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II Samuel

Chapter 2 (Continued)

18~~And there were three sons of Zeruiah there
  {I Chronicles 2:16 - David's sister Zeruiah - per I Samuel 22:1
  She came to the cave of Adullam (apparently with her sons)}:
Joab {commanding field general of David's army},
and Abishai
  {we saw that Abishai was the one who went with David to
  infiltrate Saul's camp - (I Samuel 26:6-10) and wanted to kill
  Saul; he will become a great field general II Samuel 10:10,14 -
  second to Joab - Abishai very loyal to David - II Sam 18:2,12 he
  fought for David in the Absalom revolution - etc.},
and Asahel
  {younger brother and per II Sam 23:24 was listed as a divisional
  commander and great soldier of David - but he will be killed by
  Abner in this encounter}.

But Asahel was speedy/'as light of foot' as a wild roe/deer.

{Note: Verse 18 is important to all that happens in the civil war and the next two chapters and the rest of David's reign. Explains how Abner will die and how Joab was such a great soldier and why sides were taken in continuing civil conflicts.}

{Note: Abner is older but also fast of foot. So in the confused retreat of the Northern Army, the fast Abner is chased down by the faster Asahel. But this puts it one on one and Asahel will lose this one on one battle.}

{Verses 19-23: Death of Asahel}
{Verse 19: Chase of Fast Abner by the Faster and Younger Asahel}
19~~ And Asahel kept on pursuing after Abner
and 'during the pursuit'
he did not deviate to the right or to the left
  {idiom: literally: 'turned not to the right hand nor to the left'}
from following Abner
  {means Asahel concentrated on only one person}.

{Note: Abner is running in this defeat probably for the Jordan River. Asahel's purpose was to stop the civil war before it ever got started. Killing the leadership (Abner) would do this. No cause continues too long without leadership. Remember Asahel is a 'legion of honor' member of David's army. Not only is he sharp mentally, He is fast and he is strong. He is a great soldier.}

20~~Then Abner looked behind him, and said,
"Are you Asahel?"
And he answered, "{It is} I."

{Note: Each army has an intelligent report on the other so Abner recognizes who Asahel is. Abner is now past 50 yet can run and carry on a conversation. He is also a great military man and in superb shape. Abner knows if he kills Asahel he will start a blood feud with the toughest family in Judea - leaving the surviving brothers Joab and Abishai alive to vow his demise.}

{Abner's Plan to Not have to Kill Asahel}
21~~And Abner said to him,
"Turn aside {an order}
either right or left,
and seize for yourself one of the 'enlisted men'
  {get an easy prey - no way can you kill me},

and take for yourself his armor {another order}."

But Asahel 'was not willing to' turn aside from pursuing of him

  {an arrogant and impetuous move by a young veteran}.

{Note: Abner tells Asahel to leave me alone boy, you can not kill ME. You go get some easy prey and you can live another day. But, Asahel would not be distracted from his goal. On the negative side, RBT says that Asahel might also have had arrogance in that he was faster than all the Southern Army and the Northern Army. Maybe he wants to 'brag' that he is the one who caught and killed Abner. What we do know is that Asahel is over confident in his ability to kill Abner once he catches him.}

22~~And Abner repeated again to Asahel saying,
"Turn aside, with reference to yourself, from pursuing me
  {does not want to kill the brother of Joab and start a blood feud}.

Why should I kill you by pinning you to the ground"
  {idiom: literally: 'smite you to the ground?'}

How then should I hold up my face to Joab your brother?"
  {Indicates Joab and Abner were good friends at one time -
  probably fellow cadets in their early days - also indicates Abner has
  a conscience - Asahel makes the mistake that someone trying not
  to fight is afraid of you - that is a mistake.}

23~~However, he {Asahel}
definitely refused {intensified his determination} to turn aside.

