UNROLL
Dawn at Abel-beth-maacah in the far north: a small walled town on a high mound above green fields and a stream, the snowy ridge of Mount Hermon behind, under a calm, cool morning sky.

The Book of

2 Samuel 20

One worthless man blows a horn, and Israel deserts the king. One wise woman on a wall brings it to an end.

26 verses≈ 6 min5 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–4King in HebronThe house of Saul falls
  2. 5–6JerusalemThe ark comes home
  3. 7–10A house foreverGod's promise to David
  4. 11–12David's sinBathsheba and Nathan
  5. 13–20The swordAmnon, Absalom and ShebaChapter 20
  6. 21–24Last wordsSongs, heroes and an altar

Sheba’s Rebellion

Dusk on a high ridge of the hill country of Ephraim: a man seen from behind lifts a long curved ram's horn to his lips as men come out of villages on the slopes below.

Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted:

“We have no share in David,

no inheritance in Jesse’s son.

Every man to his tent,

O Israel!”

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.

0:24

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer slept with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.

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David

Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.”

So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him.

David

And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”

So Joab’s men, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, marched out of Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri.

Question

Quick question

Sheba’s revolt had begun, and David needed the men of Judah fast.

Whom did David first send to summon the men of Judah?

Midday on a dusty hill road at Gibeon: a column of fighting men rests in the shade of a huge weathered boulder, spears grounded, while a second column comes up the road toward them in a haze of dust.

And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them.

Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.

“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.

Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.

One of Joab’s young men stood near Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!” But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw that all the troops were stopping there, he dragged the body off the road into a field and threw a garment over it. As soon as Amasa’s body was removed from the road, all the men went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.

Pray

Faithful, not false

Joab greeted Amasa with “Are you well, my brother?” and a hand on his beard, while the dagger was in his hand. Pray for a heart that is loyal without treachery, whose greetings are true. Pray for anyone you know who has been betrayed by someone who called them a friend. And thank God for the true King, who never deals falsely with His people. Amen.

EphraimJordan RiverJerusalemGibeonAbel-beth-maacah

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Sheba’s flight

The men of Judah brought the king from the Jordan to Jerusalem. Joab’s men set out after Sheba, a man from the hill country of Ephraim, by way of the great stone at Gibeon, and found him far to the north at Abel-beth-maacah, below Mount Hermon, probably at Tell Abil el-Qameh. The region of the Berites is uncertain.

Sheba 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.

Abel-beth-maacah under siege, seen from far across the fields: a long earthen ramp heaped against the steep rampart below the town wall, small figures of soldiers on it and camped below, cooking smoke rising.

And 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,

The wise woman of Abel

I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?

2 Samuel 20:19

Joab

“Far be it!” Joab declared. “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! That is not the case. But a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him alone, and I will depart from the city.”

The wise woman of Abel

“Look,” the woman replied, “his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram’s horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

Reflect

Wise counsel

One woman’s calm words saved a whole city. She called herself one of “the peaceable and faithful in Israel,” and she went to her people “with her wise counsel.” Where could a wise, peaceable word from you stop a quarrel this week? Write down what you would need to say, and to whom.

Morning at the doorway of David's modest house of cut stone and cedar in Jerusalem: foreign guardsmen in feathered headdresses with round shields and spears stand watch as officials in long robes pass in.

David’s officials

The king’s court

  1. Army

    Joab over the army; Benaiah, the guard

    Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

  2. The court

    Adoram, labor; Jehoshaphat, recorder

    Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

  3. Scribe and priests

    Sheva, scribe; Zadok, Abiathar, priests

    Sheva was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

  4. Ira the Jairite, David’s priest

    and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.

You’ve experienced

2 Samuel 20

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A verse to carry with you

I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?

2 Samuel 20:19

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