2 Samuel 2:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel.

NIV: He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.

NASB: And he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, even over all Israel.

CSB: He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin—over all Israel.

NLT: There he proclaimed Ishbosheth king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, the land of the Ashurites, and all the rest of Israel.

KJV: And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

NKJV: and he made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

Saul has been dead for five years. None of his three living sons have taken his throne, even though David's realm hasn't expanded past Judah (2 Samuel 2:4; 21:8). Abner was Saul's cousin and well-respected general. He apparently still has family pride. He takes Saul's son Ish-bosheth and installs him as king over the northern tribes.

The given locations represent the general borders of Ish-bosheth's territory. Gilead is a large region east of the Jordan River. The term sometimes refers to the Transjordan Israelite territory. Mahanaim, where Ish-bosheth is crowned (2 Samuel 2:8), is in Gilead, east of the river, precisely between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The region of the Ashurites—the tribe of Asher—is far to the west. Jezreel is a city in Judah, but this one is a region in Issachar, southwest of the Sea of Galilee, Benjamin is the southeast corner. Ephraim is south-central.

Ish-bosheth's and Abner's control of the territory isn't absolute. The Philistines hold much of the territory in the north (1 Samuel 31:7). And when Abner goes to war, it appears his soldiers are all from Saul's tribe of Benjamin—the smallest tribe in the kingdom (2 Samuel 2:15). Even under the rule of Saul, the tribes of Israel were never a cohesive nation. They won't be until David is king.

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).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.