2 Samuel 3:24

New Living Translation

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

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?

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?

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 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 But just after David had sent Abner away in safety, Joab and some of David's troops returned from a raid, bringing much plunder with them. ²³ When Joab arrived, he was told that Abner had just been there visiting the king and had been sent away in safety. ²⁴ Joab rushed to the king and demanded, "What have you done? What do you mean by letting Abner get away? ²⁵ You know perfectly well that he came to spy on you and find out everything you're doing!" ²⁶ Joab then left David and sent messengers to catch up with Abner, asking him to return. They found him at the well of Sirah and brought him back, though David knew nothing about it. ²⁷ When Abner arrived back at Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gateway as if to speak with him privately. But then he stabbed Abner in the stomach and killed him in revenge for killing his brother Asahel. ²⁸ When David heard about it, he declared, "I vow by the Lord that I and my kingdom are forever innocent of this crime against Abner son of Ner. ²⁹ Joab and his family are the guilty ones. May the family of Joab be cursed in every generation with a man who has open sores or leprosy or who walks on crutches or dies by the sword or begs for food!" ³⁰ So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because Abner had killed their brother Asahel at the battle of Gibeon. ³¹ Then David said to Joab and all those who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on burlap. Mourn for Abner." And King David himself walked behind the procession to the 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
"Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied.

Genesis 3:8
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.

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

Genesis 3:16
Then he said to the woman, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you."

Genesis 3:17
And to the man he said, "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

Genesis 3:18
It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains.

Genesis 3:22
Then the Lord God said, "Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!"

Exodus 25:2
"Tell the people of Israel to bring me their sacred offerings. Accept the contributions from all whose hearts are moved to offer them.

Numbers 22:23
Balaam's donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road.

Joshua 5:13
When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, "Are you friend or foe?"

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.