Bible Study 2 Samuel 20
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2 Samuel 20 · WEB

Sheba's Rebellion; Joab Kills Amasa; Sheba Beheaded at Abel Beth-maacah

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There happened to be there a worthless fellow whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet and said, "We have no portion in David, neither do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to his tents, Israel!"
2So all the men of Israel went up from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah joined their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
3David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to keep the house and put them in a house of seclusion and provided for them, but didn't go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4Then the king said to Amasa, "Call me together the men of Judah within three days, and be here present."
5So Amasa went to call together the men of Judah; but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him.
6David said to Abishai, "Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. You take your lord's servants and pursue after him, lest he get himself fortified cities and escape out of our sight."
7There went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men; and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
8When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was clothed in his military clothing, and on it was a sash with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hip; and as he went forward, it fell out.
9Joab said to Amasa, "Is it well with you, my brother?" Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
10But Amasa didn't notice the sword that was in Joab's hand. He struck him in the body with it and shed out his bowels to the ground, and he didn't strike him again; and he died. Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.
11One of Joab's young men stood by him and said, "Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!"
12Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. When the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came by stood still.
13When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
14He went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth-maacah and all the Berites; and they were gathered together and went also after him.
15They came and besieged him in Abel Beth-maacah and cast up a bank against the city; and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were battering the wall to throw it down.
16Then a wise woman cried out of the city, "Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, 'Come near here, that I may speak with you.'"
17He came near to her, and the woman said, "Are you Joab?" He answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Hear the words of your servant." He answered, "I do hear."
18Then she spoke, saying, "They used to speak in old times, saying, 'They shall surely ask counsel at Abel;' and so they ended every matter.
19I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the inheritance of Yahweh?"
20Joab answered, "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy!
21The matter is not so. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city." The woman said to Joab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall."
22Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet and they dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
23Now Joab was over all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites;
24and Adoram was over the men subject to forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
25and Sheva was scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
26and Ira the Jairite was also David's priest.
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Summary

The tribal tension from chapter 19 immediately ignites: a Benjaminite named Sheba blows the trumpet of secession and draws all of northern Israel away from David. Before David can deploy Amasa with the Judean forces, Joab murders him treacherously at Gibeon — in cold blood, with a staged kiss — eliminating the rival David had appointed in his place. Joab then pursues Sheba north to Abel Beth-maacah, where a wise woman negotiates the city's salvation by persuading her townspeople to throw Sheba's severed head over the wall. The chapter closes with a list of David's administrative officials — a sign of a restored but chastened kingdom.

Themes

  • The fragility of political unity — how quickly victory turns to new crisis
  • Joab's ruthless self-preservation: a man indispensable and uncontrollable
  • Wisdom in conflict — the unnamed woman of Abel saves a city through negotiation
  • The pattern of violence within David's reign that cannot be fully resolved

Key verses

  • 2 Sam 20:1 — “We have no portion in David, neither do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to his tents, Israel!”
  • 2 Sam 20:10 — “But Amasa didn't notice the sword that was in Joab's hand. He struck him in the body with it and shed out his bowels to the ground.”
  • 2 Sam 20:22 — “Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab.”

Context & background

Abel Beth-maacah (v. 14-15) was a fortified city in the far north of Israel, near the sources of the Jordan River — identified with modern Tell Abil el-Qamh (Arabic: Abil el-Qameh), near the modern Israeli town of Metula, close to the Lebanese border in northern Israel. It was known in ancient tradition as a center of wise counsel ("They shall surely ask counsel at Abel," v. 18). Gibeon (modern El-Jib, West Bank, about 9 km northwest of Jerusalem) was the site of Amasa's murder at "the great stone." The description of Joab's sword "falling out" as he approached Amasa (v. 8-9) suggests the gesture was premeditated — a staged accident to create an opportunity to strike. Joab's murder of Amasa was the third killing by Joab that David explicitly condemned (Abner in ch. 3, Absalom in ch. 18, Amasa here) — all cited on David's deathbed in 1 Kings 2:5-6.

Cross-references

  • 1 Kings 2:5-6 — David on his deathbed instructs Solomon to bring Joab to justice for Abner and Amasa
  • 2 Sam 19:13 — David appointed Amasa as commander over Joab, which Joab now nullifies by murder
  • 2 Sam 3:26-30 — Joab's earlier assassination of Abner — the same pattern of a staged greeting concealing a lethal blow
  • Judges 9:53 — Another wise woman throws something from a wall to end a siege: Abimelech killed by a millstone
  • Proverbs 11:14 — "Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls; but in the multitude of counselors there is victory" — the wise woman of Abel embodies this

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  1. Observe

    How did Joab kill Amasa, and what suggests premeditation?

  2. Observe

    How did the wise woman of Abel resolve the siege?

  3. Interpret

    What does David's continued use of Joab — a three-time murderer of men David cared about — reveal?

  4. Interpret

    What does the pattern of unnamed wise women in the David narrative suggest?

  5. Apply

    What does Sheba's trumpet-and-slogan rebellion warn us about?

  6. Apply

    What does the wise woman of Abel model about handling conflict?

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