Therefore, Abner with the {sharpened} butt of the spear
  {Asahel followed too close to Abner. Abner's spear was sharpened
  wood to stick it in the ground. So, the metal part was going
  skyward. As Asahel caught up, Abner stopped and swung the
  sharpened butt of the spear backward and into the guts of Asahel
  as he ran right into it.}
struck him in his guts/bowels {chomesh}
so that the spear came out behind him
  {ran right into the spear and momentum made it go right through
  him}.

And he {Asahel} fell down there,
and 'slowly died'/'kept on dying' in the same place
  {means Asahel was pinned to the ground right there with the spear
  through him}.

And it came to pass,
as many as came . . . all having come
to the place where Asahel had fallen and died
stood still {in shock}'
  {in shock by who he was and the condition of his corps on Abner's
  spear - he was a popular leader and they also mourned his death}.

24~~Now Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner {with their armies}
until the sun was going down {still daylight}
and when they were come to the hill of Ammah,
that lies before Giah
  {a town located in front of the hill - exact location unknown today}
by the way of the desert of Gibeon {Jordan valley}.

25~~Now the soldiers of Benjamin
assembled themselves together behind Abner
  {reorganized the retreating troops into a defensive unit},
and became one 'reorganized body of men'/troop,
and made a {defensive} stand on the top of a hill {Ammah}.

{Note: Abner is still a thinking man. He knows he must organize the troops and get a good defensive position to survive. No wonder he escaped the battle at Mount Gilboa - Abner is a man who can think in retreat. Joab will see the superb defensive position that Abner chose and that it will cost a great many lives to attack Abner in this defensive position and will stop the pursuit. So, Joab is under great emotional distress with the death of his brother, but he also continues to think under pressure.}

26~~Then Abner called to Joab, and said,
"Shall the sword devour forever?
  {says "Joab you have won a battle - do you want to press your
  luck?"}

Do you not know {yada`}
that it will be bitterness in the end
  {meaning Abner recognizes that Joab KNOWS what the cost will be
  to attack him here}?

How long then, before you 'sound recall'/'bid the people return'
from pursuing their brothers {same race - a civil war}?"

{Note: Only thing Abner forgets to bring up is that HE started the entire mess!}

27~~So Joab replied, " 'Damn it to hell . . . by God'
  {idiom: Literally "By the life of 'Elohiym/Godhead" . . .
  with luwle' (a profanity)" so this is actually two interjections -
  one using the name of God which is not legitimate and the other is
  profane but a legitimate interjection},
if you had not spoken
  {this battle would not have happened if it was not for Abner's
  suggestion of combat},
surely then in the morning
the troups would not have gone up {into battle}
every one from following his brother
  {meaning there would have been no battle - but Joab is leaving out
  that HE agreed to it! it takes two to Tango and two to Tangle!}."

28~~So Joab 'sounded recall' on a trumpet,
and all the army/people stood still
and pursued after Israel no more,
neither fought they any more.

 {Note: The self-discipline of grieving Joab and the discipline of his troops here was one of the few bright spots of this day.}

{Abner's Retreat with the Remnant of his Army}
29~~And Abner and his men
marched through the {Northern} `Arabah
  {a plain - (the Southern `Arabah is near the Dead Sea)}
all that night and they crossed the Jordan {River},
so they marched all the way through the 'narrow gorge' {bithrown},
and they came to Mahanaim.

30~~So Joab returned from following Abner.
So when the army had been assembled,
there lacked of David's army/servants nineteen men and Asahel
  {20 casualties in all for Judea - 12 at the pool and then only 8
  more}.

31~~But, in contrast,
the army of David had killed of Benjamin,
and of Abner's men,
so that three hundred and threescore/sixty men died
  {360 casualties - 12 at the pool and 348 more in the battle}.

32~~So they 'carried {in a stretcher}' Asahel,
and buried him in the sepulcher/tomb of his father,
which was in Bethlehem.
Then Joab and his army marched all night,
and they arrived at Hebron at dawn.