I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 1-3.

    This passage shows us the political maneuvering which occurred following the death of Saul. When David received word of Saul’s death, he immediately moved from Philistine territory back into territory controlled by Israelites, in particular territory controlled by the tribe of Judah and made himself king of Judah (setting the stage for the political divide of Israel under his grandson). In the meantime, Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, made Saul’s only remaining son king. It is worthy of note that Saul’s son, Ish-Bosheth, had not been with Saul’s army. The fact that he did not make himself king, but was rather made king by Abner suggests that the reason was that he was not a warrior or a leader of men.

    After Ish-Bosheth insulted Abner by suggesting that he had slept with Saul’s concubine in order to gain a claim to the throne (at least that is how I read Ish-Bosheth’s confrontation with Abner), Abner begins negotiating with David to bring the rest of Israel over to David. However, those negotiations do not appear to be going on behind Ish-Bosheth’s back. When David demanded that Saul’s daughter, Michal, be returned to him as his wife before he would make a deal with Abner, it was Ish-Bosheth who gave the orders for her to be given back to David. Which means that when Joab killed Abner he prevented David from unifying Israel in a way which might have prevented some of the rebellions which happened under David and forestalled the eventual division of the kingdom under Rehoboam.
    At the beginning of this passage, David makes it very clear that he had nothing to do with the death of Saul by killing the messenger who brought the word of Saul’s death and also claimed to have committed the mercy killing of Saul. Then at the end, David makes it very clear that he had nothing to do with Abner’s death as well. In both cases, David is clear that he did not desire these deaths, even though both could be perceived as being to David’s advantage. David’s position regarding Saul’s death is supported by his earlier refusals to take Saul’s life when presented with the opportunity. And his position regarding Abner’s death is supported by the fact that the deal he had just struck with Abner would have been superior to the way things worked out.