Joab’s speech means either, “Unless you had spoken (challenging us to fight, 2 Samuel 2:14), the people would have returned from pursui…

Unless you had spoken. — Joab’s reply to Abner allows for either of two interpretations:

1. Joab seeks to throw the whol…

And Joab said, as God lives
Which was the form of an oath, swearing by the living God:

unless you…

Abner appeals to Joab concerning the miserable consequences of a civil war. Those who make light of such unnatural contests will find that they are…