2 Samuel 2:23

23 And Asahel despised to hear, and would not bow away. Therefore Abner smote him with the spear turned away, that is, turned against him, in the share-bone, that is, behind the maw, in the fifth rib, under which be the members of life, and pierced [him] through, and he was dead in the same place; and all men that passed by the place, in which place Asahel felled down, and was dead, stood still. (And Asahel despised to hear him, and would not turn away. And so Abner struck him with the spear turned against him, in the belly, at the fifth rib, under which be the members of life, and pierced him through, and he died there; and all those who came to the place, where Asahel fell down, and died, stopped and stood there, and gawked.)

2 Samuel 2:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 2:23

Howbeit, he refused to turn aside
Determined on making him his captive if possible.

Wherefore Abner, with the hinder end of the spear;
he had in his hand, which seems to have had a pike at both ends; so that with the hinder end of it, next to Asahel, he thrust it at him, without turning to him: and

smote him under the fifth [rib];
the place where hang the gall and liver, as the Jewish commentators from their Talmud ^F9 observe. There are twelve ribs, seven of which are called true ones, and five spurious; if this was the fifth of the seven, the spear must pierce the breast ^F11, and strike the seat of life, the heart and lungs; if the fifth from the eighth and first of the spurious ones, then wounding the hypochondria, it must pass to the vital bowels of the abdomen, which seems to be the case here ^F12: according to some ^F13 this is meant of the inferior ribs, which we call the short ribs, and any of these five are called the fifth rib; and Abner must strike him in the right side, because he was behind him, and which stroke must be deadly, because he struck him through the liver:

that the spear came out behind him:
the thrust was so violent that the spear went through him, and came out at his back:

and he fell down and died in the same place;
he fell at once, and died on the spot immediately:

and it came to pass, [that] as many as came to the place where Asahel
fell down and died stood still;
that is, such of David's men who were in the pursuit after the Israelites, when they came to the spot, and saw Asahel dead, they had no power to proceed in the pursuit, being so troubled and grieved at the death of him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 49. 1.
F11 "Transadigit costas, et crates pectoris ensom". Virgil. Aeneod. l. 12. ver. 506.
F12 Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 501.
F13 Weemse's Portrait of Man, p. 24.

2 Samuel 2:23 In-Context

21 And Abner said to him, Go thou to the right side, either to the left side; and take (down) one of the young men, and take to thee his spoils. But Asahel would not cease, that not he pursued him (But Asahel would not cease from pursuing Abner).

22 And again Abner spake to Asahel, (and said,) Go thou away; do not thou pursue me, lest I be compelled to pierce thee into the earth, and I shall not be able to raise then my face to Joab, thy brother. (And again Abner said to Asahel, Go thou away; do not thou pursue me, lest I be compelled to pierce thee through to the ground, and then I shall not be able to face thy brother Joab.)

23 And Asahel despised to hear, and would not bow away. Therefore Abner smote him with the spear turned away, that is, turned against him, in the share-bone, that is, behind the maw, in the fifth rib, under which be the members of life, and pierced [him] through, and he was dead in the same place; and all men that passed by the place, in which place Asahel felled down, and was dead, stood still. (And Asahel despised to hear him, and would not turn away. And so Abner struck him with the spear turned against him, in the belly, at the fifth rib, under which be the members of life, and pierced him through, and he died there; and all those who came to the place, where Asahel fell down, and died, stopped and stood there, and gawked.)

24 And while Joab and Abishai pursued Abner fleeing, the sun went down; and they came to the little hill of a water conduit, that is even against the valley, and the way of desert in Gibeon. (And while Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner, the sun went down; and they came to the hill of Ammah, that is opposite Giah, on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.)

25 And the sons of Benjamin were gathered to Abner, and they were gathered together into one company, and they stood in the height of an heap of earth (and they stood on the top of a hill).