2 Samuel 20

1 And it happened that there was, in that place, a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a man of Benjamin. And he sounded the trumpet, and he said: “There is no portion for us in David, nor any inheritance in the son of Jesse. Return to your own tents, O Israel.”

There was a man there [at Gilgal] named Sheba. He was a man who always caused trouble. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was the son of Bichri. He blew a trumpet and called out, “We have nothing to do with [DOU] David, that son of Jesse! So, men of Israel, let’s go to our homes!”

2 And all of Israel separated from David, and they were following Sheba, the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah clung to their king, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem.

So all the men from the other Israeli tribes deserted David and went with Sheba, but the men of Judah stayed with David. They wanted him to be their king, and went with him from near the Jordan [River] up to Jerusalem.

3 And when the king had entered his house at Jerusalem, he took the ten women concubines, whom he had left behind to care for the house, and he put them into custody, allowing them provisions. But he did not enter to them. Instead, they were enclosed, even until the day of their deaths, living as widows.

When David arrived at the palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten slave wives whom he had left there to take care of the palace and put them in another house. He put a guard at that house, and he provided for them what they needed, but he never had sexual relations [EUP] with them again. So they remained shut up in their house until they died. It was as though they were widows.

4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon to me all the men of Judah on the third day, and you shall be present also.”

[One day] the king said to Amasa, “Summon the soldiers of Judah to come here within three days, and you be here also.”

5 Therefore, Amasa went away, so that he might summon Judah. But he delayed beyond the agreed time that the king had appointed to him.

So Amasa went to summon them, but he did not return within the time that David told him to.

6 And David said to Abishai: “Now Sheba, the son of Bichri, will afflict us more so than Absalom did. Therefore, take the servants of your lord, and pursue him, otherwise he may find fortified cities, and escape from us.”

So David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba will harm us more than Absalom did. So you take my soldiers and pursue him. If you do not do that, he and his soldiers may occupy/capture some of the (fortified towns/towns that have walls around them), and escape from us. [IDM]”

7 And so, the men of Joab departed with him, along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And all the able-bodied men went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri.

So Abishai [and Joab] and the king’s bodyguards and the other soldiers left Jerusalem, to pursue Sheba.

8 And when they were beside the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a close-fitting coat of equal length with his garment. And over these, he was girded with a sword hanging down to his thigh, in a scabbard which was made so that the sword could be removed with the least motion, and then strike.

When they arrived at the huge rock in [the] Gibeah [region], Amasa met them. Joab was wearing a soldier’s uniform. He had a dagger/long knife fastened to his belt. When he came close [to Amasa, he allowed] the dagger [to] fall on the ground.

9 Then Joab said to Amasa, “Be well, my brother.” And he held Amasa by the chin with his right hand, as if to kiss him.

Joab said to Amasa, “Are things going well with you, my friend?” Then Joab grabbed Amasa’s beard with his right hand, in order to kiss him.

10 But Amasa did not notice the sword that Joab had. And he struck him in the side, and his intestines poured out to the ground. And he did not inflict a second wound, and he died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba, the son of Bichri.

But Amasa did not see that Joab was holding [another] dagger in his [other] hand. And Joab stabbed it into Amasa’s belly, and his insides spilled out onto the ground. Amasa died [immediately]; Joab did not need to stab him again. Then Joab and his brother Abishai continued to pursue Sheba.

11 Meanwhile, certain men, from the company of Joab, when they had stopped beside the dead body of Amasa, said: “Behold, the one who wished to be in the place of Joab, the companion of David.”

One of Joab’s soldiers stood alongside Amasa’s body and called out, “Everyone who wants Joab [to be our commander] and who wants David [to be our king], go with Joab!”

12 Now Amasa was covered with blood, and was lying in the middle of the road. A certain man saw this, with all the people standing nearby to look at him, and he removed Amasa from the road into a field. And he covered him with a garment, so that those passing by would not stop because of him.

