Saul was dead and David knew he had been anointed Israel’s next king, so he asked God what his next move should be. His tribe was Judah and his hometown was Bethlehem, but he was living in Ziklag, in Philistine territory. Was it time to go home?

“The Lord said, ‘Go up.’ David asked, ‘Where shall I go?’ ‘To Hebron,’ the Lord answered.” 2 Samuel 2:1

So David gathered his family and everyone else who had joined him in the previous thirteen years and they moved to Hebron. The men of Judah came to meet David there and crowned him king.

Ish-Bosheth is Crowned in Gilead

King Saul’s general Abner was determined not to let Israel’s crown depart from the house of Saul, so he went and collected Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth from Gibeah and brought him to Manaim in Manasseh, east of the Jordan River. This territory was called the land of Gilead, so Abner crowned Ish-Bosheth King of Gilead and all Israel.

However, only Manasseh, Ephraim and Benjamin actually pledged loyalty to King Ish-Bosheth. Most of the other tribes seem to have been silent on the matter, and Judah had already crowned King David.

Ish-Bosheth reigned in Israel for only two years while he and David battled over who was the rightful king.

Abner and Joab Meet

Abner was King Saul’s cousin, and Joab was King David’s cousin. They had each been military generals in the service of their kings since both kings were anointed. In Abner’s case, forty-two years had passed in his service to King Saul. Joab had served with David for thirteen years since his anointing.

Both of these generals were bodyguards, defenders, and advisors to their kings and each was pledged to protect his king’s interests. It was inevitable that they would confront each other to resolve the question of who was the legitimate king of Israel.

They left their kings in Hebron and Manaim and marched toward each other. The meeting point was the pool of Gibeon in northern Benjamin. This meeting was a matter of Israelites confronting Israelites. The two generals had their troops sit down on opposite sides of the pool.

Abner proposed a contest of twenty-four champions, twelve from each side, but they were so equally matched that all of them were soon dead by each other’s hands. The two armies flew into a battle and when it was over, the Israelites were defeated by Judah’s men and were on the run.

Abner and Asahel

Abner led Israel’s retreat, and Joab’s brother Asahel took off after him. As far as Abner was concerned the battle was over and his side had lost, but for some reason Asahel seemed determined to kill or capture Abner. Abner tried to divert him by suggesting that he choose an easier target, but Asahel ran silently on, closing the gap between them.

“Again Abner warned Asahel, ‘Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?’” 2 Samuel 2:22

Asahel wouldn’t give up the pursuit and when he drew near enough, Abner thrust his spear backward and it pierced Asahel’s body killing him. He fell to the ground and all of the Judean and Israelite troops following Abner paused when they saw his body.

Joab and his brother Abishai kept pursuing Israel until they came to a hill and saw Abner standing on top of it with the men of Benjamin rallied behind him. Abner called down to Joab,

“Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites?” 2 Samuel 2:26

Joab replied, “’As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning.’ So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.” 2 Samuel 2:27-28

Abner and his men marched all night and in the morning they were back in Manaim with King Ish-Bosheth. They had lost 360 men; Judah lost nineteen.

David’s Sons

By this time David had six wives who each bore him a son while he was in Hebron. Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel, was his firstborn and primary heir. This passages says nothing about David’s polygamy, but we know from other Scriptures that God never intended marriage to include multiple partners. We will see over time what became of David’s family with all of those wives and sons.

David reigned as the King of Judah for seven years in Hebron.

David’s Mightiest Men

2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11 give the names of the mightiest men who joined David. They were roughly thirty volunteers who came to David before he was even crowned king. David was still in his stronghold in the caves of Adullam when the first three showed up.

1. Josheb-Basshebeth who was famous for killing 800 Philistines in one battle.
2. Eleazar, who stood his ground when the rest of the army retreated, and struck down Philistines until he was too exhausted to go one and his hand was frozen around his sword.
3. Shammah, who held off the Philistines in the middle of a field while his comrades fled, and God gave him a great victory.

The Philistines occupied David’s hometown of Bethlehem while he was in the stronghold at Adullam. Thinking of Bethlehem made David long for a drink of water from its well, so the Three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines and got it for him. David poured the water out like an offering in honor of his men who risked their lives to get it for him.

The Three took their orders from Joab’s brother Abishai. They respected him because he also had single-handedly killed 300 Philistines in battle.

The Thirty

There were thirty other warriors who were David’s best troops. Benaiah was one of them. He was famous for killing a lion in a pit on a snowy day. He also went after a giant Egyptian with only a club, got the Egyptian’s spear away from him and killed him with it. Benaiah was in charge of David’s bodyguard.

Many of these thirty men stayed with David throughout his reign and we will see their names again as we continue reading.

Israel was a divided nation with King Ish-Bosheth reigning in Manaiam and King David ruling in Hebron, but God had anointed David to be the successor to King Saul. Something was going to have to change if the nation was ever to be united under one king again.