the king, and
Jonathan, and his two other sons, were fallen in the battle, he made
haste into the camp; and taking away with him the remaining son of Saul,
whose name was Ishbosheth, he passed over to the land beyond Jordan,
and ordained him the king of the whole multitude, excepting the tribe
of Judah; and made his royal seat in a place called in our own language
Mahanaim, but in the language of the Grecians, The Camps; from whence
Abner made haste with a select body of soldiers, to fight with such of
the tribe of Judah as were disposed to it, for he was angry that this
tribe had set up David for their king. But Joab, whose father was Suri,
and his mother Zeruiah, David's sister, who was general of David's army,
met him, according to David's appointment. He had with him his brethren,
Abistiai and Asahel, as also all David's armed men. Now when he met
Abner at a certain fountain, in the city of Gibeon, he prepared to
fight. And when Abner said to him, that he had a mind to know which
of them had the more valiant soldiers, it was agreed between them that
twelve soldiers of each side should fight together. So those that were
chosen out by both the generals for this fight came between the two
armies, and throwing their lances one against the other, they drew their
swords, and catching one another by the head, they held one another
fast, and ran each other's swords into their sides and groins, until
they all, as it were by mutual agreement, perished together. When these
were fallen down dead, the rest of the army came to a sore battle, and
Abner's men were beaten; and when they were beaten, Joab did not leave
off pursuing them, but he pressed upon them, and excited the soldiers to
follow them close, and not to grow weary of killing them. His brethren
also pursued them with great alacrity, especially the younger, Asahel,
who was the most eminent of them. He was very famous for his swiftness
of foot, for he could not only be too hard for men, but is reported to
have overrun a horse, when they had a race together. This Asahel ran
violently after Abner, and would not turn in the least out of the
straight way, either to the one side or to the other. Hereupon Abner
turned back, and attempted artfully to avoid his violence. Sometimes
he bade him leave off the pursuit, and take the armor of one of his
soldiers; and sometimes, when he could not persuade him so to do, he
exhorted him to restrain himself, and not to pursue him any long