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.

And Joab said, As God liveth, if thou hadst not spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone away, nor followed every one his brother.

And Joab said: As the Lord liveth, if thou hadst spoke sooner, even in the morning the people should have retired from pursuing after their brethren.

And Joab saith, 'God liveth! for unless thou hadst spoken, surely then from the morning had the people gone up each from after his brother.'

And Joab said, As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.

And Joab said, By the living God, if you had not given the word, the people would have gone on attacking their countrymen till the morning.

And Joab said: 'As God liveth, if thou hadst not spoken, surely then only after the morning the people had gone away, every one from following his brother.'

And Joab said: "As the Lord lives, if you had spoken in the morning, the people would have withdrawn from pursuing their brothers."

Joab's speech means either "unless thou hadst spoken (challenged us to fight, 2-Samuel 2:14), the people would have returned from the pursuit of their brethren (many hours ago, even) this morning;" or, "If thou hadst not spoken (asked for peace, 2-Samuel 2:26), surely the people would have returned, etc., in the morning, i. e. would not have ceased the pursuit until the morning." The latter interpretation is the more accordant with Joab's boastful character.

And Joab said - The meaning of this verse appears to be this: If Abner had not provoked the battle, (see 2-Samuel 2:14), Joab would not have attacked the Israelites that day; as his orders were probably to act on the defensive. Therefore the blame fell upon Israel.

And Joab said, [As] God liveth, unless thou hadst (o) spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
(o) If you had not provoked them to battle, (2-Samuel 2:14).

And Joab said, as God liveth,.... Which was the form of an oath, swearing by the living God:
unless thou hadst spoken; that is, these words in 2-Samuel 2:14; "let the young men arise and play", that he had not given the challenge to fight:
surely then in the morning the people had gone up everyone from following his brother; they would have gone away and never fought at all; they were not desirous of shedding their blood, and following after them to slay them: thus he lays the blame upon Abner, and makes him to be the cause and beginner of the war. Some render the particle by "if", and give the sense, that if he had spoken what he last did sooner, the people would long before this time have desisted from pursuing them; for it was not from a thirst after their blood, and a desire to luke vengeance on them, that they pursued them, but to bring them to submission, and lay down their arms; for they could not in honour retreat until they desired it; but the former sense seems best, and is the general sense of the Jewish commentators.

Joab replied, "If thou hadst not spoken (i.e., challenged to single combat, 2-Samuel 2:14), the people would have gone away in the morning, every one from his brother," i.e., there would have been no such fratricidal conflict at all. The first כּי introduces the substance of the oath, as in 1-Samuel 25:34; the second gives greater force to it (vid., Ewald, 330, b.). Thus Joab threw all the blame of the fight upon Abner, because he had been the instigator of the single combat; and as that was not decisive, and was so bloody in its character, the two armies had felt obliged to fight it out. But he then commanded the trumpet to be blown for a halt, and the pursuit to be closed.

Unless, &c. - Unless thou hadst made the motion that they should fight, 2-Samuel 2:14. It was thou, not I, that gave the first occasion of this fight. Abner was the sole cause of this war; otherwise all things had been ended by an amicable agreement: which might have been made that very morning, if he had so pleased.