Bible Strands
2 Samuel 2:26
Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abner calls out to Joab to halt the ongoing pursuit of the Benjamite troops after they have rallied on a hill.
The words — הַלָּנֶצַח (ha.la.Ne.tzach) means "to perpetuity," paired with תֹּאכַל (to.khal), "will it devour," forming the rhetorical question about the sword's endless consumption.
The thread — The motif of the sword devouring appears in Jeremiah 46:10 and Jeremiah 46:14, while the appeal to stop fighting "brothers" echoes the reconciliation attempt in Acts 7:26.
Why it lands — The text explicitly questions the duration of the pursuit and demands Joab order the troops to cease. It requires military leaders to recognize the futility of fratricidal conflict and impose immediate restraint.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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?
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 46:14 “Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’
- Jeremiah 46:10 For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
- Acts 7:26 The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’
- 2 Samuel 2:14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” “Let them get up,” Joab replied.
- 2 Samuel 2:16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side, and they all fell together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is called Helkath-hazzurim.
- 2 Samuel 11:25 Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.”
- Job 18:2 “How long until you end these speeches? Show some sense, and then we can talk.
- Job 19:2 “How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?
- Psalms 4:2 How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah
- Proverbs 17:14 To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.