2 Samuel 2:29

29 And Abner and his men went (from) thence by the field places of Moab in all that night, and they passed [over] Jordan; and when all Bithron was compassed, they came to the castles. (And Abner and his men went from there through the fields of Moab all that night, and then they crossed over the Jordan River; and when all Bithron had been traversed, they came to Mahanaim.)

2 Samuel 2:29 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 2:29

And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain,
&c.] The plain of Jordan. He marched with his men all night, lest Joab should return, and pursue him, and take vengeance on him for the death of his brother:

and passed over Jordan;
at one of the fords of it:

and went through all Bithron;
the name of a province or country, as Jarchi, called so perhaps from its being separated from the rest of the tribes of Israel by the river Jordan; some think the mountains of Bether were in this country, ( Song of Solomon 2:17 ) . From Gibeon, where the battle was fought, to Bithron, according to Bunting ^F15, was twenty eight miles, the which he says was in the tribe of Gad, twenty eight miles from Jerusalem northeastward, lying between Dibon and Jordan:

and they came to Mahanaim:
from whence they came, and where they had left Ishbosheth, ( 2 Samuel 2:8 2 Samuel 2:12 ) . From Bithron to this place, according to the same writer ^F16, was sixteen miles.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Travels p. 145, 146.
F16 Ibid.

2 Samuel 2:29 In-Context

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.)

29 And Abner and his men went (from) thence by the field places of Moab in all that night, and they passed [over] Jordan; and when all Bithron was compassed, they came to the castles. (And Abner and his men went from there through the fields of Moab all that night, and then they crossed over the Jordan River; and when all Bithron had been traversed, they came to Mahanaim.)

30 And when Abner was left, Joab turned again, and gathered together all his people; and ten men and nine, besides Asahel, failed of the servants of David. (And when Joab left off pursuing Abner, he returned, and gathered together all his people; and he found that nineteen of David's men, besides Asahel, were missing.)

31 Forsooth the servants of David smited of Benjamin, and of the men that were with Abner, three hundred men and sixty, which also were dead. (But David's men struck and killed three hundred and sixty of the Benjaminites, and of Abner's men.)