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2 Samuel 20:2

in 2 Samuel 20

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

KJV

So 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.

This verse in 2 Samuel 20

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
From Jordan ... - The men of Israel only escorted David from Jordan to Gilgal, and there left him; but the men of Judah in a body went with him all the way to Jerusalem.

This site's exposition

a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba

on 2 Samuel 20:1-2

Sheba is named a man of Belial, worthless, at the first line, and his trumpet call turns the tribal grievance from Absalom's failed revolt into open secession. His cry, we have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse, is not a fresh complaint; it answers the men of Judah's claim that the king is near of kin to them, twisted into an insult. The same clause returns almost word for word when the kingdom actually splits at 1 Kings 12:16, so Sheba's one-man rebellion previews the division Rehoboam will make permanent. Judah alone stays with David from Jordan to Jerusalem, while all Israel follows a man named for worthlessness.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

(4.) The perverting of words is the subverting of peace; and much mischief is made by forcing invidious constructions upon what is said and written and drawing consequences that were never intended. The men of Judah said, The king is near of kin to us. "By this," say the men of Israel, "you mean that we have no part in him; " whereas they meant no such thing.
So every man of Israel went up from after David,.... Those that met him on the road departed from him, and went no further with him: and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; and made him their captain, who was the author of their mutiny and sedition: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan to Jerusalem: never left him, after they had conducted him over Jordan, until they had brought him safely to Jerusalem.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

from Jordan even to Jerusalem--The quarrel had broken out shortly after the crossing of the Jordan, between Judah and the other tribes, who withdrew; so that Judah was left nearly alone to conduct the king to the metropolis.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

There, he invited. Invited Language like that of "He invited his guests." 1 Tsaphania:7. "Avsholom invited all the king's children." 2 Shmuel II,:23. Language denoting "inviting".
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 20:1:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

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

18 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.

  • וַיַּ֜עַלand he went up

    vaiyaalH5927890 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H36055413 times

  • אִ֤ישׁ<the> man of

    ʾishH3761663 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • מֵאַחֲרֵ֣יfrom after

    meachareiH310715 times

  • דָוִ֔דDavid

    davidH1732999 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֖יafter

    ʾachareiH310715 times

  • שֶׁ֣בַעSheba

    sheva'H765210 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H11214930 times

  • בִּכְרִ֑יBicri

    bikhriH10758 times

  • וְאִ֤ישׁand [the] man of

    veishH3761663 times

  • יְהוּדָה֙Judah

    yehudahH3063819 times

  • דָּבְק֣וּthey clung

    davekuH169254 times

  • בְמַלְכָּ֔םto king their

    vemalkamH44282525 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H44801188 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383182 times

  • וְעַד־and to

    vead-H57041261 times

  • יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Jerusalem

    yerushalimH3389643 times

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

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

    Psalms 62:9

    Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 39:5

      You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

    • Isaiah 40:15

      Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

    • Isaiah 40:17

      All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

    • Psalms 118:9

      It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

    • Psalms 39:11

      You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah

  • Through

    Acts 11:23

    When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to abide in the Lord with all their hearts.

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 15:58

      Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

    • Acts 14:22

      strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

    • 1 John 2:28

      And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.

About 2 Samuel

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.