Bible Strands
2 Samuel 2:9
and made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Abner, commander of Saul’s army, acts at Mahanaim by installing Saul’s son Ish-bosheth as king over several northern territories while the house of Judah remains under David.
The words — The narrative uses וַ/יַּמְלִכֵ֙/הוּ֙ (va/i.yam.li.Khe./hu), meaning “and he made him king,” to record Abner’s political act, and הָ/אֲשׁוּרִ֖י (ha./'a.shu.Ri), meaning “the Ashurites,” to identify one of the listed territories.
The thread — The name Asher originates in Genesis 30:13 as Leah’s naming of her newborn son, later appears in the tribal census of Numbers 1:40, and the region of Gilead is surveyed by the Reubenites and Gadites in Numbers 32:1.
Why it lands — The text states a factual division of royal authority before the narrative resolves, requiring the reader to track how political alliances shift across tribal boundaries.
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
And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
Cross-references
- Genesis 30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.
- Numbers 1:40 From the sons of Asher, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,
- Numbers 32:1 Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.
- Joshua 13:8 The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them:
- Joshua 19:18 Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,
- Judges 1:32 So the Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, because they did not drive them out.
- Psalms 108:8 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.