2 Samuel · 32 verses
2 Samuel 2
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Asahel runs after Abner like a wild gazelle, declines two warnings, and is killed by the blunt end of a spear; thereafter every man who passes the spot stops to look. It is a remarkably solemn pause for a battlefield, and a very efficient piece of geography.
A king in Hebron, and another in Mahanaimvv. 1–11
David asks the LORD where to go and is sent to Hebron, arriving with Ahinoam and Abigail, his men, and all their households. The men of Judah anoint him king, and David sends a gracious word to the men of Jabesh-gilead for burying Saul. Meanwhile Abner takes Ish-bosheth to Mahanaim and makes him king over much of Israel. Thus David reigns over Judah from Hebron, while Ish-bosheth reigns over Israel: the kingdom has acquired two kings before anyone has had time to make the arrangement look sensible.
The contest at Gibeonvv. 12–23
Abner and Joab bring their men to the pool at Gibeon and arrange twelve against twelve as though a tidy little competition might settle a national quarrel. Every man grabs his opponent, thrusts in his sword, and falls with him; the place is named Helkath-hazzurim. The larger battle goes to David’s servants, and Asahel pursues Abner with the single-mindedness of a creature that has misplaced the notion of turning. Abner warns him twice, then kills him with the butt of his spear. Every man pauses at the place where Asahel fell.
The sword stops at sunsetvv. 24–32
Joab and Abishai continue after Abner until sunset, when the Benjamites rally on a hill and Abner asks whether the sword must devour forever. Joab answers with admirable frankness: without Abner’s interruption, the pursuit would have continued until morning. A ram’s horn ends the fighting. Abner’s men march back to Mahanaim; Joab’s men count nineteen missing besides Asahel, though they have struck down 360 Benjamites. Asahel is buried in Bethlehem, and Joab reaches Hebron at daybreak.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Sam 2:1Some time later, David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” “Go up,” the LORD answered. Then David asked, “Where should I go?” “To Hebron,” replied the LORD.
2 Sam 2:2So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
2 Sam 2:3David also took the men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.
2 Sam 2:4Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”
2 Sam 2:5So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him.
2 Sam 2:6Now may the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this.
2 Sam 2:7Now then, be strong and courageous, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”
2 Sam 2:8Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim,
2 Sam 2:9and made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel.
2 Sam 2:10Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David.
2 Sam 2:11And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
2 Sam 2:12One day Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
2 Sam 2:13So Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. And the two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.
2 Sam 2:14Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” “Let them get up,” Joab replied.
2 Sam 2:15So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David.
2 Sam 2:16Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side, and they all fell together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is called Helkath-hazzurim.
2 Sam 2:17The battle that day was intense, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David.
2 Sam 2:18The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,
2 Sam 2:19and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit.
2 Sam 2:20And Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?” “It is,” Asahel replied.
2 Sam 2:21So Abner told him, “Turn to your right or to your left, seize one of the young men, and take his equipment for yourself.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
2 Sam 2:22Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?”
2 Sam 2:23But Asahel refused to turn away. So Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.
2 Sam 2:24But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
2 Sam 2:25The Benjamites rallied to Abner, formed a single unit, and took their stand atop a hill.
2 Sam 2:26Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
2 Sam 2:27“As surely as God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops would have continued pursuing their brothers until morning.”
2 Sam 2:28So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight.
2 Sam 2:29And all that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning, and arrived at Mahanaim.
2 Sam 2:30When Joab returned from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, nineteen of David’s servants were missing,
2 Sam 2:31but they had struck down 360 Benjamites who were with Abner.
2 Sam 2:32And they took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 172 passages were voted onto 24 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 6Proverbs 14:22Do not those who contrive evil go astray? But those who plan goodness find loving devotion and faithfulness.
- 6Exodus 34:6Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- 42 Samuel 5:5In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
- 6Matthew 5:44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
- 21 Samuel 25:42–43So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.
- 6Matthew 5:7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
- 181 Chronicles 12:8Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:
- 11 Samuel 30:31and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.
- 1Psalms 143:8Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
- 1Proverbs 3:5–6Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
- 41 Samuel 31:11–13When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
- 51 Samuel 23:21“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have had compassion on me.
- 62 Samuel 9:3So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”
- 6Psalms 57:3He reaches down from heaven and saves me; He rebukes those who trample me. Selah God sends forth His loving devotion and His truth.
- 62 Timothy 1:16–18May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he has often refreshed me and was unashamed of my chains.
- 62 Samuel 10:2And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,
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