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Texts -- 2 Samuel 20:1-21 (NET)

Context
Sheba’s Rebellion
20:1 Now a wicked man named Sheba son of Bicri , a Benjaminite , happened to be there . He blew the trumpet and said , “We have no share in David ; we have no inheritance in this son of Jesse ! Every man go home , O Israel !” 20:2 So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri . But the men of Judah stuck by their king all the way from the Jordan River to Jerusalem . 20:3 Then David went to his palace in Jerusalem . The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement . Though he provided for their needs , he did not have sexual relations with them. They remained in confinement until the day they died , living out the rest of their lives as widows . 20:4 Then the king said to Amasa , “Call the men of Judah together for me in three days , and you be present here with them too.” 20:5 So Amasa went out to call Judah together. But in doing so he took longer than the time that the king had allotted him. 20:6 Then David said to Abishai , “Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure fortified cities for himself and get away from us.” 20:7 So Joab’s men , accompanied by the Kerethites , the Pelethites , and all the warriors , left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bicri . 20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon , Amasa came to them . Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist . When he advanced , it fell out . 20:9 Joab said to Amasa , “How are you , my brother ?” With his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa’s beard as if to greet him with a kiss . 20:10 Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s other hand , and Joab stabbed him in the abdomen , causing Amasa’s intestines to spill out on the ground . There was no need to stab him again ; the first blow was fatal . Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri . 20:11 One of Joab’s soldiers who stood over Amasa said , “Whoever is for Joab and whoever is for David , follow Joab !” 20:12 Amasa was squirming in his own blood in the middle of the path , and this man had noticed that all the soldiers stopped . Having noticed that everyone who came across Amasa stopped , the man pulled him away from the path and into the field and threw a garment over him . 20:13 Once he had removed Amasa from the path , everyone followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bicri . 20:14 Sheba traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled , they too joined him. 20:15 So Joab’s men came and laid siege against him in Abel of Beth Maacah . They prepared a siege ramp outside the city which stood against its outer rampart . As all of Joab’s soldiers were trying to break through the wall so that it would collapse , 20:16 a wise woman called out from the city , “Listen up! Listen up! Tell Joab , ‘Come near so that I may speak to you.’” 20:17 When he approached her, the woman asked , “Are you Joab ?” He replied , “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant .” He said , “Go ahead. I’m listening .” 20:18 She said , “In the past they would always say , ‘Let them inquire in Abel ,’ and that is how they settled things. 20:19 I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel . You are attempting to destroy an important city in Israel . Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance ?” 20:20 Joab answered , “Get serious ! I don’t want to swallow up or destroy anything! 20:21 That’s not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri . He has rebelled against King David . Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city .” The woman said to Joab , “This very minute his head will be thrown over the wall to you!”

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • Sheba

    [ebd] an oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf. (2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan (Gen. 10:28), probably the founder of the Sabeans. (3.) Heb. i...
    [smith] (on oath), the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, (2 Samuel 20:1-22) the last chief of the Absalom insurrection. The occasion seized by Sheba was the emulation between the northern and southern tribes on David?s return. (2 Sam...
    [nave] SHEBA 1. Son of Raamah, Gen. 10:7; 1 Chr. 1:9. 2. Son of Joktan, Gen. 10:28; 1 Chr. 1:22. 3. Son of Jokshan, Gen. 25:3; 1 Chr. 1:32. 4. A Benjamite who led an insurrection against David, 2 Sam. 20. 5. A Gadite, 1 Chr. 5:...

  • David

    [isbe] DAVID - da'-vid (dawidh, or dawidh, "beloved"; Daueid, also in New Testament, Dauid, Dabid; see Thayer's Lexicon): I. NAME AND GENEALOGY II. EARLY YEARS 1. Shepherd 2. Slinger 3. Harpist 4. Poet 5. Psalmist 6. Tribesman III....
    [smith] (well-beloved), the son of Jesse. His life may be divided into three portions: His youth before his introduction to the court of Saul; His relations with Saul; His reign. The early life of David contains in many important re...
    [nave] DAVID 1. King of Israel. Genealogy of, Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Sam. 16:11; 17:12; 1 Chr. 2:3-15; Matt. 1:1-6; Luke 3:31-38. A shepherd, 1 Sam. 16:11. Kills a lion and a bear, 1 Sam. 17:34-36. Anointed king, while a youth, by the ...

