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BEGINNINGS 11 ISHBOSHETH 1000–998 BCE Saul’s life had ended in the war with the Philistines, as had the lives of three of his sons. But he had been ritually ordained ruler of the Jews and his last surviving son Ishbosheth claimed to be his successor as king by right of inheritance. Abner, who had been Saul’s military commander, arranged the coronation. Abner was a forceful figure, in contrast to the weak-willed Ishbosheth (also called Ishbaal). He intended to be the actual ruler of the Jews, monarch in all but name. Despite Saul’s efforts, Ishbosheth’s legacy did not include a united kingdom. Military defeat and the suicide of his father had divisive consequences for the people. David, once Saul’s favorite and then his adversary, had emerged as a popular rival to Ishbosheth. Through force and diplomacy, he had done much to shield the southern Jewish tribes from Philistine subjugation and nomadic marauders. In the process, he had become a popular, respected figure among them. David also received strong backing from the priests. He had long sought their advice and counsel, in contrast to Saul, whose neglect and disregard had alienated the influential priesthood. When word of Saul’s death spread, the people of Judah, the largest of the southern tribes, scorned Ishbosheth’s claim to the throne and instead chose David, one of their own, to be their king. Declaring Hebron, Judah’s main city, his capital, David sent emissaries to other tribes to solicit their loyalty and submission. He met with a measure of success , but some of the northern tribes, largely remote from the struggles for security in the south, rejected appeals for backing from both David and Ishbosheth. They chose instead to assert their separateness, demonstrating that whatever unity Saul had achieved during his reign had been fragile. It was an inauspicious beginning for Ishbosheth’s reign. With so little popular support for him, Abner, the power behind the throne, was careful to establish the new monarch’s capital at Mahanaim, east of the Jordan River, away from the regions loyal to David, the areas dominated by the Philistines, and the territories of the dissenting northern tribes. At this secure outpost, Ishbosheth, angered by David’s refusal to acknowledge him as ruler, charged him with criminal mutiny. As his army commander, Abner was supposed to do something about that. KINGS OF THE JEWS 12 He had long considered David an enemy for having been a challenger to Saul’s authority and to his own. But his position at Ishbosheth’s court was undermined by his grasping quest for a higher station than he had already achieved. He presumed to take a woman, the beautiful Rizpah, who had been Saul’s mistress, as a concubine. It was an act of impudence, seen as revealing Abner’s own monarchical aspirations. Had Ishbosheth truly been in command, such impertinence would have cost Abner his life. But all he could do was admonish him for the insult to his father’s memory and for this blatant challenge to his own position. Though the rebuke was comparatively mild, it infuriated Abner. Disgruntled, and realizing after an inconclusive clash that David’s army was superior to his own, he considered transferring his allegiance from Ishbosheth. He met secretly with David in Hebron, and with the elders of several of the other tribes, hoping to end the divisions in the Jewish nation and make David its ruler. It was understood his reward would be command of the army of this once-more-united kingdom . David agreed with the proposed arrangement but demanded proof of Abner’s good faith. He insisted that he bring him Saul’s daughter, Michal, Ishbosheth’s sister. She was the wife from whom he had been separated years before when Saul began thinking of young David as his nemesis. Though Michal had helped David flee her father’s wrath, he was motivated now by ambition rather than love. Being reunited with her would strengthen his claim to be Saul’s legitimate successor as king. Abner agreed to assist David in pursuing this plan. He prevailed upon Ishbosheth to command that his sister be taken from the man to whom she had been given in marriage by her father years before (despite still being married to the then-renegade David). He then delivered her back to her first husband in Hebron. Michal’s feelings about this change in her fate are not known though her...

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