2 Samuel 2:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul 's army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim,

NIV: Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.

NASB: But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim.

CSB: Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth and moved him to Mahanaim.

NLT: But Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had already gone to Mahanaim with Saul’s son Ishbosheth.

KJV: But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;

NKJV: But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim;

Judah is the dominant tribe of Israel's southern region. David has been made their king (2 Samuel 2:4). The rest of Israel, however, has not yet accepted David's rule. Despite David's history as a champion of Israel, he also lost credibility among some in Israel during Saul's campaign to capture and kill him. The people of Saul's tribe of Benjamin have an especially difficult time switching their allegiances (1 Chronicles 12:29). In addition, kingships normally passed from father to son.

We now learn that Abner, the commander of Saul's army, survived and escaped the epic defeat to the Philistines at Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 31). Abner was Saul's cousin (1 Samuel 14:50), and he works to see the kingship continue in Saul's line.

Three of Saul's sons were killed in the battle at Mount Gilboa, including his oldest son Jonathan (1 Samuel 31:2). But Saul has other sons: Ish-bosheth, Armoni, and Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 21:8). The mother of the latter two might be a concubine since they're not mentioned in the genealogies (1 Chronicles 8:33). This Mephibosheth is Jonathan's brother, not his son (2 Samuel 21:7).

It's been five years since Saul died and David became king of Judah, and none of Saul's sons have taken their father's throne. Abner finally acts, making Ish-bosheth king, possibly as a puppet Abner could control (2 Samuel 2:9).

Ish-bosheth literally means "man of shame." It seems his birthname was Eshbaal or Ish-baal which means man of Baal (1 Chronicles 8:33). It's possible that Hebrew scribes replaced Baal, a pagan deity, with bosheth, meaning "shame." Mahanaim was in Gilead in the Transjordan region outside the main territory of the Israelites. It's possible that Abner chose this location for Israel's capital under Ish-bosheth because the Philistines dominated most of northern Israel at this time.

Second Samuel 2:8–11 records when Abner made Ish-bosheth king. Saul and Jonathan are dead (1 Samuel 31:1–4). The men of Judah have made David king of their tribe (2 Samuel 2:1–4). Now Abner, Saul's cousin and army commander (1 Samuel 14:50), takes Saul's son Ish-bosheth and makes him king over the rest of Israel. Abner will fight David's forces for two years before he realizes he can't win. He switches to David's side and convinces Israel to follow David before both he and Ish-bosheth are murdered (2 Samuel 2:12—4:12).

David returns to Israel, where he is anointed king over Judah, and settles in Hebron. Abner declares Saul's son Ish-bosheth king over Israel. David blesses the men of Jabesh-gilead for burying Saul's remains. Abner, leading Ish-bosheth's men, faces off against Joab, leading David's fighters, at Gibeon. In a fierce, one-sided battle, Abner kills Joab's brother, but David's men overwhelm Abner's Benjaminite fighters, losing twenty but killing 360. Abner and the survivors prepare for a last stand on the hill of Ammah, but Joab calls off the battle when Abner pleads with him to stop. Both sides return home.

Saul and three of his sons are dead (1 Samuel 31:1–4). David becomes king of Judah, and Saul's son Ish-bosheth is king of the remaining tribes. When the two sides meet in battle, Ish-bosheth's army fares poorly. David continues to grow stronger over two years of fighting. Ish-bosheth's general Abner appears to make a futile attempt to take the crown from his king, then starts the work to peacefully hand David the crown of Israel (2 Samuel 3:1–12).