The House of David Strengthened (1 Chronicles 3:1–9)
1 UST After that, the people who wanted Saul’ s son to be the next king fought a long war against those who wanted David to be the king. As the war continued, more people began to support David, while fewer people supported Saul’ s son. BSB BSB: Now 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 UST After David moved to Hebron, his wives gave birth to sons. The oldest was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from the city of Jezreel. BSB BSB: And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
3 UST The next son was Chileab, whose mother was Abigail, the widow of Nabal, from the city of Carmel. The next son was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the king of the region of Geshur. BSB BSB: his 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;
4 UST The next son was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The next son was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital. BSB BSB: his fourth was Adonijah, the son of Haggith; his fifth was Shephatiah, the son of Abital;
5 UST The youngest son was Ithream, whose mother was Eglah, another one of David’ s wives. Their mothers all gave birth to these sons of David in Hebron. BSB BSB: and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.
Abner Joins David 6 UST During the war between those who wanted Saul’ s son to be the next king and those who wanted David to be the king, Abner became a powerful leader among those who wanted Saul’ s son to be the king. BSB BSB: During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had continued to strengthen his position in the house of Saul.
7 UST Saul had a secondary wife whose name was Rizpah. Aiah was her father. One day Ishbosheth accused Abner of having sexual relations with her. BSB BSB: Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ish-bosheth questioned Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”
8 UST Abner became very angry about what Ish Bosheth said to him. He said to Ish Bosheth,“I am not some disloyal person from the tribe of Judah! From the beginning I have been loyal to Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends. And I have kept David’ s army from defeating you. So you should not be accusing me now of doing something wrong with this woman! BSB BSB: Abner 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!
9 UST Yahweh solemnly promised David that he would make him the next king instead of one of Saul’ s descendants. He promised to make David the ruler not just of the tribe of Judah but also of all the other tribes of Israel. He promised that David would rule all the territory extending from the city of Dan far in the north to the city of Beersheba far in the south. I am going to make that happen! If I do not, may God take away my position and my possessions and do even worse things to me.” BSB BSB: May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him:
11 UST What Abner said made Ishbosheth so afraid of him that he could not say anything to him in reply. BSB BSB: And for fear of Abner, Ish-bosheth did not dare to say another word to him.
12 UST Then Abner sent some of his men to David at Hebron with this message:“I am the most powerful leader among the other tribes of Israel. So if you make an agreement with me, then I can help you. I will make all the people of Israel want you to be their king.” BSB BSB: Then 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.”
13 UST David told the messengers to tell Abner.“All right, I am willing to make an agreement with you. But there is one thing you must do. Otherwise, I will not meet with you so that we can make that agreement in person. When you come to meet with me, you must bring my wife Michal, Saul’ s daughter, to me.” BSB BSB: “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.”
14 UST { Abner agreed to get Michal for David.} So David sent messengers to Ish Bosheth to tell him,“I killed 100 Philistine soldiers and cut off their foreskins to give to Saul to pay for Michal to be my wife. So now, give her back to me!” BSB BSB: Then 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.”
15 UST Saul had taken Michal away from David and given her to Paltiel son of Laish. But Ish Bosheth sent some men to take Michal away from Paltiel. BSB BSB: So Ish-bosheth sent and took Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish.
16 UST But when they took her, Paltiel followed her, crying as he went along. But when they reached the city of Bahurim, Abner told him,“You must go back home!” So he did. BSB BSB: Her husband followed her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back.” So he returned home.
17 UST { Before going to see David,} Abner had sent messengers to the Israelite leaders to tell them,“I know that for a long time you have wanted David to be your king. BSB BSB: Now Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “In the past you sought David as your king.
18 UST So this is what you should do. Make him your king now. Keep in mind that Yahweh spoke of David as someone who served him well. Remember that he said he would use David to rescue us Israelites, his people, from the Philistines and all the other enemies who would oppress us.” BSB BSB: Now 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.’”
19 UST Abner had also spoken personally with the leaders of the tribe of Benjamin{, to which Saul had belonged}. The people of that tribe and of all the other Israelite tribes had agreed to make David their king. So Abner went to Hebron to tell David that personally. BSB BSB: Abner 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.
20 UST Abner respectfully brought 20 of his soldiers with him when he went to see David at Hebron. David served a feast to all of them. BSB BSB: When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.
