2 Samuel 3:12

Abner Pledges Support for David

12 Abner sent messengers to David {where he was}, saying, "To whom does the land [belong]? {Make your covenant with me}! Look, my hand [is] with you to bring all of Israel over to you!"

2 Samuel 3:12 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 3:12

And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf
On his own account, and not on the account of Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel; but to obtain terms for himself, or in his own name, as representing him and standing in his stead; or secretly, as Kimchi explains it, unknown to Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel. The Targum is,

``out of his place;''

he sent them from the place where he was, from Mahanaim:

saying, whose [is] the land?
the land of Israel, is it not thine, David? verily it is; to whom does it belong but unto thee, to whom the Lord has given it? not to any of Saul's posterity: this he ordered the messengers to say in the first place, in order to ingratiate himself to David, and gain his messengers an audience. The Targum is,

``I swear by him that made the earth;''

so Jarchi says, it is an oath by him whose the earth is, even by the living God, whose is the earth, and the fulness thereof:

saying [also], make thy league with me;
he desired to enter into a covenant of friendship with him, that everything that had passed might be forgiven and forgotten:

and, behold, my hand [shall be] with thee, to bring about all Israel
unto thee:
he promises on his part to do his utmost to bring all Israel under his government and to obedience to him.

2 Samuel 3:12 In-Context

10 [specifically,] to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah from Dan to Beersheba!"

11 And [Ish-Bosheth] was no longer able to {answer} Abner {because he feared him}.

12 Abner sent messengers to David {where he was}, saying, "To whom does the land [belong]? {Make your covenant with me}! Look, my hand [is] with you to bring all of Israel over to you!"

13 He said, "Good. {I will make a covenant with you}. I am asking only one thing from you: You shall not see my face unless you bring Michal the daughter of Saul when you come to see {me}."

14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, saying, "Give [me] my wife Michal whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines."

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "under him"
• [b] Literally "cut your covenant with me"