2 Samuel 2:30

2Sa 2:30 And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel.

Ver. 30. There lacked of David’s servants, &c.] War is the slaughter house of mankind, and the hell of this present world, saith one: Mars Alpha malorum. It openeth the gates of infelicity that were shut up in times of peace. Wherefore Lactantius {a} thought it not lawful for a just man to be a warrior: whose justice was to be his warfare. Some Anabaptists also hold the same. But God is called a man of war, {Exo 15:3} and said to have war with Amalek; {Exo 17:16} he sendeth the sword; {Eze 14:17} mustereth the men; {Isa 13:4} ordereth the ammunition; {Jer 50:25} batheth the sword in heaven. {Isa 34:5} David fought his battles. {1Sa 25:28} Captain Cornelius, who was of the Italian band, was highly accepted in heaven. John Baptist disliked not the soldiers’ calling, but directeth them how to manage it, &c.

{a} Instit., lib. vi. cap. 20.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 2:30. There lacked of David’s servants nineteen men — This renders it probable that the twelve men of Judah, who in the beginning of the fight engaged in combat with as many men of Benjamin, were not killed; for if they were, then there would have been no more than seven men killed in the subsequent battle; which is not likely.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(30) Joab returned.—He cannot be supposed to have returned that day farther than to Gibeon, since it was already sunset (2Sa_2:24) before the pursuit ended. There, doubtless, he mustered his forces, and counted and buried the slain.

Nineteen men.—It is uncertain whether these numbers include the twelve champion combatants on each side. The great disparity of numbers slain on the two sides is to be accounted for partly by the advantage given by bow and spear, the chief weapons of ancient warfare, to the pursuer over the pursued, and partly by the fact that Joab’s men had been long trained under David in hardship and deeds of valour, while Abner’s men were the remnants of Saul’s defeated army.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Joab returned from following Abner,.... It being in his commission from David to shed as little blood as he could:

and when he had gathered all the people together; who had been pursuing the Israelites, some one way and some another:

there lacked of David's servants nineteen men, and Asahel; who is particularly mentioned, because a very honourable man, valiant and courageous, a relation of David, and brother of Joab the general, and the loss of him was greater than all the rest. This has made some think that the twelve men of the servants of David were not killed in the duel, or otherwise there must be but seven slain in the battle; though that is not more strange than that in the battle with Midian not one should be slain, and, yet a terrible slaughter was made of the Midianites, Num 31:1. So in a sharp battle between the Spartans and Arcadians, ten thousand of the latter were slain, and not one of the former (q). Stilicho killed more than an hundred thousand of the army of Rhadagaisus, king of the Goths, without losing one of his own men, no, not so much as one wounded, as Austin affirms (r). At the battle of Issus the Persians lost an hundred ten thousand men, and Alexander not two hundred (s). Julius Caesar killed in the three camps of Juba, Scipio, and Labienus, ten thousand men, with the loss of fifty men only (t). After these instances, not only the case here, but that between the Israelites and Midianites, cannot be thought incredible, for the sake of which the above are produced. This account, according to Josephus (u), was taken the day following.

(q) Diodor. Sic. l. 15. p. 383. (r) De civilate Dei, l. 5. c. 23. (s) Curtius, l. 3. c. 11. (t) Hirtius de Bello African. c. 86. (u) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

30. Nineteen men and Asahel — Whilst Abner lost three hundred and sixty men. But Abner’s army had been weakened and disheartened by the defeat at Gilboa, and perhaps by other subsequent struggles with the Philistines, whilst Joab’s men were probably all picked warriors, who had for years followed David, and taken lessons from his consummate military skill.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 30, 31. Nineteen men three hundred and three score men. Though David"s "mighties," as they were called, excelled in the use of arms, yet the disparity of numbers is remarkable; for the Benjamites were also famous warriors. We can only account for it by the superiority of the tactics of Joab, who was a man of consummate military skill, and who knew both how to gain a victory and how to use the advantage which the pursuers have over the pursued to the full. If we sometimes wonder that David endured Joab so long, we ought to remember how much he owed to his nephew"s genius, and that Joab was always faithful to himself.

