2 Samuel 20

A worthless troublemaker named Sheba son of Bichri, from the tribe of Benjamin, happened to be there. He blew a ram's horn and shouted, "We have no share in David and no part in the son of Jesse. Everyone go home, Israel!"

1And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.

Note"A worthless troublemaker" translates the Hebrew phrase "a man of Belial," a standard insult for someone lawless and destructive. The ram's horn (shofar) was the normal way to signal an assembly, an alarm, or a call to arms across open country. Calling David "the son of Jesse" rather than "the king" is deliberately dismissive: it names him as an ordinary man from an ordinary family. "Everyone go home" (King James "every man to his tents") was the set phrase for breaking up a national gathering and withdrawing allegiance; "tents" survives from the days of a wandering people and by this period simply meant "home." Sheba's tribe matters: Benjamin was the tribe of Saul, the king David replaced, and it had never fully accepted David's rule.

2So all the men of Israel left David and followed Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah stayed loyal to their king the whole way, from the Jordan River to Jerusalem.

2So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.

NoteThis follows directly on the collapse of Absalom's rebellion. David is on his way back to the capital, escorted by the men of Judah, when the northern tribes break away again. The split here, Israel (the northern tribes) against Judah (the south), is the same fault line that will permanently divide the kingdom two generations later.

3David came to his house in Jerusalem. He took the ten women who were his secondary wives, the ones he had left behind to look after the house, and put them in a house under guard. He gave them food and supplies, but never slept with them again. They were shut in until the day they died, living as widows.

3And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

Note"Secondary wives" translates a word usually rendered "concubines": legally recognized wives of lower rank, whose children had a weaker claim than those of a chief wife. These particular ten are the women Absalom had publicly taken during his revolt as a way of claiming his father's throne. David can neither send them away nor take them back, so they are kept in a guarded house, supported for life but living "as widows", a woman with no husband and no prospect of one.

4Then the king said to Amasa, "Call the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself."

4Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.

NoteAmasa had been the commander of Absalom's rebel army; David appointed him head of the national army after the revolt, replacing Joab. Joab, who had killed Absalom against David's orders, had just been demoted in his favor.

5So Amasa went to call up the men of Judah, but he took longer than the time the king had given him.

5So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

6David said to Abishai, "Now Sheba son of Bichri will hurt us worse than Absalom did. Take your master's servants and chase him, or he will reach walled cities and get away from us."

6And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord’s servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.

NoteAbishai was Joab's brother; both were sons of David's sister Zeruiah, and Amasa was their cousin. "Your master's servants" means David's own professional soldiers, as opposed to the militia of ordinary men that Amasa had been sent to muster. Walled cities were the only defensible strongholds in the country; once inside one, a rebel could hold out indefinitely.

7So Joab's men went out after him, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the fighting men. They marched out of Jerusalem to chase down Sheba son of Bichri.

7And there went out after him Joab’s men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

NoteThe Cherethites and Pelethites were David's personal guard, a unit of foreign professional soldiers, the names are generally taken to indicate Cretan and Philistine origin. Being outsiders, they had no tribal loyalties and were dependable in exactly this kind of internal revolt. "Fighting men" renders a term for David's corps of elite veteran warriors.

8When they reached the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa came out to meet them. Joab was wearing his military clothing, belted on, and over it a belt with a sword in its sheath strapped at his waist. As he stepped forward, the sword slipped out.

8When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab’s garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.

NoteGibeon lay a few miles north-west of Jerusalem; the "great stone" was a known landmark. The Hebrew of the sword slipping out is obscure and has been read two ways: either the blade genuinely fell loose and Joab picked it up, or he let it drop on purpose so as to be holding a weapon openly in a way that looked accidental. The ambiguity is in the original.

9Joab said to Amasa, "Are you well, my brother?" With his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa's beard to kiss him.

9And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

NoteTaking a man by the beard with the right hand was the ordinary gesture of an affectionate greeting between kinsmen or equals, and it puts the greeter's weapon hand where the other man can see it. It also brings Joab close enough to strike.

10Amasa was not watching the sword in Joab's hand. Joab drove it into his belly and spilled his insides on the ground. He did not have to strike a second time; Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai went on chasing Sheba son of Bichri.

10But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

NoteThe King James "smote him in the fifth rib" is an old attempt at a Hebrew phrase meaning the belly or abdomen. Joab has now killed the second rival to his command: he had earlier killed Abner the same way, in the same place on the body, with the same false greeting.

11One of Joab's men stood beside Amasa's body and said, "Whoever is for Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!"

