2 Samuel 2:26

26 And Abner cried to Joab, and said, Whether thy sword shall be fierce unto slaying? Whether thou knowest not, that despair is perilous? How long sayest thou not to the people, that it cease to pursue his brethren? (How long before thou sayest to thy people, that they should cease pursuing their kinsmen?)

2 Samuel 2:26 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 2:26

Then Abner called to Joab
For having now a troop of men with him, he could stop with the greater safety; and being on an hill, and perhaps Joab on one opposite to him, could call to him, so as to be heard:

and said, shall the sword devour for ever?
slay men, and devour their blood. See ( Jeremiah 46:10 ) . That he was not thoughtful of, nor concerned about, when he set the young men to fighting before the battle, and called it play to wound and shed the blood of each other; but now the battle going against him, he complains of the devouring sword; and though it had been employed but a few hours, it seemed long to him, a sort of an eternity:

knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?
since it might issue in the death of himself, or of Joab, or of both, as it had in Asahel, or, however, in the death of a multitude of others; and which at last would cause bitter reflection in the prosecutors of the war:

how long shall it be then ere thou bid the people return from following
their brethren?
he pleads relation, that the men of Israel and the men of Judah were brethren; so they were by nation and religion, and therefore should not pursue one another to destruction; but who was the aggressor? It was Abner, that brought his forces against Judah; the men of David acted only on the defensive.

2 Samuel 2:26 In-Context

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).

26 And Abner cried to Joab, and said, Whether thy sword shall be fierce unto slaying? Whether thou knowest not, that despair is perilous? How long sayest thou not to the people, that it cease to pursue his brethren? (How long before thou sayest to thy people, that they should cease pursuing their kinsmen?)

27 And Joab said, The Lord liveth, for if thou haddest spoken thus early, the people pursuing his brother had gone away. (And Joab said, As the Lord liveth, if thou haddest not spoken, the people would have continued pursuing their kinsmen until morning.)

28 And Joab sounded with a clarion, and all the host stood still; and they pursued no further Israel, neither began battle. (And then Joab sounded with a trumpet, and all the army stood in place; and they no longer pursued the men of Israel, and the fighting ceased.)