Lectionary Calendar
Monday, September 8th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

New Life Version

2 Samuel 3:24

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?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Accusation, False;   Homicide;   Jealousy;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Abner;   Joab;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Joab ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - David;   Dwelling;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Joab;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Abner;  

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 Living Translation
Joab rushed to the king and demanded, "What have you done? What do you mean by letting Abner get away?
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 Then David's servants and Joab came from a battle and brought with them many good things they had taken. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, for David had sent him away. Abner had gone in peace. 23 When Joab and the army with him came, it was told to Joab, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king. And the king has sent him away in peace." 24 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? 25 You know Abner the son of Ner. He came to fool you, and to learn about your going out and coming in. He came to learn all that you are doing." 26 When Joab left David, he sent men after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the center of the gate to speak with him alone. There Joab hit him in the stomach and killed him because of the blood of his brother Asahel. 28 When David heard about it, he said, "I and my nation are forever without guilt before the Lord, from the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 29 May the guilt be on the head of Joab and all his father's family. May the family of Joab never be without one who has a flow from his body, or a bad skin disease, or the need to use a walking stick. Or may his family never be without one who falls by the sword, or who needs more bread." 30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner because he had killed their brother in the battle at Gibeon. 31 Then David said to Joab and all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and dress in clothes made from hair. Cry in sorrow in front of Abner." And King David walked behind the box in which the dead man was carried.

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
Then the woman said to the snake, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8
Then they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening. The man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:9
But the Lord God called to the man. He said to him, "Where are you?"
Genesis 3:16
To the woman He said, "I will make your pain much worse in giving birth. You will give birth to children in pain. Yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
Genesis 3:17
Then He said to Adam, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I told you, "Do not eat from it," the ground is cursed because of you. By hard work you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:18
It will grow thorns and thistles for you. You will eat the plants of the field.
Genesis 3:22
Then the Lord God said, "See, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and bad. Now then, he might put out his hand to take from the tree of life also, and eat and live forever."
Exodus 25:2
"Tell the people of Israel to take a gift for Me. Receive the gift for Me from every person whose heart makes him willing.
Numbers 22:23
When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword in his hand, the donkey turned off the road and went into the field. But Balaam hit the donkey to turn her on the road again.
Joshua 5:13
When Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing near him with his sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said, "Are you for us or for those who hate us?"

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.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile