2 Samuel Chapter 3

Scripture: 2 Samuel Chapter 3

World English Bible

Now there was long war between Saul’s house and David’s house. David grew stronger and stronger, but Saul’s house grew weaker and weaker.

Sons were born to David in Hebron. His firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;

and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;

and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;

and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David’s wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

While there was war between Saul’s house and David’s house, Abner made himself strong in Saul’s house.

Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”

Then Abner was very angry about Ishbosheth’s words, and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to your father Saul’s house, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and yet you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman!

God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as the LORD has sworn to David, I don’t do even so to him:

to transfer the kingdom from Saul’s house, and to set up David’s throne over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.”

He could not answer Abner another word, because he was afraid of him.

Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, “Whose is the land?” and saying, “Make your alliance with me, and behold, my hand will be with you to bring all Israel around to you.”

David said, “Good. I will make a treaty with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you will not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.”

David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Deliver me my wife Michal, whom I was given to marry for one hundred foreskins of the Philistines.”

Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, Paltiel the son of Laish.

Her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go! Return!” and he returned.

Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, “In times past, you sought for David to be king over you.

Now then do it! For the LORD has spoken of David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David, I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies.’”

Abner also spoke in the ears of Benjamin; and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.

So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. David made Abner and the men who were with him a feast.

Abner said to David, “I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your soul desires.” David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

Behold, David’s servants and Joab came from a raid and brought in a great plunder with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace.

When Joab and all the army who was with him had come, they told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.”

Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away, and he is already gone?

You know Abner the son of Ner. He came to deceive you, and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you do.”

When Joab had come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David didn’t know it.

When Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the body, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother.

Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.

Let it fall on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house. Let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.”

So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes, and clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn in front of Abner.” King David followed the bier.

They buried Abner in Hebron; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at Abner’s grave; and all the people wept.

The king lamented for Abner, and said, “Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Your hands weren’t bound, and your feet weren’t put into fetters. As a man falls before the children of iniquity, so you fell.” All the people wept again over him.

All the people came to urge David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David swore, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else, until the sun goes down.”

All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as whatever the king did pleased all the people.

So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to kill Abner the son of Ner.

The king said to his servants, “Don’t you know that a prince and a great man has fallen today in Israel?

I am weak today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me. May the LORD reward the evildoer according to his wickedness.”

Daily Devotional – 2 Samuel 3

Series: “When Kings Rise and Fall” – Day 3

Setting the Scene

Yesterday we lingered in chapter 2 and watched David wait while the kingdom tore itself in two. Today we open chapter 3 and feel the tension stretch over years:

“The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.”
— 2 Samuel 3 : 1, New International Version

That single verse is the hinge of the chapter. Everything else—marriages, betrayals, revenge—spins around those diverging trajectories.

1. A Long War and a Slow God (vv 1–6)

Historical note. The Hebrew says hāyâ hālēḵ wᵉḥāzēq—literally, “was going and becoming strong.” It is an idiom of steady, almost imperceptible growth. Archaeologists excavating Tel Rumeida (ancient Hebron) have unearthed storerooms and fortifications from David’s horizon; nothing sudden or grand, simply layer upon layer of careful expansion. Scripture and spade agree: God often builds kingdoms one stone, one day, one obedient heart at a time.

Spiritual reflection. We crave instant breakthroughs; God prefers patient strengthening (cf. Isaiah 40 : 31; Galatians 6 : 9). In the long war against sin, keep sowing faithfulness even when headlines say otherwise.

Cross-references.
• Exodus 1 : 12 – “the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied.”
• Luke 2 : 52 – Jesus “grew in wisdom… and favor.”

2. Marriages, Motives, and Memory (vv 2–5)

David’s six sons born in Hebron are listed. Western readers may skim the genealogy, but ancient hearers saw political geometry: every mother represents a different southern clan. The marriages are partly strategic alliances. Yet the text stays silent on whether God approved. Later, these very sons will fracture the royal family. The narrator lets history judge: unchecked appetite, even while God is blessing, sows seeds of grief (Deuteronomy 17 : 17).

Name study.
• Amnon – “faithful” (tragically ironic).
• Kileab / Daniel – “like the father” or “God is my judge.”
• Absalom – “father of peace,” a name he will betray.

