Bible Strands
2 Samuel 3:18
Now take action, because the LORD has said to David, ‘Through My servant David I will save My people Israel from the hands of the Philistines and of all their enemies.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abner urges the elders of Israel to act now that the LORD has declared He will deliver Israel from the Philistines through David. This occurs during Abner’s negotiations to transfer kingship from Saul’s house to David.
The words — עֲשׂ֑וּ ('a.Su) means "act," and וְ/עַתָּ֖ה (ve./'a.Tah) means "and therefore." These terms frame the command as an immediate response to the preceding divine declaration.
The thread — The transfer of kingship to a God-chosen successor echoes 1 Samuel 15:28, where the kingdom is torn from Saul and given to a neighbor. It also aligns with 1 Samuel 9:16, where God promises to send a man from Benjamin to rule over His people.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize that political shifts follow divine timing rather than human maneuvering. It demands immediate obedience to a command grounded in God’s stated purpose for Israel.
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
Now then do it: for the Lord hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and out of the hand of all their enemies.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 15:28 So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
- Psalms 89:19 You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
- 1 Samuel 9:16 “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him ruler over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
- Psalms 89:3 You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant:
- 1 Samuel 13:14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.”
- 1 Samuel 16:1 Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”
- 1 Samuel 16:12 So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”
- 2 Samuel 3:9 May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him:
- Psalms 132:17 There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.
- John 12:42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue.