2 Samuel 3 · Verse 12

2 Samuel 3:12

And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee.
2 Samuel 3:12, King James Version

2 Samuel 3:12 in other translations

BSBThen Abner sent messengers in his place to say to David, “To whom does the land belong? Make your covenant with me, and surely my hand will be with you to bring all Israel over to you.”
WEBAbner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, “Whose is the land?” and saying, “Make your alliance with me, and behold, my hand will be with you to bring all Israel around to you.”
ASVAnd Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee.
YLTAnd Abner sendeth messengers unto David for himself, saying, ‘Whose is the land?' saying, ‘Make thy covenant with me, and lo, my hand is with thee, to bring round unto thee all Israel.'
DARBYAnd Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with thee, to turn all Israel to thee.
BBEAnd Abner sent men to David at Hebron, saying, Make an agreement with me, and I will give you my support in getting all Israel on your side.
WebsterAnd Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel to thee.

What does 2 Samuel 3:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 3:12-13
12-13. Abner sent messengers to David--Though his language implied a secret conviction, that in supporting Ish-bosheth he had been laboring to frustrate the divine purpose of conferring the sovereignty of the kingdom on David, this acknowledgment was no justification either of the measure he was now adopting, or of the motives that prompted it. Nor does it seem possible to uphold the full integrity and honor of David's conduct in entertaining his secret overtures for undermining Ish-bosheth, except we take into account the divine promise of the kingdom, and his belief that the secession of Abner was a means designed by Providence for accomplishing it. The demand for the restoration of his wife Michal was perfectly fair; but David's insisting on it at that particular moment, as an indispensable condition of his entering into any treaty with Abner, seems to have proceeded not so much from a lingering attachment as from an expectation that his possession of her would incline some adherents of the house of Saul to be favorable to his cause.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 3:7-21

Many, like Abner, are not above committing base crimes, who are too proud to bear reproof, or even the suspicion of being guilty. While men go on in sin, and apparently without concern, they are often conscious that they are fighting against God. Many mean to serve their own purposes; and will betray those who trust them, when they can get any advantage. Yet the Lord serves his own designs, even by those who are…

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 3:7-21 →

2 Samuel 3:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּשְׁלַח֩vai.yish.Lachand he sentH7971
אַבְנֵ֨ר'av.NerAbnerH74
מַלְאָכִ֧ים\׀mal.'a.KhimmessengersH4397
אֶל\־'el-toH413
דָּוִ֛דda.VidDavidH1732
תַּחְתָּ֥יוta.cha.tovin place of himselfH8478
לֵאמֹ֖רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
לְמִי\־le.mi-[belongs] to whom?H4310
אָ֑רֶץ'A.retz[the] landH776
לֵאמֹ֗רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
כָּרְתָ֤הka.re.Tahmake !H3772
בְרִֽיתְךָ֙ve.ri.te.Khacovenant yourH1285
אִתִּ֔י'i.Tiwith meH854
וְהִנֵּה֙ve.hi.Nehand here!H2009
יָדִ֣יya.Dihand myH3027
עִמָּ֔ךְ'i.Makh[will be] with youH5973
לְהָסֵ֥בle.ha.Sevto bring roundH5437
אֵלֶ֖יךָ'e.Lei.khato youH413
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל\׃Yis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Samuel 3:12

  • 1 Chronicles 12:38-40

    All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.

  • 2 Samuel 5:1-3

    Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over Israel.

  • Psalms 62:9

    Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

  • 2 Samuel 19:6

    In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

  • Luke 16:5-8

    So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

  • Matthew 21:8-10

    And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

  • 2 Samuel 19:41-20:13

    And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David’s men with him, over Jordan? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king’s cost? or hath he given us any gift? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. …

  • 1 Chronicles 11:1-3

    Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel. Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.

  • 2 Samuel 19:14

    And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.

  • 2 Samuel 3:27

    And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.

  • 2 Samuel 3:21

    And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Whose.
19:6; 20:1-13
Make.
Ps 62:9; Lu 16:5-8
my hand.
21,27; 5:1-3; 19:14,41-43; 20:1,2; 1Ch 11:1-3; 12:38-40; Mt 21:8-10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Samuel 3:11

    And he could not answer Abner a word again, because he feared him.

  • 2 Samuel 3:12

    And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee.

  • 2 Samuel 3:13

    And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see my face, except thou first bring Michal Saul’s daughter, when thou comest to see my face.

Read all of 2 Samuel 3

2 Samuel 3:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y envió Abner mensajeros á David de su parte, diciendo: ¿Cúya es la tierra? Y que le dijesen: Haz alianza conmigo, y he aquí que mi mano será contigo para volver á ti á todo Israel.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et Abner envoya des messagers à David de sa part, disant: À qui est le pays? – disant: Fais alliance avec moi; et voici, ma main sera avec toi pour tourner vers toi tout Israël.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Abner sandte Boten für sich zu David und sprach: Wessen ist das Land? und er sprach: Mache einen Bund mit mir; und siehe, meine Hand wird mit dir sein, um ganz Israel dir zuzuwenden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Misit ergo Abner nuntios ad David pro se dicentes: Cujus est terra? et ut loquerentur: Fac mecum amicitias, et erit manus mea tecum, et reducam ad te universum Israël.