2 Samuel 3:33

Literal Standard Version

and the king laments for Abner and says, "Does Abner die as the death of a fool?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
and the king sang a lament for Abner:

Hebrew Names Version
The king lamented for Aviner, and said, Should Aviner die as a fool dies?

King James Version
And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

Lexham English Bible
The king sang a lament for Abner and said, "Should Abner have died the death of a fool?

English Standard Version
And the king lamented for Abner, saying, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

New Century Version
King David sang this funeral song for Abner. "Did Abner die like a fool?

New English Translation
The king chanted the following lament for Abner: "Should Abner have died like a fool?

Amplified Bible
And the king sang a dirge (funeral song) over Abner and said, "Should Abner [the great warrior] die as a fool dies?

New American Standard Bible
And the king sang a song of mourning for Abner and said, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the King lamented ouer Abner, and sayde, Dyed Abner as a foole dyeth?

Legacy Standard Bible
And the king chanted a lament for Abner and said,"Should Abner die as a wicked fool dies?

Contemporary English Version
Then the king sang a funeral song about Abner: Abner, why should you have died like an outlaw?

Complete Jewish Bible
The king sang this lament over Avner: "Should Avner have died like a thug?

Darby Translation
And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dieth?

Easy-to-Read Version
King David sang this sad song at Abner's funeral: "Did Abner die like some foolish criminal?

George Lamsa Translation
And the king lamented over Abner and said, Abner died like Nabal.

Good News Translation
David sang this lament for Abner: "Why did Abner have to die like a fool?

Literal Translation
And the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as it were like a fool?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the kynge mourned for Abner, and sayde: Abner is not deed as a foole dyeth.

American Standard Version
And the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dieth?

Bible in Basic English
And the king made a song of grief for Abner and said, Was the death of Abner to be like the death of a foolish man?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the king lamented ouer Abner, and sayde: Died Abner as a foole dieth?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the king lamented for Abner, and said: Should Abner die as a churl dieth?

King James Version (1611)
And the king lamented ouer Abner, and said, Died Abner as a foole dieth?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the king mourned over Abenner, and said, Shall Abenner die according to the death of Nabal?

English Revised Version
And the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dieth?

Berean Standard Bible
And the king sang this lament for Abner: "Should Abner die the death of a fool?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the kyng biweilide, and bymorenyde Abner, and seide, Abner, thou diedist not as dredeful men, `ethir cowardis, ben wont to die.

Young's Literal Translation
and the king lamenteth for Abner, and saith: -- `As the death of a fool doth Abner die?

Update Bible Version
And the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Webster's Bible Translation
And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

World English Bible
The king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dies?

New King James Version
And the king sang a lament over Abner and said: "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

New Living Translation
Then the king sang this funeral song for Abner: "Should Abner have died as fools die?

New Life Bible
The king sang a song of sorrow for Abner, saying, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

New Revised Standard
The king lamented for Abner, saying, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the king addressed his dirge unto Abner, and said, - As a base man dieth, should Abner have died?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king mourning and lamenting over Abner, said: Not as cowards are wont to die, hath Abner died.

Revised Standard Version
And the king lamented for Abner, saying, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

THE MESSAGE
Then the king sang this tribute to Abner: Can this be? Abner dead like a nameless bum? You were a free man, free to go and do as you wished— Yet you fell as a victim in a street brawl. And all the people wept—a crescendo of crying!

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The king chanted a lament for Abner and said, "Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Contextual Overview

²²And behold, the servants of David, and Joab, have come from the troop, and have brought much spoil with them, and Abner is not with David in Hebron, for he has sent him away, and he goes in peace; ²³and Joab and all the host that [were] with him have come, and they declare to Joab, saying, "Abner son of Ner has come to the king, and he sends him away, and he goes in peace." ²⁴And Joab comes to the king and says, "What have you done? Behold, Abner has come to you! Why [is] this—you have sent him away, and he is really gone? ²⁵You have known Abner son of Ner, that he came to deceive you, and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing." ²⁶And Joab goes out from David, and sends messengers after Abner, and they bring him back from the well of Sirah, and David did not know. ²⁷And Abner turns back to Hebron, and Joab turns him aside to the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and strikes him there in the fifth [rib]—and he dies—for the blood of his brother Asahel. ²⁸And David hears afterward and says, "My kingdom and I [are] acquitted by YHWH for all time, from the blood of Abner son of Ner; ²⁹it stays on the head of Joab, and on all the house of his father, and there is not cut off from the house of Joab one who has discharging, and leprous, and laying hold on a staff, and falling by a sword, and lacking bread." ³⁰And Joab and his brother Abishai slew Abner because that he put their brother Asahel to death in Gibeon, in battle. ³¹And David says to Joab, and to all the people who [are] with him, "Tear your garments, and gird on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner"; and King David is going after the bier.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as a fool dieth: That is, as a bad man, as the word frequently signifies in Scripture. 2 Samuel 13:12, 2 Samuel 13:13, 2 Samuel 13:28, 2 Samuel 13:29, Proverbs 18:7, Ecclesiastes 2:15, Ecclesiastes 2:16, Jeremiah 17:11, Luke 12:19, Luke 12:20

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 26:5 - Abner Jeremiah 22:18 - Ah my brother Ezekiel 32:16 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king lamented over Abner,.... Delivered an elegy or funeral oration, which he had composed on this occasion, as Josephus u suggests: for he had cried and wept before, but now he expressed something as follows:

and said, died Abner as a fool dieth? the meaning of the interrogation is, he did not; the Targum is

"did Abner die as wicked men die?''

no, he did not; he did not die for any wickedness he had been guilty of; he did not die as a malefactor, whose crime has been charged and proved in open court, and sentence of condemnation pronounced on him righteously for it; but he died without anything being laid to his charge, and much less proved, and without judge or jury; he was murdered in a clandestine, insidious, and deceitful manner; so the word "fool" is often taken in Scripture for a wicked man, especially in the book of Proverbs; the Septuagint version leaves the word untranslated,

"died Abner according to the death of Nabal?''

no; but it could hardly be thought that David would mention the name of any particular person on such an occasion.

u Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 6.)

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Lamented - i. e. composed and sang the funeral dirge which follows (compare 2 Samuel 1:17).

Died Abner ... - i. e. The great and noble and valiant Abner had died as ignobly and as helplessly as the meanest churl!

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 3:33. The king lamented over Abner — This lamentation, though short, is very pathetic. It is a high strain of poetry; but the measure cannot be easily ascertained. Our own translation may be measured thus: -

Died Abner as a fool dieth?

Thy hands were not bound,

Nor thy feet put into fetters.

As a man falleth before the wicked.

So hast thou fallen!

Or thus: -

Shall Abner die

A death like to a villain's?

Thy hands not bound,

Nor were the fetters to thy feet applied.

Like as one falls before the sons of guilt,

So hast thou fallen!

He was not taken away by the hand of justice, nor in battle, nor by accident: he died the death of a culprit by falling into the hands of a villain.

This song was a heavy reproof to Joab; and must have galled him extremely, being sung by all the people.