2 Samuel 2:9
ESV
and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel.
NIV
He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.
NASB
And he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel.
CSB
He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin—over all Israel.
NLT
There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.
KJV
And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
NKJV
and he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
What does 2 Samuel 2:9 mean?
Saul has been dead for five years. None of his three living sons have taken his throne, even though David's realm hasn't expanded past Judah (2 Samuel 2:4; 21:8). Abner was Saul's cousin and well-respected general. He apparently still has family pride. He takes Saul's son Ish-bosheth and installs him as king over the northern tribes.The given locations represent the general borders of Ish-bosheth's territory. Gilead is a large region east of the Jordan River. The term sometimes refers to the Transjordan Israelite territory. Mahanaim, where Ish-bosheth is crowned (2 Samuel 2:8), is in Gilead, east of the river, precisely between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The region of the Ashurites—the tribe of Asher—is far to the west. Jezreel is a city in Judah, but this one is a region in Issachar, southwest of the Sea of Galilee, Benjamin is the southeast corner. Ephraim is south-central.
Ish-bosheth's and Abner's control of the territory isn't absolute. The Philistines hold much of the territory in the north (1 Samuel 31:7). And when Abner goes to war, it appears his soldiers are all from Saul's tribe of Benjamin—the smallest tribe in the kingdom (2 Samuel 2:15). Even under the rule of Saul, the tribes of Israel were never a cohesive nation. They won't be until David is king.
