2 Samuel 2:16

_AND THEY CAUGHT EVERY ONE HIS FELLOW BY THE HEAD, AND THRUST HIS SWORD IN HIS FELLOW'S SIDE; SO THEY FELL_ _ 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 HELKATH-HAZZURIM, WHICH IS IN GIBEON._ That place was called Helkath-hazzurim, х_ CHELQAT-HA-TSURIYM_ (H2521), field of the swords]....

Verse 2 Samuel 2:16. _CAUGHT EVERY ONE HIS FELLOW BY THE HEAD_] Probably by the beard, if these persons were not too young to have one, or by the hair of the head. Alexander ordered all the Macedonians to shave their beards; and being asked by Parmenio why they should do so, answered, "Dost thou not know that in battle there is no better hold than the beard?" _HELKATH-HAZZURIM_] "The portion of the mighty;" or, "The inheritance of those who were slain," according to the _Targum_....

Compare Livy’s history of the battle between the Horatii and Curiatii. This combat, like that, may have been proposed as a means of avoiding the effusion of blood of two nations united by consanguinity, and having a common powerful enemy in the Philistines. HELKATH-HAZZURIM - i. e. “the part, field, or plat Genesis 23:19 of the sharp edges or blades.” This seems, on the whole, the best explanation of this rather obscure name....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 2:1 UNTO HEBRON. As soon as David had assuaged his grief, his thoughts would naturally turn towards his country. Fuller news would reach him every day respecting the movements of the Philistines, who, after so decisive a victory, would quickly overrun all the central districts of Palestine, where the battle had been fought. And very bitter must David's feelings have been. Had he continued in Israel, he and his six hundred men would now have hastened to the rescue, and all the braver warriors of the land would have gathered round them. As it was, he was too entangled with the Philistines, and too much distrusted by the northern tribes, to be of much use. Still, we learn from 1 Chronicles 12:1; that brave men did continually

AND THEY CAUGHT EVERYONE HIS FELLOW BY THE HEAD,.... By the hair of his head with his hand: AND [THRUST] HIS SWORD IN HIS FELLOW'S SIDE; which he had in the other; SO THEY FELL DOWN TOGETHER; the twelve on each side, all the twenty four; some think only the twelve on Abner's side fell; but to me it seems that they all fell dead as one man, since they thrust their swords in each other's sides: WHEREFORE THAT PLACE WAS CALLED HELKATHHAZZURIM, WHICH [IS] IN GIBEON; the field of rocks, or of mighty men as strong as rocks, who stood as immovable, and would not give way, but fell and died in the field of battle; the Targum interprets it, the inheritance of the slain....

HELKATHHAZZURIM That is, Field of Swords....

3. ABNER'S REVOLT AND THE WAR WHICH FOLLOWED CHAPTER 2:8-32 _ 1. Abner makes Ish-bosheth king over Israel (2 Samuel 2:8)_ 2. The defeat of Abner (2 Samuel 2:12) 3. Abner and Joab and Joab's victory (2 Samuel 2:18) God's king began his reign in quietness, and opposition and open revolt followed at once. Abner, who had been the captain of Saul's host, took a son of Saul by the name of Ish-bosheth and made him king in Gilead. The original name of this son was “Esh-baal,” which means “the fire of Baal” (1 Chronicles 8:33). “Ish-bosheth” was his other name; it means “man of shame.” He seem

2 SAMUEL 2-6. (J). APART FROM MINOR ADDITIONS AND CHANGES, IT IS VERY COMMONLY HELD THAT THESE CHAPTER S FORM A CONTINUOUS NARRATIVE FROM THE SAME SOURCE. 2 Samuel 2:1 to 2 Samuel 3:5. Civil War between David, ruling at Hebron, and Ish-bosheth, ruling at Mahanaim (J). 2 SAMUEL 2:1. David occupies Hebron (Judges 1:10 *, p. 31), and is anointed king by the men of Judah, doubtless with the consent of the Philistines, and as their vassal. He thanks the men of Jabesh-gilead for their loyalty to Saul. 2 SAMUEL 2:8. Abner makes

War between Ish-bosheth and David. The Combat at Gibeon 12. _went out_ The technical expression for going to war. Cp. 1 Samuel 18:30. After establishing Ish-bosheth's power over all Israel, Abner turned his arms against Judah, and marched with his army from Ish-bosheth's capital, Mahanaim, to Gibeon, where David's army under the command of Joab met him. _to Gibeon_ The site of Gibeon (_belonging to_, or _built on, a hill_) is fixed with certainty on a rounded hill five miles N.W. of Jerusalem, which still bears the name _El-Jib_. Gibeon was the largest of the four cities of the Hivites (Joshua 10:2), famous for the stratagem by which its inhabitants procured a treaty from Joshua (Joshua 9:3 ff.

THEY CAUGHT EVERY ONE HIS FELLOW BY THE HEAD— i.e. By the hair of the head, or beard. See 2 Samuel 20:9. Plutarch tells us, in his Apophthegms, that all things being prepared for a battle, Alexander's captains asked him, whether he had any thing else to command them? "Nothing," said he, "but that the Macedonians shave their beards." Parmenio wondering what he meant, "Don't you know," replied he, "that there is no better hold in fight than the beard." REFLECTIONS.—The ambition of Abner, (who was general to Saul,) and zeal for his family, prevail upon him to set up Ish-bosheth, the only surviving and legitimate son of Saul as king; and whilst David, in dependance upon God's promises, remained quiet at Hebron, Abner, by his assiduity, gained over the land of Gilead beyond Jordan first, and then all the tribes but Judah, to acknowledge Ish-bosheth. And thus began that competition