2 Samuel 2:12

12 Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

2 Samuel 2:12 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 2:12

And Abner the son of Ner
Who was before captain of Saul's host, and now of Ishbosheth's:

and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul;
who seem to be not only his domestic servants, that waited upon him, or his courtiers, but his whole army by what follows:

went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon;
came from the city on the other side Jordan, where perhaps they had been two years past, concerting schemes to bring all Israel under the government of Ishbosheth; in which they had succeeded, only Judah stood out with David; and in order to reduce that tribe, they passed over Jordan and came to Gibeon, a city in Benjamin. See ( Joshua 18:25 ) .

2 Samuel 2:12 In-Context

10 Ishbosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David.

11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

12 Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool.

14 Then Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men now arise and compete before us." And Joab said, "Let them arise."