Abner אֲבִינֵר

David's compatriot. Abner, the son of Ner, was King Saul's cousin and the commander of his army; he later supported Saul's son Ish-bosheth as king before defecting to David.

Open in the Family Tree

Family

Where Abner appears

2 Samuel (40), 1 Samuel (9), 1 Kings (2), 1 Chronicles (2)

Key verses

• 1 Samuel 14:50 first mention — And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.
• 2 Samuel 2:8 — But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
• 2 Samuel 2:14 — And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
• 2 Samuel 2:26 — Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
• 2 Samuel 3:8 — Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheth, and said, Am I a dog’s head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman?
• 2 Samuel 3:9 — So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD hath sworn to David, even so I do to him;
• 2 Samuel 3:25 — Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest.
• 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 3:28 — And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:
• 2 Samuel 3:31 — And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.
• 1 Kings 2:5 — Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
• 1 Kings 2:32 — And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

Person data: STEPBible.org TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0), adapted. Verse text: King James Version.