2 Samuel · 39 verses
2 Samuel 3
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.
Abner leaves David in peace; Joab has him brought back and kills him in a gateway, as if private talk were the safest sort of trap.
David’s growing housevv. 1–5
The old contest is still running, but its direction is plain: David grows stronger while Saul’s house grows weaker. At Hebron, David’s household expands in a briskly itemised procession—Amnon, Chileab, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream, each with his mother and, in Absalom’s case, his distinguished grandfather Talmai. A genealogy, here, has the air of a seating plan for a very consequential dinner.
A covenant with a complicationvv. 6–21
Abner has been strengthening his position in Saul’s house when Ish-bosheth accuses him over Rizpah, Saul’s concubine. Abner is furious, and the accusation prompts an astonishing change of allegiance: he offers to bring all Israel to David. David agrees, but requires Michal’s return. Ish-bosheth takes her from Paltiel, who follows her weeping to Bahurim until Abner tells him to go back—a small procession of heartbreak in the middle of a constitutional arrangement. Abner then speaks with Israel’s elders and the Benjamites, comes to Hebron with twenty men, enjoys David’s feast, and leaves in peace to gather the kingdom.
The gateway and the biervv. 22–39
Joab returns from a raid just after Abner has departed, carrying plunder and suspicion in equal measure. David explains that Abner has gone in peace; Joab sends messengers after him, brings him back from the well of Sirah, and does so without David’s knowledge. At Hebron, Joab draws Abner aside as though for private speech and stabs him in the stomach, avenging Asahel. David responds with a curse on Joab’s house, orders mourning, walks behind Abner’s bier, and weeps at the tomb. His lament asks whether Abner died the death of a fool; the people, having watched the king mourn and refuse food, are convinced that David had no part in the murder. David’s final remark is wonderfully candid: he is king, but the sons of Zeruiah are too fierce for him.
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 3:1Now the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was protracted. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
2 Sam 3:2And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
2 Sam 3:3his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;
2 Sam 3:4his fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith; his fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital;
2 Sam 3:5and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.
2 Sam 3:6During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had continued to strengthen his position in the house of Saul.
2 Sam 3:7Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”
2 Sam 3:8Abner was furious over Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!
2 Sam 3:9May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him:
2 Sam 3:10to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.”
2 Sam 3:11And for fear of Abner, Ish-bosheth did not dare to say another word to him.
2 Sam 3:12Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”
2 Sam 3:13“Good,” replied David, “I will make a covenant with you. But there is one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”
2 Sam 3:14Then David sent messengers to say to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, “Give me back my wife, Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”
2 Sam 3:15So Ish-bosheth sent and took Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish.
2 Sam 3:16Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he returned home.
2 Sam 3:17Now Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “In the past you sought David as your king.
2 Sam 3:18Now take action, because the LORD has said to David, ‘Through My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hands of the Philistines and of all their enemies.’”
2 Sam 3:19Abner also spoke to the Benjamites. Then he went to Hebron to tell David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.
2 Sam 3:20When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.
2 Sam 3:21Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once, and I will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.” So David dismissed Abner, and he went in peace.
2 Sam 3:22Just then David’s soldiers and Joab returned from a raid, bringing with them a great plunder. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, because David had sent him on his way in peace.
2 Sam 3:23When Joab and all his troops arrived, he was informed, “Abner son of Ner came to see the king, who sent him on his way in peace.”
2 Sam 3:24So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he is getting away!
2 Sam 3:25Surely you realize that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to track your movements and all that you are doing.”
2 Sam 3:26As soon as Joab had left David, he sent messengers after Abner, who brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David was unaware of it.
2 Sam 3:27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.
2 Sam 3:28Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.
2 Sam 3:29May it whirl over the head of Joab and over the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”
2 Sam 3:30(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
2 Sam 3:31Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
2 Sam 3:32When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept.
2 Sam 3:33And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
2 Sam 3:34Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. As a man falls before the wicked, so also you fell.” And all the people wept over him even more.
2 Sam 3:35Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”
2 Sam 3:36All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.
2 Sam 3:37So on that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.
2 Sam 3:38Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great prince has fallen today in Israel?
2 Sam 3:39And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”
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. 241 passages were voted onto 33 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 11 Kings 14:30There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout their days.
- 141 Samuel 18:27David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage.
- 39Psalms 28:4Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- 12 Samuel 2:17The battle that day was intense, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David.
- 1Job 8:7Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.
- 1Proverbs 4:18–19The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- 91 Samuel 15:28So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
- 141 Samuel 18:25Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
- 162 Samuel 19:16Then Shimei son of Gera, a Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David,
- 162 Samuel 16:5As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out curses.
- 191 Chronicles 12:29From Benjamin, the kinsmen of Saul: 3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to the house of Saul up to that time.
- 211 Kings 11:37But as for you, I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your heart desires, and you will be king over Israel.
- 212 Samuel 3:12Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”
- 271 Kings 2:5Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.
- 272 Samuel 20:9–10“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
- 352 Samuel 12:17The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.
Onward