(24) Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. (25) В¶ And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill. (26) Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour forever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? (27) And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up everyone from following his brother. (28) So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they anymore.
The ground which Abner gained, and the blessing of the sun going down, gave time for each party to consider. Pauses in life, as on numberless occasions, are precious things. Abner's address is well ordered, though not founded in truth. He had began the quarrel. He had proposed first the play by which the after battle was brought on. Joab's answer is a noble one, and most generous towards a falling enemy, though he takes care to lay the blame wholly where it was due. If he had not first spoken, there would have been no battle; and if he had not now spoken, Joab's forbearance would have been manifested in the morning the same. But Reader, in praising Joab, do not fail to discover the hand of a gracious God in the event. Here would I ever keep a fixed eye.