2 Samuel 3 · Verse 33

2 Samuel 3:33

And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?
2 Samuel 3:33, King James Version

2 Samuel 3:33 in other translations

BSBAnd the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
WEBThe king lamented for Abner, and said, “Should Abner die as a fool dies?
ASVAnd the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dieth?
YLTand the king lamenteth for Abner, and saith: --‘As the death of a fool doth Abner die?
DARBYAnd the king lamented over Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dieth?
BBEAnd the king made a song of grief for Abner and said, Was the death of Abner to be like the death of a foolish man?
WebsterAnd the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

What does 2 Samuel 3:33 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 3:33-34
33-34. the king lamented over Abner--This brief elegy is an effusion of indignation as much as of sorrow. As Abner had stabbed Asahel in open war [2Sa 2:23], Joab had not the right of the Goel. Besides, he had adopted a lawless and execrable method of obtaining satisfaction (see on 1Ki 2:5). The deed was an insult to the authority, as well as most damaging to the prospects of the king. But David's feelings and conduct on hearing of the death, together with the whole character and accompaniments of the funeral solemnity, tended not only to remove all suspicion of guilt from him, but even to turn the tide of popular opinion in his favor, and to pave the way for his reigning over all the tribes more honorably than by the treacherous negotiations of Abner.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 33 The king lamented over Abner - This lamentation, though short, is very pathetic. It is a high strain of poetry; but the measure cannot be easily ascertained. Our own translation may be measured thus: - Died Abner as a fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound, Nor thy feet put into fetters. As a man falleth before the wicked. So hast thou fallen! Or thus: - Shall Abner die a death like to a villain's? Thy hands not bound, Nor were the fetters to thy feet applied. Like as one falls before the sons of guilt, So hast thou fallen! He was not taken away by the hand of justice, nor in battle, nor by accident: he died the death of a culprit by falling into the hands of a villain. This song was a heavy reproof to Joab; and must have galled him extremely, being sung by all the people.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 3:22-39

Judgments are prepared for such scorners as Abner; but Joab, in what he did, acted wickedly. David laid Abner's murder deeply to heart, and in many ways expressed his detestation of it. The guilt of blood brings a curse upon families: if men do not avenge it, God will. It is a sad thing to die like a fool, as they do that any way shorten their own days, and those who make no provision for another world. Who would be…

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 3:22-39 →

2 Samuel 3:33 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.

וַיְקֹנֵ֥ןvay.ko.Nenand he lamentedH6969
הַמֶּ֛לֶךְha.Me.lekhthe kingH4428
אֶל\־'el-because ofH413
אַבְנֵ֖ר'av.NerAbnerH74
וַיֹּאמַ֑רvai.yo.Marand he saidH559
הַכְּמ֥וֹתha.ke.Mot¿ like [the] death ofH4194
נָבָ֖לna.Vala foolH5036
יָמ֥וּתya.Mutwill he dieH4191
אַבְנֵֽר\׃'av.NerAbnerH74

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

Cross references for 2 Samuel 3:33

  • 2 Chronicles 35:25

    And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

  • Luke 12:19-20

    And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

  • 2 Samuel 1:17

    And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:

  • 2 Samuel 13:12-13

    And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly. And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.

  • Ecclesiastes 2:15-16

    Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

  • Jeremiah 17:11

    As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

  • Proverbs 18:7

    A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
as a fool dieth.That is, as a bad man, as the word frequently signifies in Scripture.
13:12,13,28,29; Pr 18:7; Ec 2:15,16; Jer 17:11; Lu 12:19,20

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

Context

  • 2 Samuel 3:32

    And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept.

  • 2 Samuel 3:33

    And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

  • 2 Samuel 3:34

    Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him.

Read all of 2 Samuel 3

2 Samuel 3:33 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y endechando el rey al mismo Abner, decía: ¿Murió Abner como muere un villano?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le roi prononça une complainte sur Abner, et dit: Abner devait-il mourir comme meurt un insensé?
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und der König stimmte ein Klagelied an über Abner und sprach: Mußte, wie ein Tor stirbt, Abner sterben?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Plangensque rex, et lugens Abner, ait: Nequaquam ut mori solent ignavi, mortuus est Abner.