Rivalry Leads To War

About two years after David was named king of Judah and Abner made Ishbosheth king of Israel, their armies met in an area which was neutral territory, near the pool of Gibeon, as described in II Samuel 2:12-13.  “And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.  And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.”

While there had been no fighting, there was a definite rivalry between the two armies.  Ishbosheth’s general suggested a friendly competition between teams from each army, in II Samuel 2:14-16.  “And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us.

And Joab said, Let them arise.

Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.  And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.”

The mock battle ended in a tie with no survivors on either side.  Like a bunch of competitive sports fans unwilling to accept the final score, both armies got into a huge fight.  As II Samuel 2:17 tells us, David’s men won that fight.  “And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.”

Three of David’s cousins who had been with him in other battles were there when Ishbosheth’s army was forced to flee.  Seeing Abner, Ishbosheth’s general and strongest supporter fleeing, the youngest, Asahel, decided to kill him, hoping to end the end the conflict, as we see in II Samuel 2:18-19.  “And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.  And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.”

His weapons interfered with his running and Asahel threw them away so he could be sure of catching Abner.  Still fully armed, Abner knew that any fight between them would be entirely one sided and would be little better than murder.  He warned Asahel to get some weapons if he wanted to fight him.  In II Samuel 2:20-23.  “Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel?

And he answered, I am.

And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him.  And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?  Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.”

By law, the Jews had a flat paddle for digging on the end of their spear.  Not wanting to murder Asahel, Abner just stopped and allowed Asahel to run into the paddle, hoping it would bruise him up or break a few ribs and convince him to stop.  Running at full speed, Asahel was unable to stop and hit it so hard he drove the paddle clear through his body, killing him almost instantly.   Those who saw what happened were stunned and stopped, but others continued to chase Abner and his army until sundown, as II Samuel 2:24 tells us.  “Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.”

Reassembling his troops after sundown, Abner shouted to Joab warning him that continuing to try to wipe each other out might well result in permanent enmity between the two parts of Israel.  Joab agreed, and withdrew his troops, in II Samuel 2:25-29.  “And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill.  Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?

And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.  So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.  And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.”

When they finally settled the score, David had nineteen men besides Asahel,  Of those, twelve had been killed in the mock battle, and only seven in the battle.  Asahel had died after the battle as a result of his own pride and stubbornness.  It was a decisive victory for David’s army, aw we see in II Samuel 2:30-31.  “And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel.  But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, so that three hundred and threescore men died.