Polyglot Bible: 2 Samuel: 2 Samuel 3

This is a parallel-text biblical study presentation of 2 Samuel chapter 3, displaying the King James Version with embedded Strong's concordance numbers alongside the Greek Septuagint (LXX), a format used for textual comparison and word-level analysis. The chapter narrates a pivotal episode in the transition of power from Saul's dynasty to David's: Abner, the military strongman holding Saul's house together, quarrels with Ish-bosheth over a concubine and defects to David's side, promising to deliver all Israel to him. David agrees to the alliance on one condition — the return of his wife Michal, taken from him during his years as a fugitive. The diplomatic breakthrough is abruptly undone when Joab, David's general, murders Abner in revenge for the battle death of his brother Asahel, acting without David's knowledge. The chapter's most notable feature is David's elaborate public mourning for Abner — fasting, weeping, and lamenting that Abner died not by justice but by treachery — which functions as a political performance designed to dissociate the king from the killing and reassure Israel's elders that David did not order the assassination. The text closes with David's candid private admission that Joab and his brothers are "too hard" for him to control, a rare acknowledgment of his own constrained power despite being God's anointed king.

Polyglot Bible: 2 Samuel: 2 Samuel 3

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