2 Samuel 2:9

And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) The Ashurites, and over Jezreel.—This verse apparently expresses the gradual extension of Ishbosheth’s dominion as the country became freed from the Philistines. At first, his authority was established over Gilead—i.e., the country on the east of the Jordan; then “over the Ashurites.” No satisfactory explanation of this name as it stands has been found, but it is probably meant for Asherites, or the tribe of Asher, the reading of some MSS. and of the Chaldee Version; the name of this tribe standing for the whole region west of the Jordan, and north of the plain of Esdraelon; then southwards, “over Jezreel,”the wide plain between the mountains of Gilboa and the little Hermon; then “over Ephraim,” including the half-tribe of Manasseh; and, still southwards, “over Benjamin;” and finally, “over all Israel,” excepting, of course, Judah.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 2:9-11. He made him king over Gilead — Over all the tribes on the other side Jordan, which are comprehended under this name. Over the Ashurites — That is, the tribe of Asher, as the Chaldee paraphrast and others understand it. Over Jezreel — A large and rich valley, situate in the borders of the tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali, and so put for them all. And over all Israel — All the tribes on this side Jordan, save only the tribe of Judah. Ish-bosheth was forty years old — Being born in the year that Saul was made king; for Saul reigned forty years, Acts 13:41. And reigned two years — Before there was any hostility between him and David, which, after it began, continued five years and a half, during which time David resided in Hebron, and was king over the tribe of Judah, and Ish-bosheth reigned over Israel, or rather Abner, for that general had the power, and left him only the name of a king.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:8-17. The nation in general refused David. By this the Lord trained up his servant for future honour and usefulness; and the tendency of true godliness was shown in his behaviour while passing through various difficulties. David was herein a type of Christ, whom Israel would not submit to, though anointed of the Father to be a Prince and a Saviour to them. Abner meant, Let the young men fight before us, when he said, Let them play before us: fools thus make a mock at sin. But he is unworthy the name of a man, that can thus trifle with human blood.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Ashurites - If the tribe of Asher, the verse indicates the order in which Abner recovered the different districts from the Philistines, and added them to the dominions of Ish-bosheth, beginning with Gilead, and then gradually adding, on the west of Jordan, first the territory of Asher as far as Carmel and the whole plain of Esdraelon, and then the country of Ephraim and Benjamin, being in fact all Israel, as distinguished from Judah; and this reconquest may have occupied five years. Ish-bosheth's reign over Israel may not have been reckoned to begin until the conquest was complete.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9, 10. over Gilead—used in a loose sense for the land beyond Jordan.

Ashurites—the tribe of Asher in the extreme north.

Jezreel—the extensive valley bordering on the central tribes.

over all Israel … But Judah—David neither could nor would force matters. He was content to wait God's time and studiously avoided any collision with the rival king, till, at the lapse of two years, hostilities were threatened from that quarter.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Gilead; largely so taken for all the land of Israel beyond Jordan, as it is Joshua 22:9 Judges 10:8.

The Ashurites, i.e. the tribe of Asher, as the Chaldee Paraphrast and others understand it.

Jezreel; a large and rich valley situate in the borders of the tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali, and so put synecedochically for them all.

All Israel; except Judah, as it follows.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he made him king over Gilead,.... Which lay beyond Jordan, and included the tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh; these he prevailed upon to acknowledge Ishbosheth, their king, and proclaimed him king over them:

and over the Ashurites: that is, those of the house or tribe of Asher, as the Targum, and indeed none else can well be thought of; some indeed read the Geshurites, as the Vulgate Latin version; but these were never expelled by the Israelites, and had at this time a king over them, 2 Samuel 3:3; see Joshua 13:13,

and over Jezreel; the great plain which went along the borders of Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali, and included these tribes:

and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin: the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin:

and over all Israel, excepting the tribe of Judah; that is, he prevailed first on one of these, then on another, until he got all the tribes of Israel to own him for their king; David all this time being still and quiet, and not opposing him, waiting God's own time to open the way for his possession of the kingdom over all Israel, and having a strict regard to his oath to Saul, 1 Samuel 24:21.

Geneva Study Bible

And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over {f} all Israel.

(f) Over the eleven tribes.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. Gilead] Here apparently, as in Joshua 22:9, Gilead includes the whole district occupied by the Israelites to the E. of the Jordan, and not merely the central portion of it, between the S. end of the Lake of Gennesaret and the N. end of the Dead Sea.

the Ashurites] Probably an alternative form or a corrupt reading for Asherites (Jdg 1:32), i.e. the tribe of Asher, named as the principal inhabitants of Western Palestine north of the plain of Esdraelon. The Targum gives “house of Asher.” The Vulgate and Syriac versions however read Geshurites. If this reading is adopted, by Geshurites must be understood the tribe which maintained itself among the Israelites in the district S. of Mount Hermon (Joshua 13:13), to be distinguished from the independent kingdom of Geshur in Syria (ch. 2 Samuel 3:3), and from the Geshurites on the borders of Philistia (1 Samuel 27:8).

