וַיָּ֤שָׁב אַבְנֵר֙ חֶבְר֔וֹן וַיַּטֵּ֤הוּ יוֹאָב֙ אֶל־תּ֣וֹךְ הַשַּׁ֔עַר לְדַבֵּ֥ר אִתּ֖וֹ בַּשֶּׁ֑לִי וַיַּכֵּ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ הַחֹ֔מֶשׁ וַיָּ֕מָת בְּדַ֖ם עֲשָׂה־אֵ֥ל אָחִֽיו׃
Abner kehrte zurück nach Hebron. Da führte ihn Joab in das Tor, um mit ihm leise zu reden, und schlug ihn dort in die Weiche, dass er für das Blut seines Bruders Assahels starb.
Rashi
And in his shoe that was on his feet. He killed Avner cunningly by asking him, “How does a woman who has no hands remove the shoes?”3During חליצה, the widow must remove the shoe of her deceased husband’s brother who does not want to marry her. as it is stated, “And Yo’av caused him to turn aside at the gate to speak with him בשלי.”4II Shmuel 3:27. [בשלי is] an expression of “remove [של] your shoes.”5Shemos 3:5.
Tze'enah Ure'enah
“He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, etc.” [1:7]. Adonijah spoke with Joab the son of Zeruiah. He agreed with Adonijah and wanted to make him king. Joab was one of David’s chieftains and had killed Abner,6II Samuel, 3:27. who was a warrior and a scholar.7J. Peah, 1.1. David did not want to kill Joab during his lifetime, but he left in his will to his son who would become king after his death, that he should take revenge against Joab.8I Kings, 2:5. Therefore, Joab wanted to associate himself with Adonijah and wanted to help make him king, in the expectation that Adonijah would have mercy on Joab and would not kill him, even though King David had asked it to be done. Joab had killed three people, Abner, Osias, and Absalom. Therefore, he wanted to flatter Adonijah. Abiathar the priest also agreed with making Adonijah king, because David had refused to make him high priest and made Zadok the high priest. Adonijah did not speak to Zadok the high priest or to Benaiah or to Nathan the prophet, or to Shimei, Rei, and David’s other warriors. None of them were with Adonijah.
Sforno
בשבועותיכם, on account of the weeks of cutting, harvesting. Compare Jeremiah 5,24 שבועות חקת קציר, “the weeks appointed for the harvest.” The reason for the apparently superfluous letter ב at the beginning of this word here is similar to the use by Scripture of the same letter in constructions such as בנפש יכפר in Leviticus 17,11, or בדם עשהאל in Samuel II 3,27, or בלחם נשכרו in Samuel I 2,5. It is a form of emphasis of the word it introduces.