2 Samuel 3:24

Easy-to-Read Version

Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came to you, but you sent him away without hurting him! Why?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look here, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he’s getting away.

Hebrew Names Version
Then Yo'av came to the king, and said, What have you done? behold, Aviner came to you; why is it that you have sent him away, and he is quite gone?

King James Version
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

Lexham English Bible
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came here to you? Why have you dismissed him that he actually went away?

English Standard Version
Then Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away, so that he is gone?

New Century Version
Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he's gone.

New English Translation
So Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he's gone on his way!

Amplified Bible
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why did you send him away, so that he is already gone?

New American Standard Bible
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you let him go, so that he is already gone?

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Ioab came to the King, and saide, What hast thou done? beholde, Abner came vnto thee, why hast thou sent him away, and he is departed?

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone?

Contemporary English Version
Joab went to David and said, "What have you done? Abner came to you, and you let him go. Now he's long gone!

Complete Jewish Bible
Yo'av went to the king and said, "What have you done? Here, Avner came to you, and you sent him away, and now he's gone! Why?

Darby Translation
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came to thee; why is it [that] thou hast sent him away, and he is gone?

George Lamsa Translation
Then Joab came to King David, and said to him, What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why have you sent him away, and he is gone from you?

Good News Translation
So Joab went to the king and said to him, "What have you done? Abner came to you—why did you let him go like that?

Literal Translation
And Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? Behold, Abner has come to you; why is this, that you have sent him away, and going he is gone?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then wente Ioab in to the kynge, and sayde: What hast thou done? Beholde, Abner came to the, why hast thou sent him from the, that he is gone his waye?

American Standard Version
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

Bible in Basic English
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? when Abner came to you why did you send him away and let him go?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then Ioab came to the king, and said: What hast thou done? Behold, Abner came vnto thee, and why hast thou sent him away, and he is quyte gone?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then Joab came to the king, and said: 'What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

King James Version (1611)
Then Ioab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came vnto thee, why is it that thou hast sent him away, & he is quite gone?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Joab went in to the king, and said, What is this that thou hast done? behold, Abenner came to thee; and why hast thou let him go, and he has departed in peace?

English Revised Version
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

Berean Standard Bible
So Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he is getting away!

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Joab entride to the kyng, and seide, What hast thou do? Lo! Abner cam to thee; whi leftist thou hym, and he yede, and departide?

Young's Literal Translation
And Joab cometh unto the king, and saith, `What hast thou done? lo, Abner hath come unto thee! why [is] this -- thou hast sent him away, and he is really gone?

Update Bible Version
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? look, Abner came to you; why is it that you have sent him away, and he is quite gone?

Webster's Bible Translation
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came to thee; why [is] it [that] thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

World English Bible
Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? behold, Abner came to you; why is it that you have sent him away, and he is quite gone?

New King James Version
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Look, Abner came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone?

New Living Translation
Joab rushed to the king and demanded, "What have you done? What do you mean by letting Abner get away?

New Life Bible
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? See, Abner came to you. Why then have you sent him away, so that he is gone?

New Revised Standard
Then Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came to you; why did you dismiss him, so that he got away?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then Joab came in unto the king, and said - What hast thou done? Lo! Abner came in unto thee. Wherefore is it that thou didst let him go, so that he is clean departed?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Joab went in to the king, and said: What hast thou done? Behold Abner came to thee: Why didst thou send him away, and he is gone and departed?

Revised Standard Version
Then Jo'ab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why is it that you have sent him away, so that he is gone?

THE MESSAGE
Joab went straight to the king: "What's this you've done? Abner shows up, and you let him walk away scot-free? You know Abner son of Ner better than that. This was no friendly visit. He was here to spy on you, figure out your comings and goings, find out what you're up to."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone?

