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2 Samuel 20:21

in 2 Samuel 20

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.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The matter is not so: but a man of the hill-country of 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.

KJV

The 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.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 20

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
The matter is not so,.... I am not come with the army against this city with any ill will to it, and with an intention to destroy it: the case is this: but a man of Mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name; for though he was by birth a Benjaminite, his dwelling was in Mount Ephraim in that tribe; unless there was a place of this name in the tribe of Benjamin, so called from any memorable event there, as the wood of Ephraim, 2Sa 18:

This site's exposition

Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy

on 2 Samuel 20:20-22

Joab answers, “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy!” He asks for one man, Sheba son of Bichri, who has lifted up his hand against King David. The woman takes her wise counsel to the people, and Sheba's head is thrown to Joab over the wall.

This site's exposition

thrown to you over the wall

John Gill and John Wesley reconcile Sheba's Benjamite birth with his home in the hill country of Ephraim. The woman promises the head before consulting anyone, and Adam Clarke takes this as proof of her sway in the city. Wesley thinks she may have governed it.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Shimei and he were both of Saul's tribe, and both retained the ancient grudge of that house. Against the kingdom of the Messiah there is an hereditary enmity in the serpent's seed, and a succession of attempts to overthrow it ( Ps. ii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Ephraim - Probably mount Ephraim was a place in Benjamin so called, either because it was upon the borders of Ephraim or for some notable action or event of the Ephraimites in that place. His head - Which she undertook, because she knew the present temper of the citizens, and soldiers too. And it is not unlikely, that this woman might be a governness in that city.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

His head shall be thrown to thee - Thus it appears she had great sway in the counsels of the city; and that the punishment of a state rebel was then, what it is now in this kingdom, beheading.

The words behind it

31 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • לֹא־[is] not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • כֵ֣ןso

    khenH3651 →771 times

  • הַדָּבָ֗רthe matter

    hadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • כִּ֡יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אִישׁ֩a man

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • מֵהַ֨רfrom [the] hill country of

    meharH2022 →546 times

  • אֶפְרַ֜יִםEphraim

    ʾefrayimH669 →180 times

  • שֶׁ֧בַע[who is] Sheba

    sheva'H7652 →10 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • בִּכְרִ֣יBicri

    bikhriH1075 →8 times

  • שְׁמ֗וֹname his

    shemoH8034 →864 times

  • נָשָׂ֤אhe has lifted up

    nasa'H5375 →656 times

  • יָדוֹ֙hand his

    yadoH3027 →1618 times

  • בַּמֶּ֣לֶךְagainst the king

    bamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • בְּדָוִ֔דagainst David

    bedavidH1732 →999 times

  • תְּנֽוּ־give

    tenu-H5414 →2011 times

  • אֹת֣וֹ<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • לְבַדּ֔וֹto only him

    levadoH905 →200 times

  • וְאֵלְכָ֖הso let me go

    veelekhahH1980 →1546 times

  • מֵעַ֣לfrom on

    mealH5921 →5755 times

  • הָעִ֑ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • וַתֹּ֤אמֶרand she said

    vatomerH559 →5305 times

  • הָֽאִשָּׁה֙the woman

    haishahH802 →781 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יוֹאָ֔בJoab

    yoavH3097 →144 times

  • הִנֵּ֥הhere!

    hinehH2009 →843 times

  • רֹאשׁ֛וֹhead his

    roshoH7218 →599 times

  • מֻשְׁלָ֥ךְ[is] about to be thrown

    mushlakhH7993 →125 times

  • אֵלֶ֖יךָto you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

  • בְּעַ֥דbehind

    beadH1157 →105 times

  • הַחוֹמָֽה׃the wall

    hachomahH2346 →133 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

17 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 11:26Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king,3 works1 Samuel 24:6So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.”2 works2 Kings 10:7And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.2 worksJudges 2:9They buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.2 worksJeremiah 50:19I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.2 works2 Samuel 17:2–3I will attack him while he is weak and weary; I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee; I will strike down only the king2 works
The other 11 cross-references, with their words ▾
Judges 7:24Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim to say, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth-barah.2 works1 Samuel 26:9But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”2 worksJeremiah 4:15For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.2 works2 Samuel 23:18Now Abishai, the brother of Joab and son of Zeruiah, was chief of the Three, and he lifted his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name along with the Three.2 works2 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 works2 Kings 5:22“Everything is all right,” Gehazi replied. “My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”2 worksJoshua 24:33Eleazar son of Aaron also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.2 worksJudges 18:4–8“Micah has done this and that for me,” he replied, “and he has hired me to be his priest.”2 works1 Kings 11:27and this is the account of his rebellion against the king. Solomon had built the supporting terraces and repaired the gap in the wall of the city of his father David.2 works2 Samuel 20:11One of Joab’s young men stood near Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!”2 worksJudges 9:53But a woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 24:6

    So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the…

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 1:14

      So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”

    • 1 Samuel 26:9–11

      But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”

    • Romans 12:14

      Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

    • Job 31:29–30

      If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—

    • 1 Kings 21:3

      But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

  • Through

    2 Kings 10:7

    And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 21:21

      This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.

    • 2 Kings 11:1

      When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.

  • Through

    Judges 2:9

    They buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 19:50

      as the LORD had commanded. They gave him the city of Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, as he requested. He rebuilt the city and settled in it.

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 20 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 20 →