2 Samuel 2:23

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. ¹⁸ Joab, Abishai, and Asahel—the three sons of Zeruiah—were among David's forces that day. Asahel could run like a gazelle, ¹⁸ And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. ¹⁸ Zeruiah's three sons, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were there. Now Asahel was a fast runner, as fast as a deer in the field. ¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there—Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. (Now Asahel was as quick on his feet as one of the gazelles in the field.) ¹⁸ And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel [was as] light of foot as a wild roe. ¹⁸ The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. ¹⁸Three sons of Zeruiah [the half sister of David] were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as light and swift-footed as one of the [wild] gazelles in the field. ¹⁸ And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. ¹⁸ Forsothe thre sones of Saruye weren there, Joab, and Abisai, and Asahel; forsothe Asahel was a `rennere moost swift, as oon of the capretis that dwellen in woodis.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the fifth rib: 2 Samuel 3:27, 2 Samuel 4:6, 2 Samuel 5:6, 2 Samuel 20:10

stood still: 2 Samuel 20:12, 2 Samuel 20:13

Cross-References

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man he had formed into it.

Genesis 2:8
The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.

Genesis 2:8
Forsothe the Lord God plauntide at the bigynnyng paradis of likyng, wherynne he settide man whom he hadde formed.

Genesis 2:8
And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed;

Genesis 2:8
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Howbeit, he refused to turn aside,.... Determined on making him his captive if possible.

Wherefore Abner, with the hinder end of the spear; he had in his hand, which seems to have had a pike at both ends; so that with the hinder end of it, next to Asahel, he thrust it at him, without turning to him: and

smote him under the fifth [rib]; the place where hang the gall and liver, as the Jewish commentators from their Talmud i observe. There are twelve ribs, seven of which are called true ones, and five spurious; if this was the fifth of the seven, the spear must pierce the breast k, and strike the seat of life, the heart and lungs; if the fifth from the eighth and first of the spurious ones, then wounding the hypochondria, it must pass to the vital bowels of the abdomen, which seems to be the case here l: according to some m this is meant of the inferior ribs, which we call the short ribs, and any of these five are called the fifth rib; and Abner must strike him in the right side, because he was behind him, and which stroke must be deadly, because he struck him through the liver:

that the spear came out behind him: the thrust was so violent that the spear went through him, and came out at his back:

and he fell down and died in the same place; he fell at once, and died on the spot immediately:

and it came to pass, [that] as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still; that is, such of David's men who were in the pursuit after the Israelites, when they came to the spot, and saw Asahel dead, they had no power to proceed in the pursuit, being so troubled and grieved at the death of him.

i T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 49. 1. k "Transadigit costas, et crates pectoris ensom". Virgil. Aeneod. l. 12. ver. 506. l Vid. Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 501. m Weemse's Portrait of Man, p. 24.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

With the hinder end ... - i. e. the wooden end, which was more or less pointed to enable the owner to stick it in the ground 1 Samuel 26:7.

The fifth rib - The word so rendered here (and in marginal references) means the abdomen, and is not etymologically connected with the Hebrew for five, as the translation “fifth rib” supposes, but with a verb meaning to be fat, or strong.