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

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

The account of King Saul’s death given here differs from the one given at the end of 1 Samuel which we read yesterday.  However, this account is that of the messenger who brought King Saul’s crown and armband to David.  It appears to me that the messenger expected to receive a reward from David for bringing him this news.  Instead David ordered his men to kill the messenger for killing King Saul (which the messenger claimed that he had done).  I feel bad for the messenger because he claimed that he killed King Saul at Saul’s request and because he was dying anyway.  On the other hand, if David had not killed the messenger there would have been those who believed that he had arranged for the man to kill King Saul. 

David composed a memorial song for King Saul and Jonathan.  I had always thought that David composed this song because of his deep love for his friend Jonathan and included King Saul because that was politically expedient (or maybe just because King Saul died in the same battle and was Jonathan’s father).  However, reading the passage today it struck me that David genuinely had affection for and admired King Saul.  David’s song here is just a continuation of his previous actions in refusing to kill King Saul when presented with the opportunity on two occasions.  It strikes me that David may have genuinely believed that King Saul’s animosity towards him was a result of others in King Saul’s court poisoning Saul’s mind against him.

After King Saul’s death, David has himself made king of Judah, clearly with the intention of becoming king over all of Israel.  After becoming king of Judah, David invites the men of Jabesh-Gilead to accept him as king.  Because the battle at jabesh-Gilead is what led Saul to truly become king over Israel, if the men of Jabesh-Gilead accepted David’s claim it would have made it hard for anyone to challenge him.  In the meantime, Abner, the commander of King Saul’s army, made King Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, king in Saul’s place.  Ishbosheth was still alive because he had not been with King Saul’s army, which suggests that he was not a military leader of any sort. Ishbosheth could not have claimed the throne without Abner’s support because he did not have the loyalty of a group of warriors.

All of this sets the stage for the first scene in the complex relationship between King David and the commander of his army, Joab, his nephew.  King David’s power-base was the tribe of Judah, to which he belonged and among whom he had been cultivating influence since he fled from King Saul.  Ishbosheth’s power-base was, for all intents and purposes, Abner.  Abner was King Saul’s cousin and thus of the tribe of Benjamin.  As commander of King Saul’s army Abner would have acquired some standing among the other tribes.  By bringing Abner over to his side, King David would have removed Ishbosheth’s support and extended his power-base beyond the tribe of Judah.  However, Abner had killed Joab’s brother in battle, which gave Joab an excuse to kill him.  I call it an excuse because later King David attempts to make another one of his nephews commander over his army and Joab kills that man as well.   What makes me say that the relationship between King David and Joab was complex is that, except for these two occasions and when Joab supported a different son of David to succeed David as king, every mention of Joab has him acting in David’s interests or at David’s commands.  Despite this King David twice attempted to replace him as commander of his army and expressed a deep-seated animosity towards Joab and his surviving brother.