11And one of Joab’s men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab.

12Amasa lay rolling in his own blood in the middle of the road. When the man saw that all the troops were stopping there, he dragged Amasa off the road into a field and threw a cloth over him, since everyone who came by kept stopping.

12And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

NoteA body left in the open road brought the advancing column to a halt: passers-by stopped to stare, and contact with a corpse also made an Israelite ritually unclean, so no one would simply step over it. Covering it and dragging it into the field cleared the road.

13Once the body was off the road, all the men went on with Joab to chase Sheba son of Bichri.

13When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

14Sheba went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and through the whole region of the Berites. They gathered together and followed him too.

14And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

NoteAbel of Beth-maacah lay at the far northern edge of Israelite territory, near the sources of the Jordan, Sheba has run the whole length of the country. "The Berites" is uncertain; the Hebrew word here is obscure and may be a place name, a clan name, or a copying error.

15Joab's troops came and trapped Sheba inside Abel of Beth-maacah. They piled up a ramp of earth against the city, and it reached the outer wall. All the men with Joab were pounding the wall to bring it down.

15And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

NoteStandard siege technique: attackers heaped earth and rubble into a ramp up against the city's defenses until it reached the top of the outer wall, then used it as a platform to batter or climb over. "Trapped him inside" is the sense of the older word "besieged", surrounded the town so no one could leave.

16Then a wise woman called out from the city, "Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come over here so I can speak with him."

16Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.

17When he came close to her, the woman asked, "Are you Joab?" "I am," he answered. She said, "Listen to what I have to say." He answered, "I am listening."

17And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

18She said, "People used to have a saying long ago: 'Ask for advice at Abel.' That is how they settled an argument.

18Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

NoteThe woman is quoting a proverb: Abel had an old reputation as the place you went to have a dispute arbitrated, so a matter taken there was considered settled. Her point is that a town of this standing should be talked to, not stormed. The Hebrew of the saying is compressed and its exact wording is disputed.

19I am one of the peaceful and loyal people of Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is like a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up what belongs to the LORD?"

19I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

Note"A mother in Israel" was the standard term for a chief town that had smaller villages depending on it, a mother city with her daughters. "What belongs to the LORD" translates "the inheritance of the LORD": the land and people assigned to Israel by God, portioned out among the tribes as a permanent family holding. Destroying an Israelite town meant permanently removing a piece of that holding.

20Joab answered, "Never! I would never swallow up or destroy this place.

20And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

21That is not what this is about. A man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba son of Bichri, has raised his hand against the king, against David. Hand over just that one man, and I will leave the city." The woman said to Joab, "His head will be thrown over the wall to you."

21The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.

Note"Raised his hand against the king" is the fixed idiom for armed rebellion against a ruler. The hill country of Ephraim is the highland region north of Jerusalem; Sheba's Benjamite territory bordered it. Handing over a single named rebel in exchange for lifting a siege was a recognized negotiated outcome in ancient warfare.

22Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice. They cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. He blew the ram's horn, and his men left the city and went home, each to his own place. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.

22Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

NoteThe horn signals the end of the operation, and the men disperse "each to his own place", the same phrase Sheba used to start the revolt in verse 1, now closing it.

23Now Joab was commander over the whole army of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites.

23Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:

NoteVerses 23 to 26 are a list of David's chief officials, the equivalent of naming a cabinet. A near-identical list appears earlier in 2 Samuel 8; such lists were a normal way for ancient records to mark the settled shape of a reign. Joab, despite murdering the man David appointed over him, is back in command of the army.

24Adoram was in charge of the workers forced to labor for the king, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud kept the official records.

24And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:

Note"In charge of the workers forced to labour for the king" translates an office covering conscripted labor gangs, subjects required to work on royal building projects without pay. It was deeply resented; the man holding this post was later stoned to death by a mob. The "recorder" was a senior court officer, something between royal herald and keeper of the official annals, not a mere note-taker.

25Sheva was the secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.

25And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

NoteThe "secretary" (King James "scribe") was the king's chief writing officer, handling correspondence, treaties and state documents, a high government post. Zadok and Abiathar held the chief priesthood jointly, which was unusual; each represented a different priestly line.

26And Ira the Jairite also served as a priest to David.

26And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.

NoteThe Hebrew says Ira was "priest to David," but Ira was not from the priestly tribe, and the King James translators instead rendered it "chief ruler," understanding the word here to mean a personal adviser or royal chaplain-like official. Both readings are defensible and the point is unresolved.