מאת: אבנר רמו
אל: avnerramu @ aol.com
In the Book of Samuel we are told that as Asahel pursued after Abner, Abner looked behind him and said: סור לך מאחרי - “turn you back from following me” (2 Sam 2:22), “but Asahel would not turn back from following him” (2 Sam 2:19-22).
Now we read:
וימאן לסור, ויכהו אבנר באחרי החנית אל-החמש ותצא החנית מאחריו, ויפל-שם, וימת תחתו;
“Howbeit he refused to turn [aside]; wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the groin, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place” (2 Sam 2:23).
However, if Abner hit Asahel with the hinder end of the spear, we have to wonder how the spear could pierce Asahel? It is possible that such an understanding resulted from an order-type error in this verse and that instead of reading וימאן לסור, ויכהו אבנר באחרי החנית אל-החמש we should read:
וימאן לסור מאחרי אבנר ויכהו בחנית אל-החמש - “and he refused to turn from the back of Abner, and he smote him with the spear in the groin.”
Two chapters later we find:
וילכו בני-רמון הבארתי, רכב ובענה, ויבאו כחם היום אל-בית איש בשת; והוא שכב את משכב הצהרים.
והנה באו עד-תוך הבית, לקחי חטים, ויכהו אל-החמש;
“And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, as he took his rest at noon.
And they came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat; and they smote him in the groin” (2 Sam 4:5-6).
The English translator explanation that: Rechab and Baanah came into the midst of the house “as though they would have fetched wheat” seems implausible. However, the comparison with verse 2 Sam 2:23 suggests that לקחי חטים is a misspelled לקחו חנית - “they took a spear.”
It appears that a scribe, who apparently could not comprehend this verse, introduced the next verse as a “correction”:
ויבאו הבית, והוא-שכב על-מטתו בחדר משכבו, ויכהו וימתהו,
“And they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bed-chamber, they smote him, and slew him” (2 Sam 4:7).