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²⁵The Benjaminites rallied to Abner; they formed a unit and took their stand on top of a hill. ²⁵ The children of Binyamin gathered themselves together after Aviner, and became one band, and stood on the top of a hill. ²⁵ And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill. ²⁵ The descendants of Benjamin rallied after Abner, and they became as one fighting group and stood on the top of a certain hill. ²⁵ And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. ²⁵ The men of Benjamin came to Abner, and all stood together at the top of the hill. ²⁵ The Benjaminites formed their ranks behind Abner and were like a single army, standing at the top of a certain hill. ²⁵And the sons of [the tribe of] Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one troop, and took their stand on the top of a hill. ²⁵ And the sons of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and became one troop, and they stood on the top of a hill. ²⁵ And the children of Beniamin gathered them selues together after Abner, and were on an heape and stoode on the top of an hill.

And Joab returned from following Abner,.... It being in his commission from David to shed as little blood as he could:

and when he had gathered all the people together; who had been pursuing the Israelites, some one way and some another:

there lacked of David's servants nineteen men, and Asahel; who is particularly mentioned, because a very honourable man, valiant and courageous, a relation of David, and brother of Joab the general, and the loss of him was greater than all the rest. This has made some think that the twelve men of the servants of David were not killed in the duel, or otherwise there must be but seven slain in the battle; though that is not more strange than that in the battle with Midian not one should be slain, and, yet a terrible slaughter was made of the Midianites, Numbers 31:1. So in a sharp battle between the Spartans and Arcadians, ten thousand of the latter were slain, and not one of the former q. Stilicho killed more than an hundred thousand of the army of Rhadagaisus, king of the Goths, without losing one of his own men, no, not so much as one wounded, as Austin affirms r. At the battle of Issus the Persians lost an hundred ten thousand men, and Alexander not two hundred s. Julius Caesar killed in the three camps of Juba, Scipio, and Labienus, ten thousand men, with the loss of fifty men only t. After these instances, not only the case here, but that between the Israelites and Midianites, cannot be thought incredible, for the sake of which the above are produced. This account, according to Josephus u, was taken the day following.

q Diodor. Sic. l. 15. p. 383. r De civilate Dei, l. 5. c. 23. s Curtius, l. 3. c. 11. t Hirtius de Bello African. c. 86. u Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 3.