2 Samuel 3:35 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then all the people came to persuade 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 till the sun goes down!"

NIV: Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"

NASB: Then all the people came to provide food for David in his distress while it was still day; but David vowed, saying, 'May God do so to me, and more so, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down.'

CSB: Then they came to urge David to eat food while it was still day, but David took an oath: "May God punish me and do so severely if I taste bread or anything else before sunset!"

NLT: David had refused to eat anything on the day of the funeral, and now everyone begged him to eat. But David had made a vow, saying, 'May God strike me and even kill me if I eat anything before sundown.'

KJV: And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.

NKJV: And when all the people came to persuade David to eat food while it was still day, David took an oath, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!”

In 2 Samuel 3:31—39, Abner ends the war but loses his life. For two years, David, king of Judah, has been at war with Ish-bosheth, king of the northern and western tribes. David grows stronger while Ish-bosheth declines (2 Samuel 2). General Abner, the power behind the crown, grows tired of Ish-bosheth and convinces Israel to follow David. Although he's killed, his plan works. Once Ish-bosheth is assassinated, all Israel will be subject to David's throne (2 Samuel 4:1—5:5).

In 2 Samuel 3, God arranges for all of Israel to accept David as king. Abner, the former commander of Saul's army, turns against David's rival, Ish-bosheth, after an argument about a woman. Abner persuades the elders of Israel to take David as their king and arrives in Hebron to deliver the news. Joab, the commander of David's army, is furious because Abner killed his brother Asahel. When Abner leaves, Joab murders him. David declares a curse on Joab and his descendants and publicly mourns for Abner, demonstrating to all that he had nothing to do with Abner's death.

In 2 Samuel 3, the civil war winds down. Abner, Saul's cousin, made Saul's son Ish-bosheth king. Abner commands the army of Israel. Joab, David's nephew, commands Judah's army. They have been locked in a civil war for two years, not least because Abner killed Joab's brother in self-defense (2 Samuel 2). When Abner realizes he can't take the throne from Ish-bosheth, he arranges for Israel to follow David before he's killed by Joab. Not long after, Ish-bosheth is murdered, and David is made king of all Israel (2 Samuel 4:1—5:4).

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.