2 Samuel 2:27

“And Joab said, as God liveth, etc.] Which was the form of an oath, swearing by the living God: unless thou hadst spoken; that is, these words in (<100214>2 Samuel 2:14); “let the young men arise and play”, that he had not given the challenge to fight: surely then in the morning the people had gone up everyone from following his brother; they would have gone away and never fought at all; they were not desirous of shedding their blood, and following after them to slay them: thus he lays the blame upon Abner, and makes him to be the cause and beginner of the war. Some render the particle by “if”, and give the sense, that if he had spoken what he last did sooner, the people would long before…”

“Joab’s speech means either “unless thou hadst spoken (challenged us to fight, 2 Samuel 2:14), the people would have returned from the pursuit of their brethren (many hours ago, even) this morning;” or, “If thou hadst not spoken (asked for peace, 2 Samuel 2:26), surely the people would have returned, etc., in the morning, i. e. would not have ceased the pursuit until the morning.” The latter interpretation is the more accordant with Joab’s boastful character. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Unless, &c. - Unless thou hadst made the motion that they should fight, Sa2 2:14. It was thou, not I, that gave the first occasion of this fight. Abner was the sole cause of this war; otherwise all things had been ended by an amicable agreement: which might have been made that very morning, if he had so pleased. 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 2:32”

“As God: This was spoken in allusion to the proposal of Abner ( Sa2 2:14), which led to the slaughter of twelve young men of each party, and thus provoked the battle. It is probable, that Joab had orders simply to act on the defensive, and would not have attacked the Israelites that day unless compelled; therefore the blame lay upon Abner and Israel. Sa1 25:26; Job 27:2 unless: Sa2 2:14; Pro 15:1, Pro 17:14, Pro 20:18, Pro 25:8; Isa 47:7; Luk 14:31, Luk 14:32 in the morning: Heb. from the morning gone up: or, gone away 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 2:29”

“Joab replied, "If thou hadst not spoken (i.e., challenged to single combat, Sa2 2:14), the people would have gone away in the morning, every one from his brother," i.e., there would have been no such fratricidal conflict at all. The first כּי introduces the substance of the oath, as in Sa1 25:34; the second gives greater force to it (vid., Ewald, 330, b.). Thus Joab threw all the blame of the fight upon Abner, because he had been the instigator of the single combat; and as that was not decisive, and was so bloody in its character, the two armies had felt obliged to fight it out. But he then commanded the trumpet to be blown for a halt, and the pursuit to be closed. 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 2:29”