2 Samuel 3:33

33 Then the king sang this funeral song for Abner: "Should Abner have died like a fool dies?

2 Samuel 3:33 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 3:33

And the king lamented over Abner
Delivered an elegy or funeral oration, which he had composed on this occasion, as Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 suggests: for he had cried and wept before, but now he expressed something as follows:

and said, died Abner as a fool dieth?
the meaning of the interrogation is, he did not; the Targum is

``did Abner die as wicked men die?''

no, he did not; he did not die for any wickedness he had been guilty of; he did not die as a malefactor, whose crime has been charged and proved in open court, and sentence of condemnation pronounced on him righteously for it; but he died without anything being laid to his charge, and much less proved, and without judge or jury; he was murdered in a clandestine, insidious, and deceitful manner; so the word "fool" is often taken in Scripture for a wicked man, especially in the book of Proverbs; the Septuagint version leaves the word untranslated,

``died Abner according to the death of Nabal?''

no; but it could hardly be thought that David would mention the name of any particular person on such an occasion.

F21 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 6.)

2 Samuel 3:33 In-Context

31 Then David ordered Joab and all the troops who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on funeral clothes! Mourn for Abner!" King David himself walked behind the body.

32 They buried Abner in Hebron. The king wept loudly at Abner's grave. All the troops cried too.

33 Then the king sang this funeral song for Abner: "Should Abner have died like a fool dies?

34 Your hands weren't bound, your feet weren't chained, but you have fallen like someone falls before the wicked." Then the troops cried over Abner again.

35 Then all the soldiers came to urge David to eat something while it was still day, but David swore, "May God deal harshly with me and worse still if I eat bread or anything else before the sun goes down."

Footnotes

• [a]. Or lament