2 Samuel 2:9-10

2:9 He appointed him king over Gilead, the Geshurites, ¹  Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. 2:10 Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people ²  of Judah followed David.

2 Samuel 2:17

2:17 Now the battle was very severe that day; Abner and the men of Israel were overcome by David’s soldiers. ³ 

2 Samuel 2:28

2:28 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn and all the people stopped in their tracks. ⁴  They stopped chasing Israel and ceased fighting. ⁵ 

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¹ tc The MT here reads “the Ashurite,” but this is problematic if it is taken to mean “the Assyrian.” Ish-bosheth’s kingdom obviously was not of such proportions as to extend to Assyria. The Syriac Peshitta renders the word as “the Geshurite,” while the Targum has “of the house of Ashur.” We should probably emend the Hebrew text to read “the Geshurite.” The Geshurites lived in the northeastern part of the land of Palestine.

² tn Heb “house.”

³ tn Heb “servants.” So also elsewhere.

⁴ tn Heb “stood.”

⁵ tn Heb “they no longer chased after Israel and they no longer fought.”