It is not clear if Abner was angry because he was being accused of something that he had not done,1 or because he was being challenged by Ish-bosheth. Most likely it is the latter rather than the former. In his answer he made it clear that he had been loyal to the house of Saul again and again and that his loyalty was not to be questioned. Indeed, Abner initiated Ish-bosheth’s kingdom and sustained it with military power (2 Samuel 2:8–9).2
8 Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog’s head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman.