2 Samuel 2:29

29 Avner and his men went through the 'Aravah all that night; they crossed the Yarden, went through all of Bitron and arrived at Machanayim.

2 Samuel 2:29 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 2:29

And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain,
&c.] The plain of Jordan. He marched with his men all night, lest Joab should return, and pursue him, and take vengeance on him for the death of his brother:

and passed over Jordan;
at one of the fords of it:

and went through all Bithron;
the name of a province or country, as Jarchi, called so perhaps from its being separated from the rest of the tribes of Israel by the river Jordan; some think the mountains of Bether were in this country, ( Song of Solomon 2:17 ) . From Gibeon, where the battle was fought, to Bithron, according to Bunting ^F15, was twenty eight miles, the which he says was in the tribe of Gad, twenty eight miles from Jerusalem northeastward, lying between Dibon and Jordan:

and they came to Mahanaim:
from whence they came, and where they had left Ishbosheth, ( 2 Samuel 2:8 2 Samuel 2:12 ) . From Bithron to this place, according to the same writer ^F16, was sixteen miles.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Travels p. 145, 146.
F16 Ibid.

2 Samuel 2:29 In-Context

27 Yo'av said, "As God lives, if you hadn't said something, there is no doubt that the people would have kept following their brothers all night long."

28 Then Yo'av sounded the shofar, and with that the people halted. They stopped pursuing Isra'el, and they stopped fighting.

29 Avner and his men went through the 'Aravah all that night; they crossed the Yarden, went through all of Bitron and arrived at Machanayim.

30 Yo'av returned from following Avner. When he brought the troops together for review, nineteen of David's servants were missing, along with 'Asah'el.

31 But David's servants had killed 360 of Avner's men of Binyamin.