Bible Commentaries
2 Samuel 2

Verse 23

2 Samuel 2:23

the fifth rib: 2 Samuel 2:23, 2 Samuel 3:27, 2 Samuel 4:6, 2 Samuel 20:10

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2Sa 2:23 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.

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)

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2Sa 2:23

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,... Barnes Commentary

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2Sa 2:23

The hinder end of the spear was sharp-pointed, after the manner.

Under the fifth rib; the seat of the liver and bowels, where wounds are mortal.

In the same place; upon the spot, not being able to go one step further.

Matthew Poole’s Bible Commentary

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2Samuel 3:27

Joab then took measures to have Abner return to Hebron from the well of Sirah (site unknown). Pretending to whisper something of importance to Abner… Joab drew him aside and viciously assassinated him (stabbed him in the stomach, 2 Samuel 3:27; cf. 2 Samuel 4:5-6). This was in revenge for Abner’s murder of Joab’s brother Asahel (2 Samuel 3:27, 2 Samuel 3:30; 2 Samuel 2:23). Bible Knowledge Commentary

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Textual Note from the New English Translation, on 2 Sam. 3:27.

36 tn Heb "and he struck him down there [in] the stomach."

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2Sa 20:10

In the fifth rib - I believe ??? chomesh, which we render here and elsewhere the fifth rib, means any part of the abdominal region. The Septuagint translate it t?? ??a?, the groin; the Targum, the right side of the thigh, i.e., (the phrase of the Targumist being interpreted), the privy parts. That it means some part of the abdominal region, is evident from what follows, And shed out his bowels to the ground. It appears from this that, in plain English, he ripped up his belly. Adam Clark’s Commentary

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2Sa 20:10 AMASA IS SLAIN. (2 Samuel 20:10-13)

smote him -- . in the fifth rib--the seat of the liver and bowels, where wounds are mortal. Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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RIB

A curious mistranslation has crept into the King James Version, which here follows Jewish commentators or etymologists, in four passages in 2 Samuel (2 Samuel 2:23; 2 Samuel 3:27; 2 Samuel 4:6; 2 Samuel 20:10), where the “fifth rib” is mentioned as the place of the body under which spears or swords are thrust, so as to cause lethal wounds. The Hebrew word h?o¯mesh, which indeed means “fifth,” is here a noun, derived from a root meaning “to be staunch,” “stalwart,” “stout” “fleshy,” “obese” (compare ????, h?a¯mush, “armed,” “equipped soldier”; Arabic el khami¯s (el h?ami¯s), “the army,” which, however, Arabic lexicographers explain as meaning “fivefold,” namely, vanguard, right and left wing, center and rear guard). The word is to be translated “abdomen,” “belly.” the Revised Version (British and American) renders correctly “into the body.”

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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From LOGOS 4 NOTES

?Ver. 23.—The fifth rib. This rendering here and in other places arises from the derivation of the word from the numeral five, but this notion has long been abandoned, and the word is now known to be formed from a verb signifying “to be fat or stout.” Really it means the abdomen, and is so translated in the LXX. Pulpit Commentary

?

?2:23. butt of the spear. Spears often were made with a metal casing on the butt end that was not honed to a point but was tapered down to a sharp edge. This could be used as a goad or to stick the spear in the ground. Many of these metal ends have been found in excavations and are portrayed on wall paintings.

?2:23 Abner, an experienced warrior, apparently stopped suddenly, thrusting his spear backward so forcefully that it went right through Asahel’s body as he ran into it. Note: ESV Study Bible

?23 But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still. ESV (English Standard Version)