Abner

Abner (Biblical Hebrew for "father of [or is a] light"), was the first cousin of the Israelite King Saul and commander-in-chief of his army (1 Samuel 14:50, 20:25). After Sauls' death Abner supported the king's heir, Ishboseth as king as Israel at Mahanaim, east of the Jordan. David, who at this time was accepted as king by Judah alone, was meanwhile reigning at Hebron. For several years Abner continued to support Ishbosheth's claim to the throne until a dispute over Abner's designs on on of Saul's concubines led to a falling out between the two leaders. Abner then went over the David's side in the civil war, delivering David's former wife Michal in the bargain.

Abner promised David to rally additional northern support, but was slain by David's own commander, Joab before he could do so. David publicly disassociated himself from Joab's deed but did not otherwise punish him. Abner was given an honorable funeral at Hebron. Isbhoseth, meanwhile did not survive long after Abner's death, being assassinated by two of his own men, leaving David the sole serious claimant to the throne of Israel.

Biblical data

Abner first enters the biblical narrative in 1 Samuel 14, where he is introduced as "the commander of Saul's army" and the son of Saul's uncle Ner. 1 Chron. 8:29-33, implies that he was Saul's uncle, with Ner being Saul's grandfather. In any case, the name Abner means "(my) father (is) Ner," but can also be translated "(my) father (is) light," or even "father (of) light."

Saul and his son Jonathan have already engaged in several important battles against the Philistines before Abner is introduced, but it may be assumed that he was involved in some these. The text also mentions that "whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service," and it may be inferred that one of Abner's roles was to conscript soldiers on Saul's behalf.

By the next time Abner appears on the scene, Saul has already been rejected by God, as a result of Saul's failure to annihilate the Amalekites. Abner's role in this story is tantalizingly missing. In 1 Kings 17, it is to Abner that Saul turns to discover the identity of the young David, who has just slain Goliath. Abner confesses that he has no and is sent by Saul to find out. He returns with David, who still holding the giant's head, and David identifies himself as the son of Jesse of Bethlehem.

David soon emerges as the greatest of Saul's warriors, while Abner is portrayed sitting by the king's side (1 Kings 20:25) or sleeping by his side in camp (1 Samuel 26:5) rather than actively engaged in combat. The portrayal, of course, is written by sources loyal to David and not Saul, so it is likely that Abner's role was something greater than this.

In an episode where David steals Saul's spear while Saul is asleep, David taunts Abner for failing in his duty: "You're a man, aren't you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn't you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. What you have done is not good. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men deserve to die, because you did not guard your master, the Lord's anointed." 1 Samuel 26:15-16

In the intervening years, David flees from Saul and joins forces for the time being with the Philistines, the mortal enemies of Israel and Saul. In all of Saul's many military exploits—even the crucial Battle of Gilboa against the Philistines in which Saul and Jonathan lose their lives—Abner is hardly mentioned, although his role must have been great.

Abner and Ishbosheth

After Saul's death at Gilboa, however, the biblical writers give Abner greater credit. It is he who rallies the Israelites to the cause of Saul's surviving son Ishbosheth. David, meanwhile, leaves the Philistines and reigns at Hebron over the tribe of Judah. Abner brings Ishbosheth to the town of Mahanaim, east of the Jordan, where he rules over "Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel—a territory much larger and more populated than David's single-tribe kingdom of Judah. (2 Sam. 2:9)

In a moment of apparent peace between the two camps Abner meets David's general, Joab, at the pool of Gibeon. Abner proposes that their men engage in hand-to-hand combat, 12 against 12. The fighting turns serious, with Joab's men gaining the upper hand. Joab's fleet-footed brother Asahel chases Abner, who does not want to engage him, for fear of creating bad blood with Joab and David. When Asahel refuses to give up the chase, Abner turns and slays him with a spear thrust. Joab's forces pursue Abner to exact vengeance, and the tribe of Benjamin rallies to Abner's defense. Abner offers a truce, Abner called out to Joab, "Must the sword devour forever? Don't you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?" (2 Samuel 2:26) Joab accepts and the two sides withdraw to their respective territories.

Although few details are given concerning the ongoing war between David and Ishbosheth, the struggle apparently continued for several years. The pro-Davidic writer of 2 Samuel states: "David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker." A real turning point in the struggle, however, comes when Abner has a falling out with Isbosheth and goes over to David's side. The controversy arises over an affair between Abner and the concubine of Ishbosheth's father, Saul.

