And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim. (2 Samuel 2:29)
Abner did not intend to run the risk of continuing the struggle the next morning, but made an immediate withdrawal.
Through the plain.
Literally, “through the Arabah.” The Arabah is a term applied to the depression of the Jordan, from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea and to the depression extending south of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqabah.
Bithron.
From the root bathar, “to cut in two.” Hence probably a ravine in the sense of a region being cut up with mountains and valley. Bithron has generally been understood as an unknown valley or district leading to Mahanaim. Some apply the idea of “to cut in two” to a day and make Abner and his men continue their all-night retreat by marching in addition “the whole forenoon,” that is, half of the following day (see RSV).