KJV ORIGINAL
And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
And Joab said, 'As surely as God lives, if you hadn't spoken up, by morning each person would have stopped chasing their own brothers.'
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
Joab is saying that Abner's call for peace prevented what would have been a longer, more devastating civil war between the tribes of Israel.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs during the civil war between David's supporters and those loyal to Saul's son Ish-bosheth. Joab, David's military commander, is responding to Abner (Saul's former commander) who had just called for an end to the fighting between the two sides. The battle at Gibeon was turning into a bloody conflict where Israelites were literally fighting their own kinsmen.
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