:12-13, is a technical phrase for going out to war, 1 Samuel 18:30.’
He suggests that they choose twelve men from both armies and have a fight, 2 Samuel 2:14-15. The idea behind this was to see which army would be considered victorious.
Sadly, the outcome wasn’t good, no one won, it was a draw because they ended up killing each other, 2 Samuel 2:16. Because of this aggressive move by Abner, a fierce battle took place between both armies, 2 Samuel 2:17. This battle then set the stage for Joab, David’s nephew, 1 Chronicles 2:15-16, to develop a quarrel with Abner.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Neither side had the advantage in the combat of twelve a side; hence, the quarrel was fought out with great fierceness by the two armies, and the victory was won by David.’
The three sons of Zeruiah were Joab, Abishai and Asahel, 2 Samuel 2:18. Zeruiah was a sister of King David. Asahel is described as being as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle, 2 Samuel 2:18. Zeruiah and her three sons, David’s nephews, all held important positions of trust in David’s army.
Joab commanded his army. Abishai was with David when they found Saul asleep and pleaded with David to allow him to kill Saul, 1 Samuel 26:6-12. Both he and Asahel were counted among David’s thirty mighty men, 2 Samuel 23:8-38 / 1 Chronicles 11:20 / 1 Chronicles 11:26.
Asahel chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him, and when Abner looked behind him, he asked, Is that you, Asahel? And he replied it is, 2 Samuel 2:19-20.
Abner tells him to turn aside to the right or to the left, take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons. Asahel would not stop chasing him, 2 Samuel 2:21. Abner warned Asahel to stop chasing him and asked why he should strike him down. How could he look his brother Joab in the face? 2 Samuel 2:22.
Abner had warned Asahel repeatedly to turn away, but Asahel ignored his pleas and continued to run after Abner, and so, because Abner was more experienced, he killed Asahel, 2 Samuel 2:23.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It seems Asahel wished to get the armour of Abner as a trophy; this also was greatly coveted by ancient heroes. Abner wished to spare him, for fear of exciting Joab’s enmity; but as Asahel was obstinate in the pursuit, and was swifter of foot than Abner, the latter saw that he must either kill or be killed, and therefore he turned his spear and ran it through the body of Asahel. This turning about that he might pierce him is what we translate ‘the hinder end of his spear.’ This slaying of Asahel cost Abner his life, as we shall find in the next chapter.’
Every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, 2 Samuel 2:23. This ended the bloody battle immediately. The result of Abner killing Asahel, who was Joab’s brother, would later come back to haunt him, as Joab would take revenge and kill him for killing his brother, 2 Samuel 3:27.
After the killing of Asahel, Joab and Abishai continued to pursue Abner, 2 Samuel 2:24. Joab’s men gathered together again to get ready for another battle with Abner’s men, including the men of Benjamin, 2 Samuel 2:25.
Abner calls out to Joab and asks, Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realise that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites? 2 Samuel 2:26. In other words, Abner asks for a truce.
Joab replies as surely as God lives, if he hadn’t spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning, 2 Samuel 2:27. When Joab tells Abner, ‘if you had not spoken’, he possibly meant if Abner hadn’t spoken earlier, then the battle would have never had happened in the first place and many men wouldn’t have needlessly died.
As a result, Joab blew the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt and no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore, 2 Samuel 2:28. Abner and his men marched through the Arabah all night long, they crossed the Jordan, continued through the morning hours, and came to Mahanaim, 2 Samuel 2:29.
Joab stopped pursuing Abner and assembled the whole army, besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were found missing, 2 Samuel 2:30. We are told that David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner, 2 Samuel 2:31 / 2 Samuel 2:25. This war which began in the pool of Gibeon was over, for now, sadly, as we shall see at the beginning of the next chapter, this wasn’t going to last, 2 Samuel 3:1.
Joab then takes Asahel and buries him in his father’s tomb, 2 Samuel 2:32. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak, 2 Samuel 2:32. It appears that Joab is being very patient because, as we shall also see in the next chapter, he will get his revenge, 2 Samuel 3:27.
This was the turning point for Israel as a nation, as they now began to fight with each other, instead of fighting and removing the Canaanites from the land. This was now all about a power struggle between men, which God said would happen if they were given their own earthly king, 1 Samuel 8:11-18.