2 Samuel 2:12-16

The Contest at Gibeon. 2 Samuel 2:12-16

12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants og 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 together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.
14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
15 Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

16 And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

11.

Who brought on the fighting at Gibeon? 2 Samuel 2:12

Gibeon was five or six miles north of Jerusalem and a small distance to the west. It is situated on a knoll with terraced slopes. The village itself stands among striking remains of antiquity. Some hundred paces from the village to the east is a large reservoir with a spring. Further down and among the olive trees are the remains of another and larger reservoir, which collected the overflow water from the first reservoir. More than likely this farther reservoir is the pool mentioned in verse thirteen. Thus Joab was in Abner's territory. Joab was the aggressor. Later incidents would also cause a judge to point the finger of accusation at Joab. Were he introduced a bit differently, none would have difficulty in deciding who brought on the fighting. The way in which Joab was introduced into the narrative was common of the time; nothing different should be expected.

12.

What was the play? 2 Samuel 2:14

The play mentioned was nothing more than the customary round of individual contests held before a battle. To speak of what occurred at this time as play is most certainly sarcastic. The word Helkath-Hazzurim as it stands means field of the sword edges. It is appropriate that this name is applied to the scene of the conflict in which twelve champions from the army of Joab and twelve champions from the army of Abner perished together, each slaying his fellow. Variations of this word have come to mean field of the crafty, field of the ambush, and field of the adversaries. The form of the word together with its meaning as it now stands in the text of the Bible is probably correct.