Then the king sang this funeral song for Abner: “Should Abner have died as fools die?
Parallel translations
- WEB The king lamented for Abner, and said, “Should Abner die as a fool dies?
- KJV And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?
- BSB And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
- NKJV And the king sang a lament over Abner and said: “Should Abner die as a fool dies?
- NASB And the king sang a song of mourning for Abner and said, “Should Abner die as a fool dies?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David sings a lament asking whether Abner had to die like a fool. He mourns the senseless, undeserved manner of Abner's death.
Overview
David composes a brief elegy, asking whether so capable a man as Abner should die as a fool or villain dies, that is, by treachery rather than honorable battle. The lament dignifies Abner and laments the injustice of his murder. David's poetic mourning, like his earlier lament for Saul and Jonathan, shows his magnanimity and grief over needless bloodshed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 12:19–20I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.”’
- 2 Sam 13:12–13She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me! For no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Don’t you do this folly.
- 2 Sam 1:17David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son
- 2 Chr 35:25Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel. Behold, they are written in the lamentations.
- Jer 17:11As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the middle of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.
- Prov 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Eccl 2:15–16Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
- 2 Sam 13:28–29Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Mark now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I commanded you? Be courageous, and be valiant!”
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 3:33 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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