2 Samuel 3:1-5

2 Samuel 3:1-5

[1] Now there was long  war  between the house  of Saul  and the house  of David:  waxed  stronger  and the house  of Saul  waxed  weaker  [2] And unto David  were sons  born  in Hebron:  and his firstborn  was Amnon,  of Ahinoam  the Jezreelitess;  [3] And his second,  Chileab,  of Abigail  the wife  of Nabal  the Carmelite;  and the third,  Absalom  the son  of Maacah  the daughter  of Talmai  king  of Geshur;  [4] And the fourth,  Adonijah  the son  of Haggith;  and the fifth,  Shephatiah  the son  of Abital;  [5] And the sixth,  Ithream,  by Eglah  David's  wife.  These were born  to David  in Hebron. 

What does 2 Samuel 3:1-5 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The first verse in this chapter summarizes 2 Samuel 2:8-32. The point of the remaining verses is that during the seven and one-half years that David ruled Judah, he grew stronger because God was blessing him. Many of the sections of2Samuel, beginning with this pericope, plus1Samuel31 , were recast in1Chronicles. [1] David resorted to further polygamy even though God had commanded Israel"s kings not to multiply wives ( Deuteronomy 17:17). He undoubtedly married the women mentioned, partially in order to cement political alliances, as was common in the ancient Near East. [2]
The site of Gesher ( 2 Samuel 3:3) was northeast of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) and north of Jabesh-gilead. The Israelites were to make no covenants with the inhabitants of the Promised Land ( Exodus 23:32; Exodus 34:12). That is where the king of Gesher lived. Perhaps if David had relied less on foreign alliances, he would not have had to fight as many battles with his neighbors as he did. Unfortunately he spent a large portion of his total reign as king fighting battles (cf. 1 Chronicles 22:8).