2 Samuel 3:33

33 And the king mourning and lamenting over Abner, said: Not as cowards are wont to die, hath Abner died.

2 Samuel 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.)

2 Samuel 3:33 In-Context

31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him: Rend your garments, and gird yourselves with sackcloths, and mourn before the funeral of Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.

32 And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner: and all the people also wept.

33 And the king mourning and lamenting over Abner, said: Not as cowards are wont to die, hath Abner died.

34 Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet laden with fetters: but as men fall before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall. And all the people repeating it wept over him.

35 And when all the people came to take meat with David, while it was yet broad day, David swore, saying: So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread or any thing else before sunset.