Discovery Box2 Samuel 3:22-27 
Context3:22 Now David’s soldiers 1 and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David 2 had sent him away and he had left in peace. 3:23 When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, Joab was told: “Abner the son of Ner came to the king; he sent him away, and he left in peace!”
3:24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner 3 has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way! 4 3:25 You know Abner the son of Ner! Surely he came here to spy on you and to determine when you leave and when you return 5 and to discover everything that you are doing!”
3:26 Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. (But David was not aware of it.) 3:27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him 6 in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel. 7
1 tn Heb “And look, the servants of David.”
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “Look, Abner.”
4 tc The LXX adds “in peace.”
5 tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The expression is a merism. It specifically mentions the polar extremities of the actions but includes all activity in between the extremities as well, thus encompassing the entirety of one’s activities.
6 tn Heb “and he struck him down there [in] the stomach.”
7 tn Heb “and he [i.e., Abner] died on account of the blood of Asahel his [i.e., Joab’s] brother.”
