2 Samuel 2:29
ESV
And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to Mahanaim.
NIV
All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, continued through the morning hours and came to Mahanaim.
NASB
Abner and his men then went through the Arabah all that night; so they crossed the Jordan, walked all morning, and came to Mahanaim.
CSB
So Abner and his men marched through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning, and arrived at Mahanaim.
NLT
All that night Abner and his men retreated through the Jordan Valley. They crossed the Jordan River, traveling all through the morning, and didn’t stop until they arrived at Mahanaim.
KJV
And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.
NKJV
Then Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain, crossed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron; and they came to Mahanaim.
What does 2 Samuel 2:29 mean?
Joab has agreed to Abner's heartfelt request for an end to the battle. Joab's army has killed 360 men in Abner's command, (2 Samuel 2:31), and Abner begged Joab to stop the killing of Israelite brothers. Joab agreed, but Abner may have been suspicious that Joab would not keep to that. After all, Abner had killed Joab's brother Asahel (2 Samuel 2:23).Abner and his surviving men from the tribe of Benjamin don't stop to rest for the night. They take off marching through the Arabah, another name for the Jordan Rift Valley. They would have had to drop into it through the pass at Micmash (1 Samuel 10:5). They eventually cross over the Jordan River, likely at the ford at Adam (Joshua 2:7) and arrive back at Ish-bosheth's capital of Mahanaim the next day.
Joab has only lost 20 soldiers to Abner's 360, but he's equally eager to get home. He and his army take his brother to Bethlehem, where they bury him with his father. They continue to Hebron, where David has his capital (2 Samuel 2:30–32).
The war has only begun. Abner's stubborn insistence that Israel belongs to Saul's son Ish-bosheth and not God's chosen David will keep the sides fighting for another two years. As in this battle, Abner's army will continue to fail while David's grows even stronger (2 Samuel 3:1).
