2 Samuel 20:14
in 2 Samuel 20Sheba 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maacah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.
KJV
And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth–maachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseUnto Abel - This is supposed to have been the capital of the district called Abilene in St. Luke’s Gospel, Luk 3:1. Beth-maachah - Is supposed to have been in the northern part of the Holy Land, on the confines of Syria, and probably in the tribe of Naphtali.
This site's exposition
went through all the tribes of Israel
on 2 Samuel 20:14-15
Sheba runs the length of the land gathering support before he is finally cornered at Abel of Beth-maachah, a fortified city far north near the border with Syria. Joab's men lay siege the standard way, a bank cast up against the wall and battering begun, treating one walled city as the price of ending a national revolt.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He - Sheba, who marched from tribe to tribe to stir them up to sedition. Abel - Unto Abel-beth-maachah, as this place is called here in the Hebrew text, ver. 15, to distinguish it from other Abels; and to signify, that this was that Abel which was in the northern border of Canaan towards that part of Syria called Maachah, chap. x, 8.
And he went through all the tribes of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Abel - More commonly called 2Sa 20:15 “Abel-Beth-maachah” to distinguish it from other places of the name of “Abel” (a grassy plain). It is represented by the modern Abil-el-Kamh, a Christian village on the northwest of lake Huleh, the ancient Merom. Compare 2Ch 16:4, “Abel-maim,” Abel by the water. And all the Berites - What this means is utterly unknown. Many approve of the reading of the Latin Version, connecting it with what follows: “And all the choice young men mustered and followed him.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He [Shevah] went through all the tribes of Yisroel. Shevah, the son of Bichri [went] to convince them to declare him king over them.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
When it was withdrawn. When it was removed as we find. "When the impurities are removed from silver", 5 Mishlei:4. and as find "When the wicked are removed from before the king". 6 Ibid,:5.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֞ר | vaiyaavor | and he passed | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שִׁבְטֵ֣י | shivtei | [the] tribes of | H7626 → | 190 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אָבֵ֛לָה | ʾavelah | Abel towards | H62 → | 12 times |
| וּבֵ֥ית | uveit | and Beth | H62 → | 12 times |
| מַעֲכָ֖ה | maakhah | Maacah | H62 → | 12 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַבֵּרִ֑ים ס | haberim | the Berites | H1276 → | |
| וַיִּקָּ֣הֲל֔וּ | vaiyiklehu | and they assembled | H6950 → | |
| וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ | vaiyavou | and they went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| אַחֲרָֽיו׃ | ʾacharav | after him | H310 → | 715 times |
וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֞רand he passed
vaiyaavorH5674 →556 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
שִׁבְטֵ֣י[the] tribes of
shivteiH7626 →190 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אָבֵ֛לָהAbel towards
ʾavelahH62 →12 times
וּבֵ֥יתand Beth
uveitH62 →12 times
מַעֲכָ֖הMaacah
maakhahH62 →12 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הַבֵּרִ֑ים סthe Berites
haberimH1276 →
וַיִּקָּ֣הֲל֔וּand they assembled
vaiyiklehuH6950 →
וַיָּבֹ֖אוּand they went
vaiyavouH935 →2568 times
אַף־also
ʾaf-H637 →134 times
אַחֲרָֽיו׃after him
ʾacharavH310 →715 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 Kings 15:20And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 15:29
In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people…
- Judges 18:29
They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.
- 2 Kings 15:29
Through
2 Kings 15:29In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 5:26
So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And…
- 2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the…
- 1 Chronicles 5:26
Through
Numbers 21:16From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”
it leads to
- Numbers 20:8
“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from…
- Judges 9:21
Then Jotham ran away, escaping to Beer, and he lived there for fear of his brother Abimelech.
- Isaiah 12:3
With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,
- Isaiah 41:17–18
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
- Numbers 20:8
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.