The Life of David - Part 8
“More Assassinations”
Copied from the Sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore
November 8, 2026
2 Samuel 3:13
To give a quick review from the end of Part Seven, Abner and Ishbosheth had a major disagreement over Abner’s sexual relations with Rizpah, one of king Saul’s concubines. Ishbosheth was the son of King Saul and Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, who had two sons by Saul, became famous later on in the story of David’s life. We will cover that story when we get to it in our bible exposition.
As a result of this bitter argument, Abner surprisingly said he would no longer be loyal to Ishbosheth and his kingdom but would go to David to merge the two kingdoms into one. In many places in the Near East, taking a former ruler’s wife or concubine was a symbolic claim to the throne. This possibly caused Ishbosheth to see Abner’s action as a treasonous power grab.



