Thursday, March 31, 2011

New Year: 2 Sam 3-6 for Mar 30

Is the gruesome "contest" of 2 Sam 2:14-16 also due to animosity between Abner and the men of Judah (2:4,8-10)? It reads like a type of warring, not a contest. It led to something else (2:17), which led to something else (2:19), which led to something else (2:23), and all that eventually led to what Abner did not want to happen (2:23), having to face with Joab's revenge, which was done in subterfuge (3:27).

David's his mourning and zeal are exemplary (2 Sam 1:11,16), but his politics are also shrewd: David is from Judah, and he merely announces his kingship of Judah to the others (2:6-7). The fair-mindedness about the issue of Abner and Joab is noticed by the population (3:36). It continues to be far greater than what consolidation of power was expected by some Realpolitik-advocates (4:8). It is coupled with a type of tending-to-business conquering of Jerusalem, which since the Judges had not been taken from the Jebusites. David was not interested in civil war. And somewhere along the line, David "realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel" (5:12). For "Israel" here, notice the national name.

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