2

And it came to pass after this that David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Juda? and the Lord said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? and he said, To Chebron. ²And David went up thither to Chebron, he and both his wives, Achinaam, the Jezraelitess, and Abigaia the wife of Nabal the Carmelite, ³and the men that were with him, every one and his family; and they dwelt in the cities of Chebron.

⁴And the men of Judea come, and anoint David there to reign over the house of Juda; and they reported to David, saying, The

402

men of Jabis of the country of Galaad have buried Saul. ⁵And David sent messengers to the rulers of Jabis of the country of Galaad and David said to them, Blessed be ye of the Lord, because ye have wrought this mercy toward your lord even toward Saul the anointed of the Lord, and ye have buried him and Jonathan his son. ⁶And now may the Lord deal in mercy and truth towards you: and I also will requite towards you this good deed because ye have done this. ⁷And now let your hands be made strong, and be ¹ valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and moreover the house of Juda have anointed me to be king over them.

⁸But Abenner, the son of Ner, the commander-in-chief of Saul's army, took Jebosthe son of Saul, and brought him up from the camp to Manaem ⁹and ² made him king over the land of Galaad, and over Thasiri, and over Jezrael, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. ¹⁰Jebosthe, Saul's son was forty years old when he reigned over Israel; and he reigned two years, but not over the house of Juda, who followed David.

¹¹And the days which David reigned in Chebron over the house of Juda were seven years and six months.

¹²And Abenner the son of Ner went forth and the servants of Jebosthe the son of Saul, from Manaem to Gabaon. ¹³And Joab the son of Saruia, and the servants of David went forth from Chebron, and met them at the fountain of Gabaon at the same place: and these sat down by the fountain on this side, and those by the fountain on that side. ¹⁴And Abenner said to Joab, Let now the young men arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise. ¹⁵And there arose and passed over by number twelve of the children of Benjamin, belonging to Jebosthe the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶And they seized every one the head of his neighbour with his hand, and his sword was thrust into the side of his neighbour, and they fall down together: and the name of that place was called The portion of the treacherous ones, which is in Gabaon. ¹⁷And the battle was very severe on that day; and Abenner and the men of Israel were worsted before the servants of David. ¹⁸And there were there the three sons of Saruia, Joab, and Abessa, and Asael: and Asael was swift in his feet as a roe in the field.

¹⁹And Asael followed after Abenner, and turned not to go to the right hand or to the left from following Abenner. ²⁰And Abenner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asael himself? and he said, I am. ²¹And Abenner said to him Turn thou to the right hand or to the left, and lay hold for thyself on one of the young men, and take to thyself his armour: but Asael would not turn back from following him. ²²And Abenner said yet again to Asael, Stand aloof from me, lest I smite thee to the ground? and how should I lift up my face to Joab? ²³And what does this mean? return to Joab thy brother. But he would not stand

403

aloof; and Abenner smites him with the hinder end of the spear on the loins; and the spear went out behind him, and he falls there and dies ³ on the spot: and it came to pass that every one that came to the place where Asael fell and died; stood still. ²⁴And Joab and Abessa pursued after Abenner and the sun went down: and they went as far as the hill of Amman which is in the front of Gai, by the ⁴ desert way of Gabaon.

²⁵And the children of Benjamin who followed Abenner gather themselves together, and they formed themselves into one body, and stood on the top of a hill. ²⁶And Abenner called Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour perpetually? knowest thou not that it will be bitter at last? How long then wilt thou refuse to tell the people to turn from following our brethren? ²⁷And Joab said, As the Lord lives, if thou hadst not spoken, even from the morning the people had gone up everyone from following his brother. ²⁸And Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the people departed, and did not pursue after Israel, and did not fight any longer.

²⁹And Abenner and his men departed at evening, and went all that night, and crossed over Jordan, and went along the whole adjacent country, and they come to the camp. ³⁰And Joab returned from following Abenner, and he assembled all the people, and there were missing of the people of David, nineteen men, and Asael. ³¹And the servants of David smote of the children of Benjamin, of the men of Abenner, three hundred sixty men belonging to him.

³²And they take up Asael, and bury him in the tomb of his father in Bethleem. And Joab and the men with him went all the night; and the morning rose upon them in Chebron.