2 Samuel 3:12

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Then Abner sent messengers to David saying,“To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement with me, and I will do whatever I can to cause all Israel to turn to you.”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּשְׁלַח֩ אַבְנֵ֨ר מַלְאָכִ֧ים ׀ אֶל־דָּוִ֛ד *תחתו **תַּחְתָּ֥יו לֵאמֹ֖ר לְמִי־אָ֑רֶץ לֵאמֹ֗ר כָּרְתָ֤ה בְרִֽיתְךָ֙ אִתִּ֔י וְהִנֵּה֙ יָדִ֣י עִמָּ֔ךְ לְהָסֵ֥ב אֵלֶ֖יךָ אֶת־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Transliteration

wayyišlaḥ 'abnēr mal'ākîm to-dāwid taḥtāyw to-lē'mōr to-who-'āreṣ to-lē'mōr kāretāh berîtekā with-me and-hinnēh yādî with-you to-hāsēb to-you 'et-all-yiśrā'ēl

Grammar Details

• *wayyišlaḥ*: qal imperfect consecutive 3rd masculine singular - and he sent
• *'abnēr*: proper noun - Abner
• *mal'ākîm*: noun, masculine plural - messengers/angels
• *dāwid*: proper noun with prefixed preposition el - to David
• *taḥtāyw*: preposition with 3rd masculine singular suffix - in his place/on his behalf
• *lē'mōr*: qal infinitive construct with prefixed preposition lamed - to say
• *'āreṣ*: noun, feminine singular with prefixed interrogative mî - whose [is the] land
• *kāretāh*: qal imperative masculine singular - cut
• *berîtekā*: noun, feminine singular construct with 2nd masculine singular suffix - your covenant
• *hinnēh*: demonstrative particle - behold
• *yādî*: noun, feminine singular construct with 1st common singular suffix - my hand
• *hāsēb*: hiphil infinitive construct with prefixed preposition lamed - to bring around/turn
• *yiśrā'ēl*: proper noun with direct object marker and kol (all) - all Israel

Word Meanings

• *taḥtāyw*: in his place/on his behalf/where he was
• *lemi-'āreṣ*: to whom [does] the land [belong]/whose is the land (idiom suggesting Abner's power)
• *kāretāh berîtekā*: make your covenant/cut [establish] your treaty
• *yādî*: my hand (idiom for power/support)
• *hāsēb*: to turn/to bring around/to cause to turn to

Referenced Verses

• 2 Sam 3:21 : 21 Abner said to David,“Let me leave so that I may go and gather all Israel to my lord the king so that they may make an agreement with you. Then you will rule over all that you desire.” So David sent Abner away, and he left in peace.
• 2 Sam 3:27 : 27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel.
• 2 Sam 5:1-3 : 1 David Is Anointed King Over Israel All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying,“Look, we are your very flesh and blood! 2 In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. The LORD said to you,‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’” 3 When all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the LORD. They designated David as king over Israel.
• 2 Sam 19:6 : 6 You seem to love your enemies and hate your friends! For you have as much as declared today that leaders and servants don’t matter to you. I realize now that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, it would be all right with you.
• 2 Sam 19:14 : 14 He won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man. Then they sent word to the king saying,“Return, you and all your servants as well.”
• 2 Sam 19:41-20:13 : 41 Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king,“Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan– and not only him but all of David’s men as well?” 42 All the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel,“Because the king is our close relative! Why are you so upset about this? Have we eaten at the king’s expense? Or have we misappropriated anything for our own use?” 43 The men of Israel replied to the men of Judah,“We have ten shares in the king, and we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want to curse us? Weren’t we the first to suggest bringing back our king?” But the comments of the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel. 1 Sheba’s Rebellion Now a wicked man named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjaminite, happened to be there. He blew the trumpet and said,“We have no share in David; we have no inheritance in this son of Jesse! Every man go home, O Israel!” 2 So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stuck by their king all the way from the Jordan River to Jerusalem. 3 Then David went to his palace in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement. Though he provided for their needs, he did not sleep with them. They remained under restriction until the day they died, living out the rest of their lives as widows. 4 Then the king said to Amasa,“Call the men of Judah together for me in three days, and you be present here with them too.” 5 So Amasa went out to call Judah together. But in doing so he took longer than the time that the king had allotted him. 6 Then David said to Abishai,“Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure fortified cities for himself and get away from us.” 7 So Joab’s men, accompanied by the Kerethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors, left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bicri. 8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. 9 Joab said to Amasa,“How are you, my brother?” With his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa’s beard as if to greet him with a kiss. 10 Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s other hand, and Joab stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa’s intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri. 11 One of Joab’s soldiers who stood over Amasa said,“Whoever is for Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!” 12 Amasa was squirming in his own blood in the middle of the path, and this man had noticed that all the soldiers stopped. Having noticed that everyone who came across Amasa stopped, the man pulled him away from the path and into the field and threw a garment over him. 13 Once he had removed Amasa from the path, everyone followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bicri.
• 1 Chr 11:1-3 : 1 David Becomes King All Israel joined David at Hebron and said,“Look, we are your very flesh and blood! 2 In the past, even when Saul was king, you were Israel’s commanding general. The LORD your God said to you,‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over my people Israel.’” 3 When all the leaders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD. They anointed David king over Israel, in keeping with the LORD’s message that came through Samuel.
• 1 Chr 12:38-40 : 38 All these men were warriors who were ready to march. They came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel by acclamation; all the rest of the Israelites also were in agreement that David should become king. 39 They spent three days feasting there with David, for their relatives had given them provisions. 40 Also their neighbors, from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, were bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. There were large supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, olive oil, beef, and lamb, for Israel was celebrating.
• Ps 62:9 : 9 Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air.
• Matt 21:8-9 : 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting,“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying,“Who is this?”
• Luke 16:5-8 : 5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first,‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied,‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him,‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another,‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied,‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him,‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light.