2 Samuel 20:1

Sheba’s Rebellion

20:1 Now a wicked man ¹  named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjaminite, ²  happened to be there. He blew the trumpet ³  and said,

“We have no share in David;

we have no inheritance in this son of Jesse!

Every man go home, ⁴  O Israel!”

2 Samuel 10:6

10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, ⁵  they ⁶  sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, ⁷  in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 19:43

19:43 The men of Israel replied to the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want ⁹  to curse us? Weren’t we the first to suggest bringing back our king?” But the comments of the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 20:21

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 ¹⁰  against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city.” The woman said to Joab, “This very minute ¹¹  his head will be thrown over the wall to you!”

[20:1]  ¹ tn Heb “a man of worthlessness.”

[20:1]  ² tn The expression used here יְמִינִי (yÿmini) is a short form of the more common “Benjamin.” It appears elsewhere in 1 Sam 9:4 and Esth 2:5. Cf. 1 Sam 9:1.

[20:1]  ³ tn Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet). So also v. 22.

[20:1]  ⁴ tc The MT reads לְאֹהָלָיו (lÿ’ohalav, “to his tents”). For a similar idiom, see 19:9. An ancient scribal tradition understands the reading to be לְאלֹהָיו (le’lohav, “to his gods”). The word is a tiqqun sopherim, and the scribes indicate that they changed the word from “gods” to “tents” so as to soften its theological implications. In a consonantal Hebrew text the change involved only the metathesis of two letters.

[10:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”

[10:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Ammonites.”

[10:6]  ⁷ tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”

[10:6]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.

[19:43]  ⁹ tn The translation understands the verb in a desiderative sense, indicating the desire but not necessarily the completed action of the party in question. It is possible, however, that the verb should be given the more common sense of accomplished action, in which case it means here “Why have you cursed us?”

[20:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “lifted his hand.”

[20:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Look!”