Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul— Immediately after the sacred historian has informed us that Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul, we have an account of Ish-bosheth's accusing him of a criminal intimacy with his father's concubine. Both these circumstances put together, excite a just suspicion that Abner meant, when he was strong enough to throw off the mask, to set up for himself, and lay Ish-bosheth aside; it being clearly enough to be collected from the course of this history, that an attempt upon the king's concubine was then understood as an attempt upon the crown. However this might be, Abner was enraged at the charge, and broke out into bitter resentment. Am I a dog's head, said he, which, &c.? that is, according to Bochart, "Do you pretend to treat me, as if I was a leader or manager of a pack of dogs, rather than a general of the armies of Israel?" Or, more simply, "Do you take me for a miscreant, for a dog, for one of the vilest of animals?" Conformably to which Majus reads, "Am I a dog, I, who am the chief of Judah,—the first person of my country, &c.?" See his Observat. Sacr. tom. 1: p. 174.
Related Commentaries of 2 Samuel 3:6
2 Samuel 3:6-8
6 And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul.
7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ishbosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine?
8 Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ishbosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman?