2 Samuel 3:34

Thy hands, &c. Two explanations of these words seem possible; either (1) Thou hadst not committed any crime to deserve a malefactor's punishment, but wast causelessly murdered by treacherous enemies: or (2) How was it that thou wast slain while thy hands were at liberty to defend thyself, thy feet free to escape by flight? It was because thou wast attacked unsuspectingly by treacherous enemies. In the first case "fool" in 2 Samuel 3:33 is equivalent to "miscreant." It is a term which frequently in the O.T. implies moral worthlessness, wickedness. Cp. Psalms 14:1. The Targum here renders it "the wicked." In the second case it means "an ignoble churl who cannot defend himself."