And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ishbosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father’s concubine? (2 Samuel 3:7)
In Oriental lands the harem of a king was regarded as the property of his successor, and the taking of a woman who had belonged to the previous king was therefore regarded as an assertion of a claim to the throne (see 2 Sam. 12:8; 16:21; 1 Kings 2:22). There is nothing in the record to indicate that Abner, if guilty of the act of which he was charged, had any design on Ish-bosheth’s throne, but the king nevertheless preferred to regard the alleged conduct as an act of treachery, and it was this that aroused the anger of Abner. Ish-bosheth’s words of reproach are understandable, for Abner’s alleged deed violated the rights of the king.