Vers. 30-32. (GIBEON, BETHLEHEM, HEBRON.)

The sorrows of victory.

a glorious thing must be a victory, sir!" it was remarked to the Duke of Wellington. "The greatest tragedy in the world," he replied, "except a defeat" ("Recollections," by S. Rogers). The rejoicing by which it is attended, is usually mingled with weeping and sometimes swallowed up of grief. Various persons are thus affected for various reasons. Think of the sorrows endured:

1. At the fall of fellow soldiers. "Nineteen men and Asahel" (vers. 23, 30) who come not to the muster after sunset (vers. 24, 30), nor answer to the roll call, but lie in the chill embrace of death. "Alas! fallen are the heroes.

2. In the burial of the dead. (Ver. 32.) No opportunity is afforded for seeking out and burying all the slain; but the remains of Asahel are carried across the hills by night (ver. 29) and laid in the tomb of his father in Bethlehem, where the sorrow of the preceding day is renewed. It reminds us of a pathetic scene of recent times described in the familiar lines

We buried him darkly at dead of night, The sod with our bayonets turning; By the struggling moonbeam"s misty light, And our lanterns dimly burning. (Wolfe.)

1. When the news is conveyed to their homes. "They came to Hebron at break of day;" a day of bitter grief to many bereaved hearts. "By the slaughter of a war there are thousands who weep in unpitied and unnoticed secrecy whom the world does not see; and thousands who retire in silence to hopeless poverty for whom the world does not care" (Dymond).

2. For the miseries of fellow sufferers; the enemy defeated, bereaved, and mourning for they too are "brethren," and cannot but be remembered with sympathy and pity.

3. Concerning the state of the departed. A soldier"s life is not favourable to piety and preparation for heaven, and the passions by which he is commonly swayed when his earthly probation is suddenly terminated are such that we can seldom contemplate his entrance into the eternal world with feelings of cheerfulness and hope. "After death the judgment.

4. On account of the animosities of the living, which are increased by conflict and victory, and are certain to be a source of future trouble. (2Sa_3:1, 2Sa_3:30, 2Sa_3:33)

5. Because of the dishonour done to the cause of the Lord"s Anointed. Religion suffers, the progress of the kingdom is hindered, and the King himself is "grieved for the misery of Israel." "The victory that day was turned into mourning". (2Sa_19:2) So is every victory gained by "the devouring sword." But there are victories which are bloodless and tearless, sources of unmingled joy; spiritual victories over ignorance and sin won by and through the might of him at whose birth the angels sang upon those hills of Bethlehem, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. D.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joab also assembled his men for a retreat. Nineteen of his soldiers were missing besides Asahel, all of whom had fallen in the battle. But they had slain as many as three hundred and sixty of Benjamin and of Abner's men. This striking disproportion in the numbers may be accounted for from the fact that in Joab's army there were none but brave and well-tried men, who had gathered round David a long time before; whereas in Abner's army there were only the remnants of the Israelites who had been beaten upon Gilboa, and who had been still further weakened and depressed by their attempts to recover the land which was occupied by the Philistines.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Asahel

This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)

360 men of Benjamin with Abner

"360 men from Benjamin who followed Abner." Abner did not die.

360 men

"three hundred and sixty men" (See: Numbers)

of Benjamin

This phrase means "from the tribe of Benjamin." (See: Metonymy)

took up Asahel

"carried Asahel's body with them"

the day dawned on them at Hebron

"they arrived at Hebron by dawn the next morning"

translationWords

Joab

Abner

Benjamin

bury

grave

Bethlehem

Hebron

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Nineteen men and Asoel. But is not Asoel included in [the group called] "the servants of Dovid," so why is he [singled] out? [The reason is] he was worth all of them [together] and so too [a similar case], (Yehoshua 2,1), "Go see [and spy out] the land and Yericho" and so too [another similar case] "King Shlomo loved many foreign women and the daughter of Pharaoh." (Kings I, 11, 1 ).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.