  • Amasa

    [ebd] burden. (1.) The son of Abigail, a sister of king David (1 Chr. 2:17; 2 Sam. 17:25). He was appointed by David to command the army in room of his cousin Joab (2 Sam. 19:13), who afterwards treacherously put him to death as a...
    [isbe] AMASA - a-ma'-sa (`amasa', or read `ammishai, i.e. `am yishai, "people of Jesse"): The form `amasa', is based upon a mistaken etymology (from = `amac "to burden"). (1) According to 2 Sam 17:25, Amasa is the son of Abigail, t...
    [smith] (a burden). Son of Ithra, or Jether, by Abigail, David?s sister. (2 Samuel 17:25) He joined in Absalom?s rebellion, B.C. 1023, was appointed commander-in-chief and suffered defeat by Joab. (2 Samuel 18:6) David, incens...
    [nave] AMASA 1. Nephew of David, 2 Sam. 17:25; 1 Chr. 2:17. Joins Absalom, 2 Sam. 17:25. Returns to David, and is made captain of the army, 2 Sam. 19:13. Slain, 2 Sam. 20:8-12; 1 Kin. 2:5, 32. 2. Son of Hadlai, 2 Chr. 28:12.

  • Joab

    [ebd] Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David's sister, and "captain of the host" during the whole of David's reign (2 Sam. 2:13; 10:7; 11:1; 1 Kings 11:15). His father's name is nowhere mentioned, alth...
    [smith] (whose father is Jehovah), the most remarkable of the three nephews of David, the children of Zeruiah, David?s sister. (B.C. 1053-1012.) Joab first appears after David?s accession to the throne at Hebron. Abner slew in battle...
    [nave] JOAB 1. Son of David's sister, 1 Chr. 2:16. Commander of David's army, 2 Sam. 8:16; 20:23; 1 Chr. 11:6; 18:15; 27:34. Dedicated spoils of his battles, 1 Chr. 26:28. Defeated the Jebusites, 1 Chr. 11:6. Defeats and slays ...

  • Bichri

    [isbe] BICHRI - bik'-ri (bikhri, "first born"; compare HPN, 88, 102): Father of Sheba who rebelled against David. Bichri is of the house of Benjamin and the word probably means a "descendant of Becher" (2 Sam 20:1 ff). Compare BECH...
    [smith] (first-born), (2 Samuel 20:1) an ancestor of Sheba.
    [nave] BICHRI, a Benjamite, 2 Sam. 20.

  • Abishai

    [isbe] ABISHAI - ab'-i-shi, a-bi'-shi ('abhishai, in Ch 'abhshai; meaning is doubtful, probably "my father is Jesse," BDB): Son of Zeruiah, David's sister, and one of the three famous brothers, of whom Joab and Asahel were the othe...
    [nave] ABISHAI Son of Zeruiah, David's sister, 1 Chr. 2:16. One of David's chief men, 2 Sam. 23:18. Seeks Saul's life, 1 Sam. 26:6-8. Pursues and slays Abner, 2 Sam. 2:24; 3:30. Defeats the Edomites, 1 Chr. 18:12; the Ammonites...

  • War

    [smith] The most important topic in connection with war is the formation of the army which is destined to carry it on. [ARMY] In (1 Kings 9:22) at a period (Solomon?s reign) when the organization of the army was complete, we have ...
    [nave] WAR Divine approval of, 2 Sam. 22:35. Civil, Judg. 12:1-6; 20; 2 Sam. 2:12-31; 3:1; 20; 1 Kin. 14:30; 16:21; Isa. 19:2; forbidden, 2 Chr. 11:4; averted, Josh. 22:11-34. Enemy harangued by general of opposing side, 2 Kin. 1...

  • Israel

    [smith] (the prince that prevails with God). The name given, (Genesis 32:28) to Jacob after his wrestling with the angel, (Hosea 12:4) at Peniel. Gesenius interprets Israel "soldier of God." It became the national name of the twelve...
    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Rebellion

    [nave] REBELLION, treasonable, Prov. 17:11. Instances of Absalom, 2 Sam. 15-18. Sheba, 2 Sam. 20. Revolt of the ten tribes, 1 Kin. 12:16-20; 2 Chr. 10; 13:5-12. See: Insurrection; Mutiny; Revolt; Sin; Usurpation.

