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.
Abner made himself strong for the house of Saul, х mitchazeeq (H2388) bªbeeyt (H1004) Shaa'uwl (H7586)] - was aiding, vigorously upholding, the interests of Saul's dynasty х chaazaq (H2388), followed by bª- (the Hebrew preposition), signifies to help.] In the East the wives and concubines of a king are the property of his successor to this extent, that for a private person to aspire to marry one of them would be considered a virtual advance of pretensions to the crown (see the note at 1 Kings 2:17). It is not clear whether the accusation against Abner was well founded or ill founded; but he resented the charge as an indignity.