Amasa’s body was lying on the road. It was covered with blood. The soldier of Joab [who had called out] saw that many others of Joab’s soldiers were stopping [to see it], so he dragged Amasa’s body off the road into a field, and threw a cloth/blanket over the body.

13 Then, when he had been removed from the road, all the men continued on, following Joab in the pursuit of Sheba, the son of Bichri.

After the body had been taken off the road, all the soldiers went with Joab to pursue Sheba.

14 Now he had passed through all the tribes of Israel into Abel and Bethmaacah. And all the elect men had gathered together to him.

Sheba went through all the tribes of Israel, and arrived at Abel-Beth-Maacah [town in the northern part of Israel]. There, all the members of [his father] Bichri’s clan gathered, and went with Sheba into the town.

15 And so, they went and besieged him at Abel and Bethmaacah. And they surrounded the city with siege works, and the city was blockaded. Then the entire crowd who were with Joab strove to destroy the walls.

The soldiers who were with Joab [found out that Sheba had gone there, so they] went there and surrounded the town. They built a dirt ramp up against the town wall. They also pounded against the wall [with heavy poles], to cause it to collapse.

16 And a wise woman exclaimed from the city: “Listen, listen, and say to Joab: Draw near, and I will speak with you.”

Then a wise woman who was in that town [stood on the top of the wall and] shouted down, “Listen to me! Tell Joab to come here, because I want to talk to him!”

17 And when he had drawn near to her, she said to him, “Are you Joab?” And he responded, “I am.” And she spoke in this way to him, “Listen to the words of your handmaid.” He responded, “I am listening.”

So [after they told Joab], he came there, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He replied, “Yes, I am.” She said to him, “Listen to what I say.” He replied, “I am listening.”

18 And again she spoke: “A word was said in the old proverb, ‘Those who would inquire, let them inquire in Abel.’ And so they would reach a conclusion.

She said, “Long ago people used to say, ‘Go to Abel [town] to get good advice about your problems.’ And that is what people did.

19 Am I not the one who responds with the truth in Israel? And yet you are seeking to overthrow the city, and to overturn a mother in Israel! Why would you cast down the inheritance of the Lord?”

We are peaceful and loyal Israelis. Our people here are important and respected [IDM]. So (why are you trying to destroy a town that belongs to Yahweh?/you should not be trying to destroy a town that belongs to Yahweh.)” [RHQ]

20 And responding, Joab said: “May this be far, may this be far from me! May I not cast down, and may I not demolish.

Job replied, “I would certainly never want to ruin or destroy your town!

21 The matter is not as you said. Rather, a man from mount Ephraim, Sheba, the son of Bichri, by name, has lifted up his hand against king David. Deliver him alone, and we will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown down to you from the wall.’

That is not what we want to do. But Bichri’s son Sheba, a man from the hilly area in the tribe of Ephraim, is rebelling against King David. Put this man into our hands, and then we will (go away from/not attack) this town.” The woman replied to Joab, “Okay, what we will do is, we will [cut off] his head [and] throw it over the wall to you.”

22 Therefore, she entered to all the people, and she spoke to them wisely. And they cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, and they threw it down to Joab. And he sounded the trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, each one to his own tent. But Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

Then this wise woman went to the elders of the town and told them what she had said to Joab. So they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it over the wall to Joab. Then Joab blew his trumpet [to signal that the battle was ended], and all his soldiers left the town and returned to their homes. And Joab returned to Jerusalem and told the king [what had happened].

23 Thus Joab was over the entire army of Israel. And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cerethites and Phelethites.

Joab was the commander of the entire Israeli army. Jehoiada’s son Benaiah was the commander of David’s bodyguards;

24 Yet truly, Adoram was over the tributes. And Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the keeper of records.

Adoram supervised the men who were forced to work [for the king]; Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was the man who reported [to the people everything that David decided];

25 Now Sheva was the scribe. And truly Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.

Sheva was the official secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests;

26 But Ira, the Jairite, was the priest of David.

and Ira from Jair [town] was also one of David’s priests.