  • JUDAH, KINGDOM OF

    [isbe] JUDAH, KINGDOM OF - || I. CANAAN BEFORE THE MONARCHY 1. The Coming of the Semites 2. The Canaanites 3. The Israelite Confederacy 4. Migration into Canaan 5. The Bond of Union 6. Early Rulers 7. The Judges 8. Hereditary Kings...

  • SAMUEL, BOOKS OF

    [isbe] SAMUEL, BOOKS OF - || I. PLACE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL IN THE HEBREW CANON II. CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS AND PERIOD OF TIME COVERED BY THE HISTORY III. SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 1. Life of Samuel (1 Samuel 1 through 15) 2. Reign and D...

  • Insurrection

    [nave] INSURRECTION, Psa. 6:42. Described by David in Psa. 55. Led by Bichri, 2 Sam. 20; Absalom, See: Absalom; Barabbas, Mark 15:7. See: Sedition.

  • Abel-Beth-Maachah

    [ebd] meadow of the house of Maachah, a city in the north of Palestine, in the neighbourhood of Dan and Ijon, in the tribe of Naphtali. It was a place of considerable strength and importance. It is called a "mother in Israel", i.e...
    [nave] ABEL-BETH-MAACHAH, called also Abel-maim. A city in the N. of Palestine. Sheba slain in, 2 Sam. 20:14-22. Taken by Ben Hadad, 1 Kin. 15:20; 2 Chr. 16:4; by Tiglath, 2 Kin. 15:29.

  • GIBEON

    [ebd] hill-city, "one of the royal cities, greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty" (Josh. 10:2). Its inhabitants were Hivites (11:19). It lay within the territory of Benjamin, and became a priest-city (18:25; 21:17)....
    [isbe] GIBEON - gib'-e-un (gibh`on): One of the royal cities of the Hivites (Josh 9:7). It was a greater city than Ai; and its inhabitants were reputed mighty men (Josh 10:2). It fell within the territory allotted to Benjamin (Josh...

  • Diplomacy

    [nave] DIPLOMACY. 1 Cor. 9:20-23 See: Tact. Instances of Of Abimelech, Gen. 21:22, 23; 26:26-31. The Gibeonites, in securing a league with the Israelites through deception, Josh. 9:3-16. Of Jephthah, with the king of Moab, uns...

  • Women

    [nave] WOMEN Creation of, Gen. 1:27; 2:21, 22. Named, Gen. 2:23. Fall of, and curse upon, Gen. 3:1-16; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14. Promise to, Gen. 3:15. Had separate apartments in dwellings, Gen. 24:67; 31:33; Esth. 2:9, 11. Ve...

  • Tact

    [nave] TACT Prov. 15:1; 25:15. In preaching, 1 Cor. 9:19-22; 2 Cor. 12:6. Of Gideon, Judg. 8:1-3. Of Saul, in managing malcontents, 1 Sam. 10:27; 11:7, 12-15. Nabal's wife, Abigail, 1 Sam. 25:18-37. In David's popular methods:...

  • Politics

    [nave] POLITICS, statecraft. Corruption in Psa. 12:8; in the court of Ahasuerus, Esth. 3; of Darius, Dan. 6:4-15. Instances of: Absalom, electioneering for the throne, 2 Sam. 15:2-6. Pilate, condemning Jesus to gratify popular ...

  • Beth-maachah

    [nave] BETH-MAACHAH, a city of Manasseh, 2 Sam. 20:14, 15, 18; 2 Kin. 15:29.

