2 Samuel 20

1 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!”

And there happened to be a man of worthlessness there, and his name [is] Sheba, son of Bichri, a Benjamite, and he blows with a horn and says, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; each [goes] to his tents, O Israel.”

2 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.

And every man of Israel goes up from after David, after Sheba son of Bichri, and the men of Judah have cleaved to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

3 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.

And David comes to his house at Jerusalem. And the king takes the ten women-concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and puts them in a house of ward and sustains them, and he has not gone in to them, and they are shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

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

And the king says to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah for me [within] three days, and you, stand here,”

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

and Amasa goes to call Judah, and tarries beyond the appointed time that he had appointed him;

6 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]”

and David says to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bichri does evil to us more than Absalom; you, take the servants of your lord, and pursue after him, lest he has found fortified cities for himself, and delivered himself [from] our eye.”

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

And the men of Joab go out after him, and the Cherethite, and the Pelethite, and all the mighty men, and they go out from Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri;

8 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.

they [are] near the great stone that [is] in Gibeon, and Amasa has gone before them, and Joab [is] girded; he has put his long robe on him, and on it a girdle—a sword [is] fastened on his loins in its sheath; and he has gone out, and it falls.

9 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.

And Joab says to Amasa, “Are you [in] peace, my brother?” And the right hand of Joab lays hold on the beard of Amasa to give a kiss to him;

10 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.

and Amasa has not been watchful of the sword that [is] in the hand of Joab, and he strikes him with it to the fifth [rib], and sheds out his bowels to the earth, and he has not repeated [it] to him, and he dies; and Joab and his brother Abishai have pursued after Sheba son of Bichri.

11 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!”

And a man has stood by him, of the young men of Joab, and says, “He who has delight in Joab, and he who [is] for David—after Joab!”

12 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.

And Amasa is rolling himself in blood, in the midst of the highway, and the man sees that all the people have stood still, and he brings around Amasa out of the highway to the field, and casts a garment over him when he has seen that everyone who has come by him has stood still.

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

When he has been removed out of the highway, every man has passed on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba son of Bichri.

14 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.

And he passes over through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth-Maachah, and to all the Berites, and they are assembled, and also go in after him,

15 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.

and they go in and lay siege against him, in Abel of Beth-Maachah, and cast up a mound against the city, and it stands in a trench, and all the people who are [are] with Joab are destroying, to cause the wall to fall.

16 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!”

And a wise woman calls out of the city, “Hear! Hear! Please say to Joab, Come near here, and I speak to you.”

17 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.”

And he comes near to her, and the woman says, “Are you Joab?” And he says, “I [am].” And she says to him, “Hear the words of your handmaid”; and he says, “I am hearing.”

18 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.

And she speaks, saying, “They spoke often in former times, saying, Let them diligently inquire at Abel, and so they finished.

19 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]

I [am] of the peaceable, faithful ones of Israel; you are seeking to destroy a city and mother in Israel; why do you swallow up the inheritance of YHWH?”

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

And Joab answers and says, “Far be it—far be it from me; I do not swallow up nor destroy.

21 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.”

The matter [is] not so; for a man of the hill-country of Ephraim—Sheba son of Bichri [is] his name—has lifted up his hand against the king, against David; give him up by himself, and I go away from the city.” And the woman says to Joab, “Behold, his head is cast to you over the wall.”

22 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].

And the woman comes to all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast [it] to Joab, and he blows with a horn, and they are scattered from the city, each [goes] to his tents, and Joab has turned back to Jerusalem to the king.

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

And Joab [is] over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada [is] over the Cherethite, and over the Pelethite,

24 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];

and Adoram [is] over the tribute, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud [is] the remembrancer,

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

and Sheva [is] scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar [are] priests,

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

and also, Ira the Jairite has been minister to David.