"Now Saul had had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah," the text relates. "And Ishbosheth said to Abner, 'Why did you sleep with my father's concubine?' Abner was very angry because of what Ishbosheth said and he answered, 'Am I a dog's head—on Judah's side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven't handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman!'"

The accusation against Abner is more than one of mere moral impropriety, for sexual intercourse with the former king's concubine was tantamount to declaring oneself to occupy the place of the king. Despite his protestation of loyalty to Saul's house, Abner immediately proclaims David the rightful king in God's eyes and determines to make him king "from Dan to Beersheba."

With the weak Ishbosheth incapable of opposing him, Abner sends to David, saying "Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you." As proof of Abner's good faith, David demands that he come to Hebron and bring with him Michal, the daughter of Saul, who had been David's first love and wife but had later been given by Saul to another man. The fearful Ishbosheth foolishly allows both Michal and Abner to leave. Abner comes then to David at his capital of Hebron, bringing not only Michal, but also 20 soldiers and a pledge of loyalty from the entire tribe of Benjamin, as well as elements of other northern tribes who have lost faith in Ishbosheth's leadership. David then dispatches Abner north to garner additional support for David's cause.

Joab, meanwhile has learned learned of Abner's visit to Hebron. He immediately sends messengers to recall him. When Abner dutifully returns, Joab stabs him in the stomach and kills him. Ostensibly he has acted "to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel," but no doubt he also senses in Abner a threat to his own position. David publicly declares himself innocent of the crime, cursing Joab's family and ordering him to publicly repent for the murder. However he does not demote Joab or otherwise punish him for his act.

Abner was buried in Hebron. The Bible reports that King David himself walked behind the bier. A psalm of David is also recording in Abner's honor:

Should Abner have died as the lawless die?

Your hands were not bound,

your feet were not fettered.

You fell as one falls before wicked men."

Soon, Ishbaal/Ishbosheth was assassinated as he slept, and David became king of the Israelite tribes as well as Judah.

Abner in rabbinical literature

Abner is the hero par excellence in the Haggadah (Yalḳ., Jer. 285; Eccl. R. on 9:11; Ḳid. 49b). Conscious of his extraordinary strength, he exclaimed: "If I could only catch hold of the earth, I could shake it." According to the Midrash it would have been easier to move a wall six yards thick than to move one of the feet of Abner. Yet when his time came, Joab smote him. But even in his dying hour, Abner seized his foe like a ball of thread, threatening to crush him. Then the people came and pleaded for Joab's life, saying: "If you kill him we shall be orphaned, and our women and all our belongings will become a prey to the Philistines." Abner answered: "What can I do? He has extinguished my light" The Israelites replied: "Entrust your cause to the true judge [God]." Then Abner released his hold upon Joab and fell dead to the ground (Yalḳ. l.c.).

Nevertheless, the rabbis agree that Abner deserved this violent death, though opinions differ concerning the exact nature of the sin that entailed so dire a punishment on one who was, on the whole, considered a "righteous man" (Gen. R. 82:4). Some reproach him that he did not use his influence with Saul to prevent him from murdering the priests of Nob (Sanh. 20a). Instead of contenting himself with passive resistance to Saul's command to murder the priests (Yalḳ., Sam. 131), Abner ought to have tried to restrain the king. Others maintain that Abner did make such an attempt, but in vain, and that his one sin consisted in that he delayed the beginning of David's reign over Israel by fighting him after Saul's death (Sanh. l.c.). Others blame Abner for having prevented a reconciliation between Saul and David. Moreover, it was wrong in Abner to permit Israelite youths to kill one another for sport (2 Sam. 2:14-16). No reproach, however, attaches to him for the death of Asahel, since Abner killed him in self-defense (Sanh. 49a).

One legend impugns Abner's ancestry, relating that Abner was none other than the son of the Witch of Endor (Pirḳe R. El. 33). Nevertheless, other held his lineage to be a noble one. Indeed, one of the most prominent families (Ẓiẓit ha-Kesat) in Jerusalem in the middle of the first century of the common era claimed descent from Abner (Gen. R. xcviii.).

External links

• Pictures of Avner ben Ner's Tomb in Hebron

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