2 Samuel 3

2 Samuel 3 is the third chapter of 2 Samuel. It continues the narrative of 2 Samuel 2, in which David, who had become king of Judah at Hebron, was opposed by Abner, who had made Saul's son Ish-bosheth king.

Outline

• Verse 1: The war between the house of Saul and the house of David drags on; David grows steadily stronger while the house of Saul grows weaker.
• Verses 2–5: The six sons born to David in Hebron are Amnon, Chileab, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream.
• Verses 6–11: Ish-bosheth rebukes Abner over the matter of Rizpah, Saul's concubine. Enraged, Abner swears to transfer the kingdom to David.
• Verses 12–16: Abner asks David to make a covenant with him, and David demands the return of his wife Michal. Michal's husband Phaltiel follows her, weeping, as far as Bahurim.
• Verses 17–21: Abner wins over the elders of Israel and the Benjamites. He then comes to Hebron with twenty men, is honored with a feast, and departs in peace.
• Verses 22–27: Joab returns and claims that Abner came to deceive the king. He has Abner called back from the well of Sirah and stabs him to death in the gate, avenging the blood of his brother Asahel.
• Verses 28–30: David declares that he and his kingdom are guiltless and pronounces a curse on the house of Joab.
• Verses 31–39: David follows the bier, composes a lament, and fasts until sundown. Seeing this, the people understand that Abner's death was not the king's doing. David laments that the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for him to control.

Key Verses

• 2 Samuel 3:1, "David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker" — summarizes the shift of royal power to David.
• 2 Samuel 3:39, "these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me" — the tension between David and the brothers Joab and Abishai carries forward into the later narrative.

Characters and Places

• Abner: The son of Ner and the real military power in the house of Saul.
• Ish-bosheth: The son of Saul, made king of Israel by Abner.
• Joab and Abishai: The sons of Zeruiah and commanders of David's army. Their younger brother Asahel had been killed by Abner in the battle at Gibeon.
• Michal: The daughter of Saul and formerly David's wife, who by this time had become the wife of Phaltiel.
• Rizpah: The daughter of Aiah and a concubine of Saul.
• Abigail, Ahinoam, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah: David's wives during his years in Hebron.
• From Dan to Beersheba: An expression denoting the land of Israel from its northern to its southern extremity.

Points for Reflection

• David's second son is named Chileab here, but in 1 Chronicles 3:1 he appears as Daniel. Many interpreters regard the two as different names for the same person.
• Readers differ on how to understand David's demand for Michal's return. Some see it as an attempt to restore a former relationship; others see it as a political move to gain legitimacy through a connection with Saul's royal house. The figure of a hundred foreskins that David mentions here is the number Saul demanded in 1 Samuel 18:25; according to 1 Samuel 18:27, David actually presented two hundred.
• David's mourning is likewise read by some as heartfelt grief and by others as a public act meant to dispel suspicion. The text states only that the people knew it was not the king's doing.
• Some interpreters, noting that Hebron was one of the cities of refuge (Joshua 20:7), consider Joab's act of vengeance all the more problematic.
• Joab's guilt later leads to David's dying charge to Solomon and to Joab's execution under Solomon (1 Kings 2:5; 1 Kings 2:31–32; 1 Kings 2). No direct quotation of this chapter in the New Testament is known.

In the Korean Church

The phrase in verse 1, "David waxed stronger and stronger," is frequently used as a sermon text on themes such as growth in faith or the gradual establishment of a person whom God has raised up.