· Translation: KJV

2 Samuel 3:23When Joab and all the army who was with him had come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he is gone in peace.

The setting

Hebron, Israel, ~1000 BC. Joab returns from a military raid to discover his enemy Abner was just granted safe passage by King David...

The emotion here: recording tension with foreboding

The original word

shalom (שָׁלוֹם) — complete peace, wholeness, safety guaranteed by the king

Why it matters

Abner had killed Joab's brother Asahel in battle, making this a blood feud

Read with care

What most readers miss in 2 Samuel 3:23

Joab wasn't just angry about politics — this was personal vengeance

Common misconceptionThis seems like just a military report, but it's setting up one of the Bible's most shocking assassinations that will happen in the next few verses.

Bible Genome reading

2 Samuel 3:23 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerNarrator
EraUnited Kingdom
Primary emotionanxious
Literary typenarrative

Emotional genome

Comfort power20%
Quotability20%
Memorability40%
Crisis relevance60%
Standalone40%
Themes:informationtension

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open 2 Samuel 3

2 Samuel 3:23 comes from the book of 2 Samuel, written during the United Kingdom period. These words are attributed to Narrator. The dominant emotion in this verse is anxious, with a comfort power of 20% and a tone that is urgent. It belongs to the narrative genre of biblical literature. Key themes include information, tension. Notable phrases: they told Joab; Abner came to the king.

Your reflection

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