2 Samuel 3:12
in 2 Samuel 3Then Abner sent messengers in his place to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee.
KJV
And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf,.... On his own account, and not on the account of Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel; but to obtain terms for himself, or in his own name, as representing him and standing in his stead; or secretly, as Kimchi explains it, unknown to Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel.
This site's exposition
Make your covenant with me
on 2 Samuel 3:12-14
Abner opens the talks, “To whom does the land belong?”, and offers to bring all Israel over to David. David makes one condition, the return of Michal, “whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred Philistine foreskins”. The words name the bride price Saul set as a legal claim.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He sent messengers to David, to tell him that he was at his service. " Whose is the land? For thou hast the best title to the government and the best interest in the people's affections." Note, God can find out ways to make those serviceable to the kingdom of Christ who yet have no sincere affection for it and who have vigorously set themselves against it.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Abner sent messengers to David--Though his language implied a secret conviction, that in supporting Ish-bosheth he had been laboring to frustrate the divine purpose of conferring the sovereignty of the kingdom on David, this acknowledgment was no justification either of the measure he was now adopting, or of the motives that prompted it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Whose is the land? - Meaning, Is not the land thine by God’s promise?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
In his behalf saying. From his place to say, We shall keep this [oath] by the One Who made the world.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַח֩ | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אַבְנֵ֨ר | ʾavner | Abner | H74 → | 63 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֧ים׀ | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| דָּוִ֛ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| תַּחְתָּ֥יו | tachatov | in place of himself | H8478 → | 505 times |
| לֵאמֹ֖ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְמִי־ | lemi- | [belongs] to whom? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כָּרְתָ֤ה | karetah | make ! | H3772 → | 288 times |
| בְרִֽיתְךָ֙ | veritekha | covenant your | H1285 → | 284 times |
| אִתִּ֔י | ʾiti | with me | H854 → | 929 times |
| וְהִנֵּה֙ | vehineh | and here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יָדִ֣י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עִמָּ֔ךְ | ʾimakh | [will be] with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| לְהָסֵ֥ב | lehasev | to bring round | H5437 → | 161 times |
| אֵלֶ֖יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַח֩and he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
אַבְנֵ֨רAbner
ʾavnerH74 →63 times
מַלְאָכִ֧ים׀messengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
דָּוִ֛דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
תַּחְתָּ֥יוin place of himself
tachatovH8478 →505 times
לֵאמֹ֖ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לְמִי־[belongs] to whom?
lemi-H4310 →423 times
אָ֑רֶץ[the] land
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
כָּרְתָ֤הmake !
karetahH3772 →288 times
בְרִֽיתְךָ֙covenant your
veritekhaH1285 →284 times
אִתִּ֔יwith me
ʾitiH854 →929 times
וְהִנֵּה֙and here!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
יָדִ֣יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
עִמָּ֔ךְ[will be] with you
ʾimakhH5973 →1050 times
לְהָסֵ֥בto bring round
lehasevH5437 →161 times
אֵלֶ֖יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 62:9Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
it leads to
- Psalms 39:5
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- Isaiah 40:15
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
- Isaiah 40:17
All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
- Psalms 118:9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
- Psalms 39:11
You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
- Psalms 39:5
Through
2 Samuel 3:27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:5
Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them…
- 2 Samuel 20:9–10
“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
- Deuteronomy 27:24
‘Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- 1 Kings 2:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.