Sunday, April 11, 2004
2 Samuel 2-5:4 - Civil War
These chapters take us through David's reign over Judah in Hebron; from:
2 Samuel 2:4 Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
to:
2 Samuel 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
The tale is structured in the “chiastic” form of classic biblical narrative. Chapters 2 and 3 surround the key verse:
2 Samuel 3:1 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
On either side of this verse is story of the feud between the houses (families) of Saul and David. Then, surrounding that story, chapters 1 and 4 relate the death of, first, Saul and then his son, Ishbaal. Those intertwining stories, make up the account of the civil war.
This history is not particularly edifying, war being war. Early on, the two army commanders Abner (Saul's cousin) and Joab (David's nephew) seek to resolve the war by a combat of twenty-four champions, twelve to a side:
2 Samuel 2:16 Each grasped his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent's side; so they fell down together.
That didn't resolve anything, so the two sides went to open warfare. In the course of that fighting, Abner was relentlessly pursued by Joab's brother Asahel, and Abner killed him. Joab, later, had is revenge on Abner, killing him when Abner had come to Hebron on a mission to make peace and unite the kingdoms under David. When he learned of this act of treachery, David was appalled. To make clear that he had nothing to do with the assassination of Abner, he required his army (including Joab) to mourn before Abner's body. He fasted the day through, saying:
TNK 2 Samuel 3:39 And today I am weak, even though anointed king; those men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too savage for me. May the LORD requite the wicked for their wickedness!"
Joab and Asahel were David’s nephews, the sons of his (half?) sister Zeruiah. This renunciation of his nephews' savagery speaks well of David.
Surrounding this story of Joab and Abners is the story in Chapter 4, concerned with the death of Saul's son Ishbaal, and in Chapter 1, concerned with the death of Saul. Recall that in Chapter 1, a man had come to David to boast of having killed Saul. Likewise, in Chapter 4, seeking to curry favor with David, two of Abner's lieutenants come to David to boast of assassinating Ishbaal:
2 Samuel 4:7 Now they had come into the house while he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber; they attacked him, killed him, and beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night long. 8 They brought the head of Ishbaal to David at Hebron . . .
David reacted the same way to them that he had in Chapter 1 to the man who had killed King Saul:
2 Samuel 4:11 How much more then, when wicked men have killed a righteous man on his bed in his own house! And now shall I not require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth?" 12 So David commanded the young men, and they killed them; they cut off their hands and feet, and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron.
After this, "all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron" (2 Samuel 5:1) and anointed David king, saying:
2 Samuel 5:1 "Look, we are your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel."
The civil war was brutal. It is hardly an edifying story: God does not appear in the narrative, and there is no moral lesson to be learned. The one attribute of David that is worth noting through all this history is that he never lifts his hand against the king of Israel. If he was to be exalted king, as Samuel had promised, it had to be the work of God, not the work of his own will.
2 Samuel 2:4 Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
to:
2 Samuel 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
The tale is structured in the “chiastic” form of classic biblical narrative. Chapters 2 and 3 surround the key verse:
2 Samuel 3:1 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
On either side of this verse is story of the feud between the houses (families) of Saul and David. Then, surrounding that story, chapters 1 and 4 relate the death of, first, Saul and then his son, Ishbaal. Those intertwining stories, make up the account of the civil war.
This history is not particularly edifying, war being war. Early on, the two army commanders Abner (Saul's cousin) and Joab (David's nephew) seek to resolve the war by a combat of twenty-four champions, twelve to a side:
2 Samuel 2:16 Each grasped his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent's side; so they fell down together.
That didn't resolve anything, so the two sides went to open warfare. In the course of that fighting, Abner was relentlessly pursued by Joab's brother Asahel, and Abner killed him. Joab, later, had is revenge on Abner, killing him when Abner had come to Hebron on a mission to make peace and unite the kingdoms under David. When he learned of this act of treachery, David was appalled. To make clear that he had nothing to do with the assassination of Abner, he required his army (including Joab) to mourn before Abner's body. He fasted the day through, saying:
TNK 2 Samuel 3:39 And today I am weak, even though anointed king; those men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too savage for me. May the LORD requite the wicked for their wickedness!"
Joab and Asahel were David’s nephews, the sons of his (half?) sister Zeruiah. This renunciation of his nephews' savagery speaks well of David.
Surrounding this story of Joab and Abners is the story in Chapter 4, concerned with the death of Saul's son Ishbaal, and in Chapter 1, concerned with the death of Saul. Recall that in Chapter 1, a man had come to David to boast of having killed Saul. Likewise, in Chapter 4, seeking to curry favor with David, two of Abner's lieutenants come to David to boast of assassinating Ishbaal:
2 Samuel 4:7 Now they had come into the house while he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber; they attacked him, killed him, and beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night long. 8 They brought the head of Ishbaal to David at Hebron . . .
David reacted the same way to them that he had in Chapter 1 to the man who had killed King Saul:
2 Samuel 4:11 How much more then, when wicked men have killed a righteous man on his bed in his own house! And now shall I not require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth?" 12 So David commanded the young men, and they killed them; they cut off their hands and feet, and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron.
After this, "all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron" (2 Samuel 5:1) and anointed David king, saying:
2 Samuel 5:1 "Look, we are your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel."
The civil war was brutal. It is hardly an edifying story: God does not appear in the narrative, and there is no moral lesson to be learned. The one attribute of David that is worth noting through all this history is that he never lifts his hand against the king of Israel. If he was to be exalted king, as Samuel had promised, it had to be the work of God, not the work of his own will.
