2 Samuel 3:34

Listen to 2 Samuel 3:34
34 Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. As a man falls before the wicked, so also you fell.” And all the people wept over him even more.

2 Samuel 3:34 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 3:34

Thy hands [were] not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters,
&c.] As malefactors are when they are taken up for any crime, and especially when proved upon them, and condemned for it, and brought forth to be executed. This was not his case, and had he been aware of the design against him, as his hands and feet were at liberty, he might have defended himself; or if he found he had too many to deal with, might have made use of his feet and fled:

as a man falleth before wicked men, [so] fellest thou;
as a man being before bloodthirsty and deceitful men, falls before them, through treachery and deceit, privately and unawares, so fell Abner before Joab and Abishai; this David said in the presence of Joab, and before all the people, to declare the plain fact how it was, to express his detestation of it, and to show he had no hand in it; and Joab must be an hardened creature to stand at the grave of Abner, and hear all this, and not be affected with it:

and all the people wept again over him;
over Abner, being laid in his grave; they had wept before, but hearing this funeral oration delivered by the king in such moving language, and in such a mournful tone, it drew tears afresh from them.

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2 Samuel 3:34 In-Context

32 When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept.
33 And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
34 Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. As a man falls before the wicked, so also you fell.” And all the people wept over him even more.
35 Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”
36 All the people took note and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them.
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