2 Samuelchapter 20

A.We have no portion in David — Sheba blows the trumpetvv. 1-3

1 Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!” 2 So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem. 3 When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer slept with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.

B.Joab's greeting, and Amasa's blood in the highwayvv. 4-13

4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him. 6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.” 7 So Joab’s men, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, marched out of Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri. 8 And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath. 9 “Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. 10 Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri. 11 One of Joab’s young men stood near Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!” 12 But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw that all the troops were stopping there, he dragged the body off the road into a field and threw a garment over it. 13 As soon as Amasa’s body was removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

C.The wise woman of Abel, and a head over the wallvv. 14-22

14 Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel-beth-maacah and through the entire region of the Berites, who gathered together and followed him. 15 And Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel-beth-maacah and built a siege ramp against the outer rampart of the city. As all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to topple it, 16 a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.” 17 When he had come near to her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “I am,” he replied. “Listen to the words of your servant,” she said. “I am listening,” he answered. 18 Then the woman said, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Seek counsel at Abel,’ and that is how disputes were settled. 19 I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?” 20 “Far be it!” Joab declared. “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.” “Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

D.The king's officers named once morevv. 23-26

23 Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; 24 Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 Sheva was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

← Back: 2 Samuel 19 Continue: 2 Samuel 21 →

Chapter summary

The quarrel breaks open at once.

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴

The quarrel breaks open at once. Sheba the son of Bichri blows the trumpet with the slogan that will split the kingdom for good in Rehoboam's day: 'We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.' Home in Jerusalem, David shuts up the ten concubines Absalom defiled, living in widowhood to the day of their death. Amasa is slow to muster, so Joab overtakes him at the great stone in Gibeon, takes him by the beard as if to kiss him, and kills him. The chase ends at Abel of Beth-maacah, where a wise woman calls over the siege mound, wilt thou swallow up a city and a mother in Israel?

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Nathan, Gad — 2 Samuel overview

A. 1–3 We have no portion in David — Sheba blows the trumpet
B. 4–13 Joab's greeting, and Amasa's blood in the highway
C. 14–22 The wise woman of Abel, and a head over the wall
D. 23–26 The king's officers named once more

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

2 Samuel 205 verses
- 2 Samuel 20:1Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”
- 2 Samuel 20:4Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.”
- 2 Samuel 20:6And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”
- 2 Samuel 20:13As soon as Amasa’s body was removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
- 2 Samuel 20:23Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;
- Read 2 Samuel 20 →
1 Kings 43 verses
- 1 Kings 4:3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
- 1 Kings 4:4Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
- 1 Kings 4:6Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.
- Read 1 Kings 4 →
2 Samuel 83 verses
- 2 Samuel 8:16Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
- 2 Samuel 8:17Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;
- 2 Samuel 8:18Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.
- Read 2 Samuel 8 →
2 Samuel 172 verses
- 2 Samuel 17:16Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”
- 2 Samuel 17:25Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.
- Read 2 Samuel 17 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

1 Kings 122 verses
- 1 Kings 12:16When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
- 1 Kings 12:18Then King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.
- Read 1 Kings 12 →
1 Kings 12 verses
- 1 Kings 1:33“Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.
- 1 Kings 1:38Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, along with the Cherethites and Pelethites, went down and set Solomon on King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon.
- Read 1 Kings 1 →
2 Samuel 212 verses
- 2 Samuel 21:3So David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How can I make amends so that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?”
- 2 Samuel 21:17But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”
- Read 2 Samuel 21 →
2 Samuel 32 verses
- 2 Samuel 3:27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.
- 2 Samuel 3:30(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
- Read 2 Samuel 3 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.