12 Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, "Whose is the land?" and saying, "Make your alliance with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you, to bring all Israel around to you."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Whose is the land? - Meaning, Is not the land thine by God's promise?
And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf,.... On his own account, and not on the account of Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel; but to obtain terms for himself, or in his own name, as representing him and standing in his stead; or secretly, as Kimchi explains it, unknown to Ishbosheth, or the people of Israel. The Targum is,"out of his place;''he sent them from the place where he was, from Mahanaim:
saying, whose is the land? the land of Israel, is it not thine, David? verily it is; to whom does it belong but unto thee, to whom the Lord has given it? not to any of Saul's posterity: this he ordered the messengers to say in the first place, in order to ingratiate himself to David, and gain his messengers an audience. The Targum is,"I swear by him that made the earth;''so Jarchi says, it is an oath by him whose the earth is, even by the living God, whose is the earth, and the fulness thereof:
saying also, make thy league with me; he desired to enter into a covenant of friendship with him, that everything that had passed might be forgiven and forgotten:
and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee: he promises on his part to do his utmost to bring all Israel under his government and to obedience to him.
Abner sent messengers to David--Though his language implied a secret conviction, that in supporting Ish-bosheth he had been laboring to frustrate the divine purpose of conferring the sovereignty of the kingdom on David, this acknowledgment was no justification either of the measure he was now adopting, or of the motives that prompted it. Nor does it seem possible to uphold the full integrity and honor of David's conduct in entertaining his secret overtures for undermining Ish-bosheth, except we take into account the divine promise of the kingdom, and his belief that the secession of Abner was a means designed by Providence for accomplishing it. The demand for the restoration of his wife Michal was perfectly fair; but David's insisting on it at that particular moment, as an indispensable condition of his entering into any treaty with Abner, seems to have proceeded not so much from a lingering attachment as from an expectation that his possession of her would incline some adherents of the house of Saul to be favorable to his cause.
Messengers - Who in his name might treat with David concerning his reconciliation with him. Thus God over - rules the passions of wicked men, to accomplish his own wise and holy purposes. And who then dare contend with that God who makes even his enemies to do his work, and destroy themselves? Whose, &c. - To whom doth this whole land belong, but to thee? Is it not thine by Divine right?
*More commentary available at chapter level.