Shmuel Bais 2:23

23 Howbeit he refused to turn aside; therefore Avner with the butt end of the khanit struck him under the fifth rib, that the khanit came out his back; and he fell down there, and died in the same place; and it came to pass, that as many as came to the makom where Asahel fell down and died, stopped.

Shmuel Bais 2:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 2:23

Howbeit, he refused to turn aside
Determined on making him his captive if possible.

Wherefore Abner, with the hinder end of the spear;
he had in his hand, which seems to have had a pike at both ends; so that with the hinder end of it, next to Asahel, he thrust it at him, without turning to him: and

smote him under the fifth [rib];
the place where hang the gall and liver, as the Jewish commentators from their Talmud ^F9 observe. There are twelve ribs, seven of which are called true ones, and five spurious; if this was the fifth of the seven, the spear must pierce the breast ^F11, and strike the seat of life, the heart and lungs; if the fifth from the eighth and first of the spurious ones, then wounding the hypochondria, it must pass to the vital bowels of the abdomen, which seems to be the case here ^F12: according to some ^F13 this is meant of the inferior ribs, which we call the short ribs, and any of these five are called the fifth rib; and Abner must strike him in the right side, because he was behind him, and which stroke must be deadly, because he struck him through the liver:

that the spear came out behind him:
the thrust was so violent that the spear went through him, and came out at his back:

and he fell down and died in the same place;
he fell at once, and died on the spot immediately:

and it came to pass, [that] as many as came to the place where Asahel
fell down and died stood still;
that is, such of David's men who were in the pursuit after the Israelites, when they came to the spot, and saw Asahel dead, they had no power to proceed in the pursuit, being so troubled and grieved at the death of him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 49. 1.
F11 "Transadigit costas, et crates pectoris ensom". Virgil. Aeneod. l. 12. ver. 506.
F12 Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 501.
F13 Weemse's Portrait of Man, p. 24.

Shmuel Bais 2:23 In-Context

21 And Avner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the ne’arim, and capture thee his armor. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him.

22 And Avner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me; why should I strike thee to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Yoav achicha?

23 Howbeit he refused to turn aside; therefore Avner with the butt end of the khanit struck him under the fifth rib, that the khanit came out his back; and he fell down there, and died in the same place; and it came to pass, that as many as came to the makom where Asahel fell down and died, stopped.

24 Yoav also and Avishai pursued after Avner; and the shemesh went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giach by the derech midbar Giveon.

25 And the Bnei Binyamin gathered themselves together after Avner, and became aguddah echat (one unit), and stood on the top of one hill.