2 Samuel 2:22

22 Avner said again to 'Asah'el, "Turn aside and stop following me! Why should I kill you? If I did, how could I look your brother Yo'av in the eye?"

2 Samuel 2:22 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 2:22

And Abner said again to Asahel
Being loath to dispatch him:

turn thee aside from following me, wherefore should I smite thee to the
ground?
which was giving him fair warning, and letting him know what he must expect, if he did not desist from his pursuit:

how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?
the general of David's army, a stout valiant commander, a man of spirit and resentment, whom Abner knew full well, and that should he slay his brother, he would never be friendly with him, or look pleasantly on him; he would never forgive him, but seek ways and means to avenge his blood on him and by this it seems as if Abner was conscious to himself that he was in a wrong cause, that the kingdom was of right David's, and would be his, and he must be obliged to make peace with him; when he should stand in need of Joab as his friend, which he could not expect, if he slew his brother, nor to live in favour and friendship with him hereafter.

2 Samuel 2:22 In-Context

20 Avner looked behind him and asked, "Is that you, 'Asah'el?""Yes, it is," he answered.

21 Avner said to him, "Turn off to your right or your left, catch one of the young men and take his armor." But 'Asah'el wouldn't turn aside and kept following him.

22 Avner said again to 'Asah'el, "Turn aside and stop following me! Why should I kill you? If I did, how could I look your brother Yo'av in the eye?"

23 But he still refused to turn aside; so Avner stabbed him in the groin with the back end of the spear, so that the shaft protruded behind him. He fell down and died on the spot. Everyone who came to the place where 'Asah'el lay dead stopped there.

24 Yo'av and Avishai continued in pursuit of Avner; the sun went down when they arrived at Amah Hill, across from Giach along the Giv'on Desert road.