34 Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before the wicked." And all the people wept over him again.
34 Your hands were not bound; your feet were not fettered; as one falls before the wicked you have fallen."And all the people wept again over him.
34 You were a free man, free to go and do as you wished - Yet you fell as a victim in a street brawl. And all the people wept - a crescendo of crying!
34 Your hands were not bound Nor your feet put into fetters; As a man falls before wicked men, so you fell." Then all the people wept over him again.
34 Your hands were not bound; your feet were not chained. No, you were murdered- the victim of a wicked plot." All the people wept again for Abner.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 3:34
Commentary on 2 Samuel 3:22-39
(Read 2 Samuel 3:22-39)
Judgments are prepared for such scorners as Abner; but Joab, in what he did, acted wickedly. David laid Abner's murder deeply to heart, and in many ways expressed his detestation of it. The guilt of blood brings a curse upon families: if men do not avenge it, God will. It is a sad thing to die like a fool, as they do that any way shorten their own days, and those who make no provision for another world. Who would be fond of power, when a man may have the name of it, and must be accountable for it, yet is hampered in the use of it? David ought to have done his duty, and then trusted God with the issue. Carnal policy spared Joab. The Son of David may long delay, but never fails to punish impenitent sinners. He who now reigns upon the throne of David, has a kingdom of a nobler kind. Whatever He doeth, is noticed by all his willing people, and is pleasing to them.