David gladly entertained his proposition, but demanded, as a preliminary concession, that his favourite wife Michal, who had been torn from him by Saul, and married to a Benjamite, should be restored to him. Ishbosheth himself no doubt saw the justice of this demand, and did not perceive in it any evil intention towards himself. Thereupon Abner, leaving the king under the pretext of bringing about Michal's separation from her husband, entered the Benjamite territory, compelled Phaltiel, Michal's husband, to give up his wife, whom he followed, with many tears, till Abner's angry threats compelled him to turn back in sorrow, and David recovered the beloved wife of his youth. Abner then wandered about amongst the tribes trying to obtain secret adherents for David. Many Israelites no doubt privately wished that the luckless civil war would end with submission to the king of Judah; even some of the Benjamites were not averse to a union. Attended by twenty trusty followers whom he had secured for David, Abner secretly entered Hebron; David had succeeded in sending away Joab and his brothers (the distrustful and jealous sons of Zeruiah) on a predatory expedition. During their absence, David personally arranged with Abner and his twenty followers the manner in which the elders of the tribes should be won over to his side, and how the dethronement of Ishbosheth should then be effected. Abner had already left Hebron in order to call upon the elders of the tribes to follow his example, and do homage to the king of Judah. When Joab returned from his expedition, he heard the astonishing intelligence that Abner, the enemy of David's house, had been received, and permitted to depart in full favour, and that the king had made a secret treaty behind his back. As it seemed to him inevitable that he must be the victim of such a compact, he quickly decided on his course, and sent messengers after Abner, who induced him to return. Joab and Abishai lay in wait for him at the gates of Hebron, and Abner, unaware and unwarned, was felled to the earth by their swords. David felt the death of Abner acutely. The man who alone was able and willing to obtain for him the adherence of all the tribes by peaceful measures was thus foully murdered, on the very eve of the realisation of his plan. David was placed in an awkward position. In order to destroy any suspicion which might arise against him, David gave solemn expression to his sincere grief at Abner's loss. He commanded a grand, imposing funeral in Hebron for Israel's fallen hero, ordered all his followers to attend the funeral procession, and accompanied it himself. He breathed forth his tearful grief in an elegiac poem, the beginning of which has been preserved, and which made a powerful impression on all hearers. All burst into tears, and were convinced of the sincerity of his sorrow by the manner in which he recited his threnode. On the other hand, David feared to take the sons