…twelve men, representing Ishbosheth and the tribe of Benjamin, fought twelve of David’s men. Each man caught his opponent by the head and plunged his sword into his opponent’s side, so that all twenty-four of them fell down dead together. And so that place in Gibeon is called “Field of Swords.”
How barberic! To what end?
David’s men had killed 360 of Abner’s men from the tribe of Benjamin.
This was clearly a war between two tribes. It looks like the rest of the country sat on the sidelines.
The fighting between the forces supporting Saul’s family and those supporting David went on for a long time. As David became stronger and stronger, his opponents became weaker and weaker.
Is there anything worse than attrition? What an inglorious way to arrive at an objective. How different it was for Saul (1 Samuel 10:9-12, 23-24)! I suppose that anything of value comes with a price. It’s not sufficient for me to simply say I want what God wants and go about my merry way. I have to fight and fight hard.
“The following… sons… were born to David at Hebron: Amnon… Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur…
David continued to live despite waiting to become king of all Israel. As for me, I think I somehow stopped living along the way, solely focused on objectives and now I find myself alone in a corner. On the flip side, a few of these sons later ended up being a nightmare for David (2 Samuel 15:13-14; 1 Kings 1:5-8). Thank you Father, that I am free from such encumbrances (1 Corinthiens 7:32). Interesting: one of David’s wives was a foreigner.