Shmuel Bais 3:33

33 And in a dirge HaMelech lamented over Avner, and said, Died Avner as a naval (fool) dieth?

Shmuel Bais 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.)

Shmuel Bais 3:33 In-Context

31 And Dovid said to Yoav, and to kol HaAm that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Avner. And Dovid HaMelech himself followed the mittah (bier, frame or bed holding corpse).

32 And they buried Avner in Chevron; and HaMelech lifted up his voice and wept at the kever of Avner; and kol HaAm wept.

33 And in a dirge HaMelech lamented over Avner, and said, Died Avner as a naval (fool) dieth?

34 Thy hands were not bound, nor thy raglayim put into fetters; as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And kol HaAm wept again over him.

35 And when kol HaAm came to cause Dovid to eat lechem while it was yet day, Dovid swore a shevua (oath), saying, So do Elohim to me, and more also, if I taste lechem, or anything else, till the shemesh go down.