After Ish-bosheth accused him concerning Rizpah, Abner became angry and vowed to transfer the kingdom to David. He tied his decision to what the LORD had spoken about giving David rule. See 2 Samuel 3:7–10.
2 Samuel 3:1–7 describes a drawn-out conflict between Saul’s supporters and David’s, during which David’s side steadily gains strength while Saul’s side weakens. In the middle of this report, the text lists six sons born to David in Hebron, highlighting a growing household and future leadership line. This section continues the story after Saul’s death, where Israel is divided between David in Hebron and Saul’s surviving house represented by Ish-bosheth, with Abner as the key military figure (see 2 Samuel 2:8–11). Verse 1 gives a headline summary of the ongoing struggle and the shifting balance of power.
The passage presents Israel’s kingship transition as a slow, messy power struggle rather than a clean handoff. Explicitly, it reports a prolonged conflict between “the house of Saul” and “the house of David,” with a clear trend: David’s side steadily strengthens while Saul’s steadily weakens (verse 1).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with 2 Samuel 3:7-10, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
7Now Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and [Ish-bosheth] said to Abner, Why have you gone in to my father`s concubine?
8Then was Abner very angry for the words of Ish-bosheth, and said, Am I a dog`s head that belongs to Judah? This day do I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and yet you charge me this day with a fault concerning this woman.
9God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as Yahweh has sworn to David, I don`t do even so to him;
10to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba.