2 Samuel 11:21

21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerub-bosheth, if not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from [atop] the wall and he died at Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?' Then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.'"

2 Samuel 11:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 11:21

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth?
&c.] The same with Jerubbaal, who was Gideon, ( Judges 6:32 ) ; Baal, one part of his name, was the name of an idol, and sometimes called Bosheth or Besheth, which signifies shame, being a shameful idol; Gideon had a son called Abimelech, who was smitten, and it is here asked, by whom?

did not a woman cast a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died
in Thebez?
which should have been a warning not to go too near the wall of an enemy; the history is recorded in ( Judges 9:52 Judges 9:53 ) ;

why went ye nigh the wall?
exposing your lives to so much danger, and by which so many lives were lost:

then say thou, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also;
the whole has not been told, the worst of all is, as the messenger was to represent it, that brave gallant soldier Uriah is dead; this Joab ordered to be told last, as knowing very well it would pacify the king's wrath, and was the agreeable news he wanted to hear.

2 Samuel 11:21 In-Context

19 He instructed the messenger, saying, "As you are finishing to speak all the news of the battle to the king,
20 if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, 'Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from [atop] the wall?
21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerub-bosheth, if not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from [atop] the wall and he died at Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?' Then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.'"
22 Then the messenger left, and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him [to say].
23 The messenger said to David, "Because {the men overpowered us}, the men came out to us [in] the field, but {we forced them back} to the entrance of the gate.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. In putting words in David's mouth, Joab alludes to the story of Abimelech the son of Gideon from Judg 9:52-55. Though Gideon was also known as Jerub-ba'al, Joab conventionally substitutes bosheth (shame) for Ba'al to avoid naming the Canaanite deity
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