So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother. The best laid plans go awry Abner, the leader of the supporters of Saul, came to David at Hebron to cut a covenant that would end civil war. David's heart must have been lifted. There had been nothing but strife among the children of Israel since the day David departed from his dear Jonathan. Indeed it must have been.
War is a terrible thing and civil war is worse, but there is no horror like holy war.
Israel's war was civil and holy war mingled in a deadly combination. Brothers fighting brothers over the establishment of the truly anointed king whom God had chosen. But when Abner, the captain of Saul's hosts, departed the feast at Hebron that day he was sent in peace by David. Yet God uses even this evil deed to demonstrate his absolute sovereignty, to prove again that what men mean for evil he means for good, and to show that he will establish his anointed without the aid of man. After Abner left the presence of David, Joab and his army returned from an extremely successful raid.