("my father is Ner", or, "father of light")
The son of Ner of the tribe of Benjamin, and King Saul's uncle (I Sam 14:50-51). Abner commanded Saul's army which numbered up to 200,000 men (I Sam 14:50; 15:4). In Saul's court he occupied a place of honor, next to Jonathan, the king's son (I Sam 20:25).
Abner accompanied Saul in his pursuit of David; after entering Saul's camp at night unnoticed, David taunted Abner for failing to guard the king (I Sam 26:14-16). Following the death of Saul and three of his sons at the hands of the Philistines in the disastrous battle of Gilboa, Abner retreated across the Jordan to Mahanaim, taking with him Saul's son Ishbosheth, whom he proclaimed king, although David had been proclaimed king in Hebron by the tribe of Judah (II Sam 2:8-10). The armies of the two rival kings met at Gibeon. Abner proposed a contest between a dozen young warriors from each army, and this was followed by a fierce battle, in which Abner and his men were defeated. While fleeing, Abner was pursued by Asahel, Joab's brother. Abner pleaded with Asahel to call off his pursuit in order to avoid a deadly clash, but the stubborn Asahel would not listen, and Abner killed him in self-defense (II Sam 2:12-23). Abner begged Joab to stop the bloodshed, and returned to Mahanaim (II Sam 2:26-30).
Abner had fought for Ishbosheth and was "strengthening his hold on the house of Saul"; but his relations with Saul's concubine, Rizpah, probably reflecting his own ambitions to seize the throne, brought a rebuke from Ishbosheth. Stung by this reproach, Abner angrily switched his backing to the house of David "to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba" (II Sam 3:6-10). The withdrawal of Abner's support left Ishbosheth helpless. Abner then rallied the elders of Judah and of Benjamin to offer the crown of a reunited kingdom to David (II Sam 3:11-19). Abner was well received by David at Hebron, and "he sent Abner away, and he went in peace". Joab was not present at the time, but upon returning to Hebron and hearing the news, he denounced Abner as a conniving spy. Without the king's knowledge, he tricked Abner into coming back to the city, where he stabbed him (II Sam 3:20-30), thereby combining vengeance for the death of his brother Asahel with the elimination of a potential rival. David, deeply shocked, cursed Joab and his house and lamented: "A prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel" (II Sam 3:31-39). Many years later, on his deathbed, David remembered Abner's death and charged Solomon with avenging his treacherous murder (I Kgs 2:5, 32). Abner had a son named Jaasiel (I Chr 27:21).