Application. Success can tempt us to widen our borders faster than we deepen our roots. Ask: “Where am I adding alliances without adding holiness?”

3. Abner: Pride’s Sudden Pivot (vv 6–21)

3.1 The Offense

Abner, commander of Saul’s army, sleeps with Rizpah, a royal concubine. In the ancient Near East this was not merely lust but a claim to the throne (cf. 2 Samuel 16 : 21). Ish-Bosheth’s timid rebuke is enough for Abner to defect.

3.2 The Hebrew Echo

Abner’s name means “My father is a lamp.” Lamps in Scripture give brief, localized light—fitting for a man whose loyalty flickers. Augustine saw Abner as an icon of disordered love: he wants power more than covenant.

3.3 Covenant Language

In verse 12 Abner says to David, “Make a covenant (berît) with me.” The same word frames God’s bond with Israel, yet here it is wielded for politics. Calvin warns: “Profane lips may speak of covenant, but only hearts filed to God can keep it.”

3.4 Michal’s Return

David demands the restoration of Michal, Saul’s daughter, his first wife (cf. 1 Samuel 18 : 20–27). This is more than romance; it is legal proof that David is still Saul’s legitimate son-in-law. Archaeology from Nuzi tablets (15th century BC) shows similar cases where a bride’s return settled inheritance disputes. David’s move is shrewd yet also faithful—Michal was taken from him unjustly.

Application. God can use even prideful negotiations to move history toward His promise (Genesis 50 : 20). Still, examine whether you are Abner (self-advancing) or David (seeking rightful order) in your own negotiations.

4. Joab’s Revenge and David’s Lament (vv 22–39)

4.1 Bloodguilt Culture

Joab murders Abner “in the gateway,” invoking go’el ha-dām—the “blood-avenger” role (Numbers 35 : 19). Ancient custom allowed it, but Deuteronomy limited vengeance to courts of refuge. Joab uses the law while ignoring its spirit; zeal without justice breeds chaos.

4.2 Literary Device

Verses 28–29 form a mini-lament: David stacks five curses on Joab’s line. The piling verbs mimic a drumbeat of grief and outrage. Yet David refuses personal vendetta; he entrusts justice to God and to future prudence (fulfilled in 1 Kings 2 : 5–6).

4.3 The Bared Head

Western readers may miss verse 31: David commands the people to tear their clothes, put on sackcloth, and he walks with his head uncovered behind the bier. In Semitic culture an uncovered head signified humility; a king usually wore a diadem in public. David sacrifices image to honor a former enemy. Chrysostom preached that true greatness “kneels over the fallen.”

Application. Leadership is measured not by how we celebrate allies but by how we mourn the complicated dead. Are we willing to lay aside status for the sake of reconciliation?

Theological Threads

Providence amid Politics – God’s promise to David (2 Samuel 7, still future) is already steering events, yet human motives remain mixed. This chapter teaches “concurrent causation”: divine sovereignty works through, not around, messy choices (Ephesians 1 : 11).
The Slow Spiral of Sin – Polygamy, bitterness, vengeance all grow quietly before exploding in later chapters. Sin seldom enters with fanfare; it creeps (James 1 : 15).
The Cost of Legitimate Authority – David pays in patience, tears, and moral restraint. The cross will later reveal the fullest cost of legitimate kingship (Philippians 2 : 5-11).

Voices Through the Ages

• Augustine (City of God 17.2): “David shows how a ruler may grieve sin in others without staining himself with their guilt.”
• Calvin: sees God “drawing straight lines with crooked sticks,” using Abner’s treachery to advance righteous order.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer: warns that Joab-like zeal “claims to defend the righteous, yet forfeits the righteousness of Christ.”

A Hymn for the Heart

“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” – William Cowper (1774). Its sixth stanza echoes David’s posture:

Blind unbelief is sure to err /
And scan His work in vain; /
God is His own Interpreter, /
And He will make it plain.

Theme	Passage	Link
Patience under promise	Psalm 37 : 5-9	David’s later hymn
Just grief	Matthew 5 : 4	“Blessed are those who mourn”
Restraining vengeance	Romans 12 : 17-21	Paul’s echo of David