Jezreel] The great plain of Esdraelon is thus named from its principal city. See note on 1 Samuel 29:1.

all Israel] Ish-bosheth’s dominions were gradually extended until they included all the country which afterwards formed the kingdom of Israel as distinguished from that of Judah.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - Make him king over. A different preposition is used with the first three names from that employed afterwards, as though Ishbosheth's reign over Gilead and Jezreel was a reality, but that he had only a shadowy claim to dominion over Ephraim, Benjamin, and all Israel. Gilead. As Mahanaim lay upon the borders of Gad and Manasseh, Abner would easily control these two tribes, and Reuben, which was never an active or enterprising tribe, would follow their lead. Of the Ashurites nothing is known, and the reading is uncertain, as the LXX. has "Thasir," and the Vulgate and Syriac "Geshur." The Chaldee paraphrase boldly gives "the house of Asher;" but this tribe lay close to Phoenicia, on the extreme northwest. There are two places called Geshur (see on 2 Samuel 3:3), but neither of them seems meant, and more probably it was some place the name of which was uncommon, and so was wrongly copied by scribes until the present confusion arose. Jezreel. The name of this place, as specially subject to Ishbosheth, is surprising; for the town, at this time of no importance, lay in the wide plain between the mountains of Gilboa and the little Hermon. But this district was the prize won by the Philistines, and was a region where their cavalry and chariots gave them a great advantage. For Ishbosheth to have had even a nominal dominion over Jezreel, he must either have become a tributary, or Abner must have maintained a not unsuccessful struggle there after the battle of Gilboa. The latter is the more probable. In safe possession of all the country east of the Jordan, Abner was not likely to consent to anything so humiliating as submission to the Philistines; while David's connection with Achish made it neither so galling to him nor so disadvantageous. As the Transjordanic tribes assembled at Hebron to make David king to the number of one hundred and twenty thousand men (1 Chronicles 12:37), Abner plainly had large resources at his command, and, though the people were not very earnest in the cause of Saul's house, yet they would probably assemble in considerable numbers after the battle of Gilboa, to prevent any irruption of the victors into their country. At their head Abner probably gained some advantages over the Philistines, and thus became powerful enough to proclaim Ishbosheth king, and as Ephraim and Benjamin acquiesced, he became nominally ruler over all Israel. 2 Samuel 2:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Promotion of Ishbosheth to be king over Israel. - The account of this is attached to the foregoing in the form of an antithesis: "But Abner, the chief captain of Saul (see at 1 Samuel 14:50), had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and led him over to Mahanaim." Ishbosheth had probably been in the battle at Gilboa, and fled with Abner across the Jordan after the battle had been lost. Ishbosheth (i.e., man of shame) was the fourth son of Saul (according to 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39): his proper name was Esh-baal (i.e., fire of Baal, probably equivalent to destroyer of Baal). This name was afterwards changed into Ishbosheth, just as the name of the god Baal was also translated into Bosheth ("shame," Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 3:24, etc.), and Jerubbaal changed into Jerubbosheth (see at Judges 8:35). Ewald's supposition, that bosheth was originally employed in a good sense as well, like αἰδως and פּחד (Genesis 31:53), cannot be sustained. Mahanaim was on the eastern side of the Jordan, not far from the ford of Jabbok, and was an important place for the execution of Abner's plans, partly from its historical associations (Genesis 32:2-3), and partly also from its situation. There he made Ishbosheth king "for Gilead," i.e., the whole of the land to the east of the Jordan (as in Numbers 32:29; Joshua 22:9, etc.). "For the Ashurites:" this reading is decidedly faulty, since we can no more suppose it to refer to Assyria (Asshur) than to the Arabian tribe of the Assurim (Genesis 25:3); but the true name cannot be discovered.

(Note: In the Septuagint we find Θασιρὶ or Θασούρ, an equally mistaken form. The Chaldee has "over the tribe of Asher," which is also unsuitable, unless we include the whole of the northern portion of Canaan, including the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. But there is no proof that the name Asher was ever extended to the territory of the three northern tribes. We should be rather disposed to agree with Bachienne, who supposes it to refer to the city of Asher (Joshua 17:7) and its territory, as this city was in the south-east of Jezreel, and Abner may possibly have conquered this district for Ishbosheth with Gilead as a base, before he ventured to dispute the government of Israel with the Philistines, if only we could discover any reason why the inhabitants ("the Ashurites") should be mentioned instead of the city Asher, or if it were at all likely that one city should be introduced in the midst of a number of large districts. The Syriac and Vulgate have Geshuri, and therefore seem to have read or conjectured הגּשׁוּרי; and Thenius decides in favour of this, understanding the name Geshur to refer to the most northerly portion of the land on both sides of the Jordan, from Mount Hermon to the Lake of Gennesareth (as in Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 12:5; Joshua 13:13; 1 Chronicles 2:23). But no such usage of speech can be deduced from any of these passages, as Geshuri is used there to denote the land of the Geshurites, on the north-east of Bashan, which had a king of its own in the time of David (see at 2 Samuel 3:3), and which Abner would certainly never have thought of conquering.)

"And for Jezreel," i.e., not merely the city of that name, but the plain that was named after it (as in 1 Samuel 29:1). "And for Ephraim, and Benjamin, and all (the rest of) Israel," of course not including Judah, where David had already been acknowledged as king.