2 Samuel 3

2Sa 3:1-5.

SIX

SONS

BORN TO

DAVID.

1. there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of

David--The rival parties had varying success, but David's interest

steadily increased; less, however, by the fortunes of war, than a

growing adherence to him as the divinely designated king.

2. unto David were sons born in Hebron--The six sons mentioned had

all different mothers.

3. Chileab--("his father's picture")--called also Daniel

(1Ch 3:1).

Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur--a region in Syria, north

of Israel. This marriage seems to have been a political match, made by

David, with a view to strengthen himself against Ish-bosheth's party,

to yield to policy, and the bitter fruits of this alliance with a

heathen prince he reaped in the life of the turbulent Absalom.

5. Eglah David's wife--This addition has led many to think that Eglah

was another name for Michal, the first and proper wife, who,

though she had no family after her insolent ridicule of David

(2Sa 6:23),

might have had a child before.

2Sa 3:6-12.

ABNER

REVOLTS TO

DAVID.

6-11. Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul--In the East,

the wives and concubines of a king are the property of his successor to

this extent, that for a private person to aspire to marry one of them

would be considered a virtual advance of pretensions to the crown (see

1Ki 2:17).

It is not clear whether the accusation against Abner was well or ill

founded. But he resented the charge as an indignity, and, impelled by

revenge, determined to transfer all the weight of his influence to the

opposite party. He evidently set a full value on his services, and

seems to have lorded it over his weak nephew in a haughty, overbearing

manner.

12, 13. Abner sent messengers to David--Though his language implied a

secret conviction, that in supporting Ish-bosheth he had been laboring

to frustrate the divine purpose of conferring the sovereignty of the

kingdom on David, this acknowledgment was no justification either of

the measure he was now adopting, or of the motives that prompted it.

Nor does it seem possible to uphold the full integrity and honor of

David's conduct in entertaining his secret overtures for undermining

Ish-bosheth, except we take into account the divine promise of the

kingdom, and his belief that the secession of Abner was a means

designed by Providence for accomplishing it. The demand for the

restoration of his wife Michal was perfectly fair; but David's

insisting on it at that particular moment, as an indispensable

condition of his entering into any treaty with Abner, seems to have

proceeded not so much from a lingering attachment as from an

expectation that his possession of her would incline some adherents of

the house of Saul to be favorable to his cause.

17-21. Abner had communication with the elders of Israel--He spoke the

truth in impressing their minds with the well-known fact of David's

divine designation to the kingdom. But he acted a base and hypocritical

part in pretending that his present movement was prompted by religious

motives, when it sprang entirely from malice and revenge against

Ish-bosheth. The particular appeal of the Benjamites was a necessary

policy; their tribe enjoyed the honor of giving birth to the royal

dynasty of Saul; they would naturally be disinclined to lose that

prestige. They were, besides, a determined people, whose contiguity

to Judah might render them troublesome and dangerous. The enlistment of

their interest, therefore, in the scheme, would smooth the way for the

adhesion of the other tribes; and Abner enjoyed the most convenient

opportunity of using his great influence in gaining over that tribe

while escorting Michal to David with a suitable equipage. The mission

enabled him to cover his treacherous designs against his master--to

draw the attention of the elders and people to David as uniting in

himself the double recommendation of being the nominee of Jehovah, no

less than a connection of the royal house of Saul, and, without

suspicion of any dishonorable motives, to advocate policy of

terminating the civil discord, by bestowing the sovereignty on the

husband of Michal. In the same character of public ambassador, he was

received and feted by David; and while, ostensibly, the restoration of

Michal was the sole object of his visit, he busily employed himself in

making private overtures to David for bringing over to his cause those

tribes which he had artfully seduced. Abner pursued a course unworthy

of an honorable man and though his offer was accepted by David, the

guilt and infamy of the transaction were exclusively his.

2Sa 3:22-30.

JOAB

KILLS

ABNER.

24-27. Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done?--Joab's

knowledge of Abner's wily character might have led him to doubt the

sincerity of that person's proposals and to disapprove the policy of

relying on his fidelity. But undoubtedly there were other reasons of a

private and personal nature which made Joab displeased and alarmed by

the reception given to Abner. The military talents of that general, his

popularity with the army, his influence throughout the nation, rendered

him a formidable rival. In the event of his overtures being carried

out, the important service of bringing over all the other tribes to the

king of Judah would establish so strong a claim on the gratitude of

David, that his accession would inevitably raise a serious obstacle to

the ambition of Joab. To these considerations was added the remembrance

of the blood feud that existed between them since the death of his

brother Asahel

(2Sa 2:23).

Determined, therefore, to get Abner out of the way, Joab feigned some

reason, probably in the king's name, for recalling him, and, going out

to meet him, stabbed him unawares; not within Hebron, for it was a city

of refuge, but at a noted well in the neighborhood.

31. David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend

your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth--David's sorrow was sincere

and profound, and he took occasion to give it public expression by the

funeral honors he appointed for Abner.

King David himself followed the bier--a sort of wooden frame, partly

resembling a coffin, and partly a hand-barrow.

33, 34. the king lamented over Abner--This brief elegy is an effusion

of indignation as much as of sorrow. As Abner had stabbed Asahel in

open war

[2Sa 2:23],

Joab had not the right of the Goel. Besides, he had adopted a lawless

and execrable method of obtaining satisfaction (see on

1Ki 2:5).

The deed was an insult to the authority, as well as most damaging to

the prospects of the king. But David's feelings and conduct on hearing

of the death, together with the whole character and accompaniments of

the funeral solemnity, tended not only to remove all suspicion of guilt

from him, but even to turn the tide of popular opinion in his favor,

and to pave the way for his reigning over all the tribes more honorably

than by the treacherous negotiations of Abner.