2 Samuel 20:15
in 2 Samuel 20And 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,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
KJV
And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth–maachah, 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.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 20
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Cast up a bank - See the marginal references. The throwing up of mounds against the walls of besieged places by the besiegers is well illustrated in the Assyrian sculptures. The trench - The “pomoerium,” or fortified space outside the wall. When the mound was planted in the pomoerium the battering engines were able to approach close to the wall to make a breach.
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.
This site's exposition
built a siege ramp
Joab's troops built a siege ramp at Abel-beth-maacah against the outer rampart. Adam Clarke takes the Hebrew solelah as a siege tower for archers, and Albert Barnes keeps the sense of a mound, as in Assyrian palace carvings, set so the troops battering the wall could reach it. Matthew Henry blames the city for harbouring Sheba.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Justly is that place attacked with all this fury which dares harbour a traitor; nor will that heart fare better which indulges those rebellious lusts that will not have Christ to reign over them.
They - That is, Joab and his army. A bank - From whence they might either batter the wall, or shoot at those who defended it. It stood - The bank stood in, or near to the trench, or the wall of the city; so that the city was in great danger of being taken.
And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They cast up a bank against the city - The word סללה solelah, which we render bank, means, most probably, a battering engine of some kind, or a tower overlooking the walls, on which archers and slingers could stand and annoy the inhabitants, while others of the besiegers could proceed to sap the walls. That it cannot be a bank that stood in the trench, is evident from the circumstance thus expressed.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He [Shevah] went through all the tribes of Yisroel. Shevah, the son of Bichri [went] to convince them to declare him king over them.
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
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֜אוּ | vaiyavou | and they came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וַיָּצֻ֣רוּ | vaiyatzuru | and they laid siege | H6696 → | |
| עָלָ֗יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּאָבֵ֙לָה֙ | beavelah | in Abel <towards> | H62 → | 12 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | Beth | H62 → | 12 times |
| הַֽמַּעֲכָ֔ה | hamaakhah | <the> Maacah | H62 → | 12 times |
| וַיִּשְׁפְּכ֤וּ | vaiyishpekhu | and they poured out | H8210 → | |
| סֹֽלְלָה֙ | solelah | a mound | H5550 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָעִ֔יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֖ד | vataamod | and it stood | H5975 → | 521 times |
| בַּחֵ֑ל | bachel | by the rampart | H2426 → | |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | [was] with | H854 → | 929 times |
| יוֹאָ֔ב | yoav | Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| מַשְׁחִיתִ֖ם | mashchitim | [were] about to destroy | H7843 → | 146 times |
| לְהַפִּ֥יל | lehapil | to make fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| הַחוֹמָֽה׃ | hachomah | the wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
וַיָּבֹ֜אוּand they came
vaiyavouH935 →2568 times
וַיָּצֻ֣רוּand they laid siege
vaiyatzuruH6696 →
עָלָ֗יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
בְּאָבֵ֙לָה֙in Abel <towards>
beavelahH62 →12 times
בֵּ֣יתBeth
beitH62 →12 times
הַֽמַּעֲכָ֔ה<the> Maacah
hamaakhahH62 →12 times
וַיִּשְׁפְּכ֤וּand they poured out
vaiyishpekhuH8210 →
סֹֽלְלָה֙a mound
solelahH5550 →
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָעִ֔ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֖דand it stood
vataamodH5975 →521 times
בַּחֵ֑לby the rampart
bachelH2426 →
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֶת־[was] with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
יוֹאָ֔בJoab
yoavH3097 →144 times
מַשְׁחִיתִ֖ם[were] about to destroy
mashchitimH7843 →146 times
לְהַפִּ֥ילto make fall
lehapilH5307 →435 times
הַחוֹמָֽה׃the wall
hachomahH2346 →133 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
Ezekiel 4:2Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:22
In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the…
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 21:22
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
Jeremiah 32:24See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
- Joshua 23:15–16
But just as every good thing the LORD your God promised you has come to pass, likewise the LORD will bring upon you the calamity He has threatened, until He has destroyed you from…
- Jeremiah 33:4
For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the…
- Deuteronomy 4:26
Through
Jeremiah 33:4For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 4:2
Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.
- Habakkuk 1:10
They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
- Ezekiel 4:2
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.