  • Siege

    [isbe] SIEGE - sej (matsor (Dt 28:52,53; 1 Ki 15:27; 2 Ki 25:2; Isa 29:3; Ezek 4:2); "to be besieged," "to suffer siege," ba-matsor bo' (Dt 20:19; 2 Ki 24:10; 25:2)): 1. In Early Hebrew History 2. In the Monarchy 3. Preliminaries t...
    [nave] SIEGE Offer of peace must be made to the city before begiing, Deut. 20:10-12. Conducted by erecting embankments parallel to the walls of the besieged city, Deut. 20:19, 20; Isa. 29:3; 37:33. Battering-rams used in, See: Ba...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • The basic theme in Samuel, that blessing, and in particular fertility of all kinds, follows from faithful commitment to God's revealed will, continues in this section. However another major motif now becomes more prominent. W...
  • Samuel's years of being a blessing to all Israel ended at this time. David took his place as God's major channel of blessing to the nation. It is appropriate that the notice of Samuel's death occurs here since Saul had just a...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Samuel)V. David's triumphs chs. 1-8A. The beginning of David's kingdom 1:1-3:51. David's discovery of Saul and Jonathan's deaths ch. 12. David's move to Hebron 2:1-4a3. David's overtures to Jabesh-g...
  • The first 20 chapters of 2 Samuel are divisible into four units each of which ends with a list of names that is four verses long (1:1-3:5; 3:6-5:16; 5:17-8:18; 9:1-20:26).2The first two units conclude with lists of David's so...
  • "Saul the king is dead, Jonathan the heir apparent is dead, Abinadab and Malki-Shua (two of Jonathan's brothers) are dead (1 Sam 31:2), Abner the commander of the army is dead--and no other viable claimants or pretenders cont...
  • "As the story of David's accession to kingship over Judah (1:1-3:5) parallels that of his accession to the throne of Israel (3:6-5:16), each concluding with a list of his sons (3:2-5; 5:13-16), so the account of his powerful ...
  • "From the religious heights of chapter 7 we descend again to the everyday world of battles and bloodshed in chapter 8. The military action picks up where the story left off at the end of chapter 5."130Chapter 8 evidently desc...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • The story of David's kindness to Mephibosheth (ch. 9) helps to explain David's subsequent acceptance by the Benjamites. It also enables us to see that the writer returned here to events in David's early reign."It is, in my pe...
  • This is the longest literary section in the Court History of David (chs. 9-20). It records Absalom's antagonism to David that resulted in the king having to flee Jerusalem, but it ends with David's defeat of his enemy and his...
  • Maacah bore Absalom while David was reigning in Hebron (3:3). He was David's third-born. Amnon, his first-born, was also born in Hebron but by Ahinoam (3:2). Both sons may have been in their late teens or early twenties at th...
  • This is the central unit of chapters 5-20, and its central focus is the judgment that Hushai's advice was better than Ahithophel's (17:14). This advice is the pivot on which the fortunes of David swung in his dealings with Ab...
  • "In the overall structure of 15:1-20:22, the story of Absalom's death (18:1-18) provides a counterpoise to that of Shimei's curse (16:5-14 . . .). Just as in the earlier narrative an adversary of David (Shimei) curses him (vv...
  • "In the overall structure of chapters 15-20 (more precisely 15:1-20:22), the literary unit describing the return of King David' (v. 11) to Jerusalem (vv. 9-43) parallels that depicting his flight (15:13-37) caused by Absalom'...
  • "The account of Sheba's rebellion against David serves as a counterpoise to the story of Absalom's conspiracy (15:1-12) in chapters 15-20, which constitute the major part of the narrative that comprises chapters 13-20 (more p...
  • "With Joab's return to the king in Jerusalem, the grand symphony known as the Court History of David reaches its conclusion for all practical purposes (at least as far as the books of Samuel are concerned . . .). The last fou...
  • Internal references in 2 Samuel enable us to date this incident early in David's reign between Mephibosheth's arrival in Jerusalem and the beginning of the Ammonite wars. Probably God sent judgment on Israel for Saul's action...
  • Achtemeier, Paul J., and Elizabeth Achtemeier. The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979.Ackerman, James S. "Knowing Good and Evil: A Literary Ananysis of the Court History in 2 Samuel 9-20 and ...
  • The first segment of the writer's story (1:1-2:12) continues the history of Israel's monarchy where 2 Samuel ended. It records the final events in David's reign that led to Solomon's succession to the throne. It answers the q...
  • Adonijah was David's fourth son (2 Sam. 3:4) and the eldest one living at this time. Evidently he believed it was more important that the eldest son succeed David, as was customary in the Near East, than that the king of Yahw...
  • David's words here state succinctly the philosophy of history the writer of Kings set forth in this book.27It is the philosophy David had learned and now commended to his son Solomon. Careful obedience to the Law of Moses wou...
  • David had warned Solomon to keep Shimei under close observation and to put him to death (vv. 8-9). Evidently David realized because of Shimei's past actions that it would only be a matter of time before he would do something ...
  • The dissatisfaction with the rule of David's house that had been brewing for years (cf. 2 Sam. 20:1) finally boiled over.Perhaps Rehoboam sent Adoram to pacify the angry mob (v. 18). Whatever his reason, this proved to be "th...
  • 22:47-48 All the synoptic evangelists noted the close connection between Jesus' praying and the arrival of the soldiers. It was very important that Jesus pray. Judas preceded the arresting mob (Gr. ochlos, crowd) as Jesus had...
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