Bible Strands
2 Samuel 3:24
So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he is getting away!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joab approaches King David immediately after the king releases Abner, asking why he allowed the former military commander to leave unharmed.
The words — The Hebrew מֶה עָשִׂ֑יתָה (meh 'a.Si.tah) literally renders "what have you done," functioning as a direct rebuke for a perceived tactical mistake.
The thread — The identical phrasing appears in Numbers 23:11 when Balak confronts Balaam, and it foreshadows David’s later complaint in 2 Samuel 3:39 that he is weak compared to the sons of Zeruiah.
Why it lands — The text records Joab’s blunt questioning of a royal pardon, requiring the reader to confront the tension between diplomatic mercy and immediate political survival.
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 Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?
Cross-references
- Numbers 23:11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!”
- 2 Samuel 3:8 Abner was furious over Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!
- 2 Samuel 3:39 And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”
- 2 Samuel 19:5 Then Joab went into the house and said to the king, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, of your wives, and of your concubines.
- John 18:35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?”