21 UST After they had eaten, Abner said to David,“Sir, I know that you have wanted to be the king of all the Israelites. Let me now go and get leaders from all the tribes of Israel and bring them here so they can make an agreement with you to be their king.” David agreed, and he allowed Abner and his men to leave safely. BSB BSB: Then 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.
Joab Murders Abner 22 UST While Abner was visiting with David, Joab was leading David’ s soldiers to attack some of their enemies. They defeated those enemies and captured many valuable possessions. When they brought what they had captured back to Hebron, Abner was no longer there, since David had already sent him away safely. BSB BSB: Just 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.
23 UST When Joab and the soldiers who were with him arrived, someone told Joab that Abner had come there and talked with the king and that the king had allowed Abner to leave safely. BSB BSB: When 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.”
24 UST So Joab went to the king and said,“You should not have done that! Listen to me! You had Abner, the commander of your enemy’ s army, right here where you could have made him your prisoner. But instead, you allowed him to leave, and now he has gotten away! BSB BSB: So 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!
25 UST You know what kind of person Abner son of Ner is! He only pretended that he wanted to make an agreement with you. He really wanted to find out how you lead your armies and what plans you were making!” BSB BSB: Surely you realize that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to track your movements and all that you are doing.”
26 UST Then Joab left David and sent some messengers to get Abner. They found him at the cistern of Sirah and brought him back to Hebron. David did not know that they had done this. BSB BSB: As 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.
27 UST When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pretended he wanted to speak with him privately. He led him into the shaded area between the inner and outer gate in the city wall. But there he stabbed Abner in the stomach and killed him. Joab did that to get revenge against Abner for killing his brother Asahel. BSB BSB: When 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.
28 UST David later found out what had happened. He said,“I was not involved in any way in the murder of Abner son of Ner. So may Yahweh never punish me or any of my descendants who are kings after me for his death. BSB BSB: Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.
29 UST May Yahweh punish Joab and his relatives instead. I hope that there will always be someone in his family who has sores or who is a leper or who cannot walk without a crutch or who dies in battle or who does not have enough food to eat!” BSB BSB: May 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.”
30 UST { David cursed Joab in this way because it was not right for} Joab and his brother Abishai to have murdered Abner. He had killed their brother Asahel in battle at Gibeon{, so they should not have taken revenge}. BSB BSB: (Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
David Mourns for Abner 31 UST Then David told Joab and all of his soldiers,“I want you to tear your clothes and wear rough cloth{ to show that you are sad that Abner has died}!” When men carried Abner’ s body to his grave in a casket, King David walked right behind it{ to honor him}. BSB BSB: Then 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.
32 UST They buried Abner’ s body at Hebron. At Abner’ s grave, King David cried loudly, and all the other people also cried. BSB BSB: When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept.
33 UST Then King David sang a sad song about Abner. He sang,“It was not right for Abner to die like a criminal! BSB BSB: And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
34 UST No one tied his hands or put chains on his feet, as they would have done if he had been guilty of a crime. No, men murdered him unjustly!” After the other people heard David sing this song for Abner, they cried even more sadly. BSB BSB: Your 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.
35 UST Later that day some people came and invited David to join in the customary funeral meal. But David refused{ since he wanted to go without eating to show how sad he was that Abner had died}. He said,“I swear that I will not even taste any kind of food for the rest of this day{ on which we buried Abner}! If I do, I hope that God will make very bad things happen to me.” BSB BSB: Then 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!”
36 UST Everyone who was present at the funeral saw what David did, and it pleased them, just as other things that King David had done had pleased the people he ruled. BSB BSB: All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.
37 UST { Because he had mourned deeply and sincerely for Abner,} the people of the tribe of Judah and the people of all the other tribes of Israel realized then that King David had not wanted Joab to kill Abner. BSB BSB: So 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.
38 UST King David told his officials,“I hope you realize that a great leader has now died in Israel. BSB BSB: Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great prince has fallen today in Israel?
39 UST Even though Yahweh appointed me to be the king, I now feel weak. These two sons of Zeruiah, Joab and Abishai, are very violent. I cannot control them. So I hope that Yahweh will punish them as they deserve for this wicked thing that they have done!” BSB BSB: And 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!”
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