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2 Samuel 2:28

in 2 Samuel 2

So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.

KJV

So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 2

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
So Joab blew a trumpet,.... Or caused one to be blown as a signal of a retreat: and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more; as soon as they heard the trumpet sound, the meaning of which they understood, they stepped at once, and left off their pursuit: neither fought they any more; that day, and perhaps no pitched battle afterwards; for none we read of, though the war continued after this a long time, and there might be often skirmishes, which greatly weakened Abner's party. See 2Sa 3:1.

This site's exposition

Must the sword devour forever?

on 2 Samuel 2:26-28

Abner calls out to Joab, whether the sword must devour forever, and whether Joab does not see “that this will only end in bitterness”. Joab answers that the people would have stood down at morning regardless, then blows the trumpet himself, and the fighting stops for that day.

This site's exposition

Joab blew the ram’s horn

Matthew Henry reads the retreat as Joab keeping to the mind of David, who was slow to shed the blood of Israel. John Gill notes that no pitched battle between the two houses is recorded after this day. The war went on in skirmishes.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

It is true of every sin (O that men would consider it in time!) that it will be bitterness in the latter end. At the last it bites like a serpent those on whom it fawned. Joab, though a conqueror, generously grants it, and sounds a retreat, knowing very well his master's mind and how averse he was to the shedding of blood.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

) and suffered Abner to make an orderly retreat. It is good husbandry to be sparing of blood. As the soldiers were here very obsequious to the general's orders, so he, no doubt, observed the instructions of his prince, who sought the welfare of all Israel and therefore not the hurt of any.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Asahel pursued after Abner--To gain the general's armor was deemed the grandest trophy. Asahel, ambitious of securing Abner's, had outstripped all other pursuers, and was fast gaining on the retreating commander. Abner, conscious of possessing more physical power, and unwilling that there should be "blood" between himself and Joab, Asahel's brother, twice urged him to desist.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּתְקַ֤עand he gave a blast

    vaiyitka'H8628 →69 times

  • יוֹאָב֙Joab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • בַּשּׁוֹפָ֔רon the trumpet

    bashofarH7782 →72 times

  • וַיַּֽעַמְדוּ֙and they stood

    vaiyaamduH5975 →521 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יִרְדְּפ֥וּthey pursued

    yirdefuH7291 →143 times

  • ע֖וֹדagain

    odH5750 →490 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֣יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יָסְפ֥וּthey repeated

    yasefuH3254 →212 times

  • ע֖וֹדagain

    odH5750 →490 times

  • לְהִלָּחֵֽם׃to wage war

    lehilachemH3898 →177 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

Combat between Soldiers of Ish-bosheth and David — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Combat between Soldiers of Ish-bosheth and David — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 2 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 2 →