Contextual Overview

²² Joab and David's officers came back from battle. They had many valuable things that they had taken from the enemy. David had just let Abner leave in peace. So Abner was not there in Hebron with David. ²³ Joab and all his army arrived at Hebron. The army said to Joab, "Abner son of Ner came to King David, and David let Abner leave in peace." ²⁴ Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner came to you, but you sent him away without hurting him! Why? ²⁵ You know Abner son of Ner. He came to trick you. He came to learn all about what you are doing." ²⁶ Joab left David and sent messengers to Abner at the well of Sirah. The messengers brought Abner back, but David did not know this. ²⁷ When Abner arrived at Hebron, Joab met him in the gateway, pulled him aside to talk in private, and then stabbed him in the stomach. So he got his revenge against Abner. Joab killed Abner because Abner had killed Joab's brother Asahel. ²⁸ Later David heard the news and said, "My kingdom and I are innocent of the death of Abner son of Ner. The Lord knows this. ²⁹ Joab and his family are responsible for this, and they will be cursed. Many troubles will come to his family. His people will be sick with leprosy, crippled, killed in war, and not have enough food to eat!" ³⁰ Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because Abner had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon. ³¹David said to Joab and to all the people with Joab, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth. Cry for Abner." They buried Abner in Hebron. David went to the funeral. King David and all the people cried at Abner's grave.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

What hast: Joab and his brother Abishai, David's nephews, had been very faithful and highly useful to him in his distresses; and, from gratitude and natural affection, he had inadvertently permitted them to assume almost as much ascendancy over him as Abner had over the pusillanimous Ishbosheth: he trusted and feared them too much, and allowed them all the importance they claimed; which had emboldened them, especially Joab, to a high degree of presumption. 2 Samuel 3:8, 2 Samuel 3:39, 2 Samuel 19:5-7, Numbers 23:11, John 18:35

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:13 - What 1 Samuel 13:11 - What hast 2 Samuel 19:6 - thou regardest Proverbs 19:10 - much

Cross-References

Genesis 3:2
The woman answered the snake, "No, we can eat fruit from the trees in the garden.

Genesis 3:8
During the cool part of the day, the Lord God was walking in the garden. The man and the woman heard him, and they hid among the trees in the garden.

Genesis 3:9
The Lord God called to the man and said, "Where are you?"

Genesis 3:16
Then God said to the woman, "I will cause you to have much trouble when you are pregnant. And when you give birth to children, you will have much pain. You will want your husband very much, but he will rule over you."

Genesis 3:17
Then God said to the man, "I commanded you not to eat from that tree. But you listened to your wife and ate from it. So I will curse the ground because of you. You will have to work hard all your life for the food the ground produces.

Genesis 3:18
The ground will grow thorns and weeds for you. And you will have to eat the plants that grow wild in the fields.

Genesis 3:22
The Lord God said, "Look, the man has become like us—he knows about good and evil. And now the man might take the fruit from the tree of life. If the man eats that fruit, he will live forever."

Exodus 25:2
"Tell the Israelites to bring me gifts. You will accept gifts for me from everyone who is willing to give.

Numbers 22:23
When Balaam's donkey saw the Lord 's angel standing in the road with a sword in his hand, the donkey turned from the road and went into the field. Balaam could not see the angel, so he was very angry at the donkey. He hit the donkey and forced it to go back on the road.

Joshua 5:13
When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him. The man had a sword in his hand. Joshua went to the man and asked, "Are you a friend to our people or are you one of our enemies?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then Joab came to the king,.... To the apartment where he was; perhaps he was told the above at his first entering into the king's palace, by some in waiting, before he came to the king, which filled him with wrath, so that he came to him in a passion:

and said to him, what hast thou done? which was very insolent in a subject to say to his prince:

behold, Abner came unto thee; I have been credibly informed of it, and am assured it is a fact which cannot be denied; he represents it as if he had done a wrong thing to admit him to come to him; but perhaps the great fault was that he had let him go:

why [is] it [that] thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? or "going, [is] gone" e; is clean gone off, when he ought to have been laid hold on as a traitor, and put in irons.

e וילך הלוך "et abiit eundo", Pagninus, Montanus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Joab saw that if Abner was reconciled to David, his own post as second in the state would be forfeited; and then with characteristic unscrupulosity he proceeded to take Abner’s life.