Tanakh, Bible & Qu'ran: The Pillars of Three Faiths. Various Authors

apparel.²⁵How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!Jonathan upon thy high places is slain!²⁶I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan;Very pleasant hast thou been unto me;Wonderful was thy love to me,Passing the love of women.²⁷How are the mighty fallen,And the weapons of war perished!

      2And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the Lord, saying: 'Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?' And the Lord said unto him: 'Go up.' And David said: 'Whither shall I go up?' And He said: 'Unto Hebron.' ²So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ³And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household; and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. ⁴And the men of Judah came, and they there anointed David king over the house of Judah.

      And they told David, saying: 'The men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul.' ⁵And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them: 'Blessed be ye of the Lord, that ye have shown this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. ⁶And now the Lord show kindness and truth unto you; and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing. ⁷Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.'

      ⁸Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; ⁹and he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. ¹⁰Ish-bosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. ¹¹And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

¹²And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out; and they met together by the pool of Gibeon, and sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. ¹⁴And Abner said to Joab: 'Let the young men, I pray thee, arise and play before us.' And Joab said: 'Let them arise.' ¹⁵Then they arose and passed over by number: twelve for Benjamin, and for Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶And 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 ¹Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. ¹⁷And the battle was very sore that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.

      ¹⁸And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel; and Asahel was as light of foot as one of the roes that are in the field. ¹⁹And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. ²⁰Then Abner looked behind him, and said: 'Is it thou, Asahel?' And he answered: 'It is I.' ²¹And 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 him. ²²And 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?' ²³Howbeit he refused to turn aside; wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the groin, 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.

      ²⁴But Joab 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. ²⁵And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one band, and stood on the top of a hill. ²⁶Then Abner called to Joab, and said: 'Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?' ²⁷And Joab said: 'As God liveth, if thou hadst not spoken, surely then only after the morning the people had gone away, every one from following his brother.' ²⁸So Joab blew the horn, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. ²⁹And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah; and they passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and came to Mahanaim.

      ³⁰And Joab returned from following Abner; and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel. ³¹But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, even of Abner's men—three hundred and threescore men died. ³²And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.

      3Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; and David waxed stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.

      ²And unto David were sons born in Hebron; and his first-born was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; ³and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; ⁴and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; ⁵and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron.

      ⁶And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner showed himself strong in the house of Saul. ⁷Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah; and [Ish-bosheth] said to Abner: 'Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine?' ⁸Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheth, and said: 'Am I a dog's head that belongeth to Judah? This day do I show kindness unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, and yet thou chargest me this day with a fault concerning this woman. ⁹God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as the Lord hath sworn to David, I do not even so to him; ¹⁰to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-sheba.' ¹¹And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

      ¹²And Abner sent messengers to David straightway, saying: 'Whose is the land?' saying also: 'Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring over all Israel unto thee.' ¹³And he said: 'Well; I will make a league with thee; but one thing I require of thee, that is, thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul's daughter, when thou comest to see my face.' ¹⁴And David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth Saul's son, saying: 'Deliver me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to me for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.' ¹⁵And Ish-bosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶And her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him: 'Go, return'; and he returned.

      ¹⁷And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying: 'In times past ye sought for David to be king over you; ¹⁸now then do it; for the Lord hath spoken of David, saying: By the hand of My servant David I will save My people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies.' ¹⁹And Abner also spoke in the ears of Benjamin; and Abner went also to speak in the ears of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and to the whole house of Benjamin. ²⁰So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast. ²¹And Abner said unto David: 'I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thy soul desireth.' And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

      ²²And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from a foray, and brought in a great spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace. ²³When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying: 'Abner the son of