2 Samuel Chapter 20 · Matthew Poole

2 Samuel 20:1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. By occasion of this quarrel Sheba stirreth up Israel to sedition,

2 Samuel 20:1 ,2. David’s ten concubines are shut up in perpetual prison,

2 Samuel 20:3. Amasa is slain by Joab,

2 Samuel 20:4-10. He and Abishai pursue Sheba unto Abel,

2 Samuel 20:11-15. The citizens, by the advice of a wise woman, cut off his head, and cast it over the wall to Joab,

2 Samuel 20:16-22. David’s officers,

2 Samuel 20:23-26.

There happened to be there;

his presence was casual in itself, though certain, and ordered by God’s providence.

Man of Belial;

a lawless person, one that attempted to shake off the yoke of civil authority. See

Deu 13:13.

Benjamite;

aggrieved at the translation of the kingdom from Saul and that tribe to David.

We have no part in David:

the tribe of Judah have monopolized the king to themselves, and will not allow us any share in him; let them therefore enjoy him alone, and let us seek out a new king.

The son of Jesse;

an expression of contempt, implying their rejection of him, that he was no more to be owned as their king, but as a private person, as the son of Jesse.

Every man to his tents;

let us all desist from this unthankful office of bringing the king back, and go each to our homes, that we may consider, and then meet together to choose a new king.

2 Samuel 20:2 So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. Every man of Israel,

i.e. the generality of those Israelites who were present.

2 Samuel 20:3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. Put them in ward;

partly, because they had not vigorously opposed Absalom’s lustful desire, as they should have done, even with the hazard of their lives; and partly, lest the sight of them should renew the memory of Absalom’s filthiness, and of their own and David’s reproach, which it was fit to bury in-perpetual oblivion; and partly, because it might appear incestuous to have to do with those who had been defiled by his own son; and partly, because as David would not, so it was not now convenient that any other man should have any conjugal conversation with them.

2 Samuel 20:4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present. Assemble me the men of Judah,

and march in the head of them as their general, as I have promised thee,

2 Samuel 19:13.

Within three days;

which he supposed Amasa, having been their late general, could easily do; and the business required haste.

Be thou here

present within that time to receive orders and instructions from me.

2 Samuel 20:5 So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. Either because the people, being wearied out by the late civil war, were not forward to engage in another; or because the soldiers had more affection to Joab than to their new general, to whose ill conduct possibly they might impute their unsuccessfulness in the last battle; or because Amasa for his own interest might seek delays, to render himself more necessary and useful to the king, and to keep up his honourable and profitable employment, which is the common policy of such men.

2 Samuel 20:6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us. David said to Abishai;

not to Joab, lest by this means he should recover his place, and Amasa be discontented, and David’s fidelity in making good his promise to Amasa be questioned.

Thy lord’s servants,

i.e. my guards that attend upon my person, and the other soldiers who are now present with me. He speaks of himself in the third person, as is very frequent. For it is not probable he would now call Joab his lord, whom he had lately deposed; nor Amasa, who had not yet taken actual possession of his place, nor had the command over the king’s guards.

2 Samuel 20:7 And there 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. Joab’s men;

the remainders of Joab’s army who were there present, with whom also Joab might go as a reformade, watching an opportunity to do what he designed. Of the Cherethites and the Pelethites,

See Poole on " 2 Samuel 8:18 ".

2 Samuel 20:8 When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out. Amasa went before them;

having gathered some forces, and given due orders for the rest to follow him, he returned to Jerusalem, and by the king’s command went after those mentioned

2 Samuel 20:7; and being come up to them at the place where they waited for him, he put himself into the head of Joab’s men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and such as he had brought along with him, and marched before them as their chief and general.

Girded unto him,

after the manner of travellers and soldiers.

As he went forth

to meet and salute Amasa, who was coming towards him to do him honour.

It fell out;

things having (it is likely) been so contrived by Joab, that upon the least motion of his body his sword should drop out, and he might take it up without raising Amasa’s suspicion.

2 Samuel 20:9 And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. As the manner of ancient times was, when they kissed and saluted one another.

2 Samuel 20:10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib , and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. The sword that was in Joab’s hand;

which falling out, as it seemed, casually, he supposed that Joab intended only to put it into its scabbard, and therefore took no care to defend himself against the stroke.

In the fifth rib: See Poole on " 2 Samuel 2:23 ". Struck him not again; he despatched him at one stroke, or gave him his death’s wound at the first blow, and needed not to smite him again.

Joab

now boldly resumed his former place, and marched in the head of the army. It is not strange that Amasa’s soldiers did not fight to revenge his death; partly because not many of them were yet come up, but came by degrees, as the following verses show; and partly because Joab’s interest and authority with the military men was very great, especially with David’s guards, who were here present, and who had no kindness for Amasa, as having been the general of the rebellious army; and, as they might think, was not fit to be put into a place of so great power and trust.

2 Samuel 20:11 And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go after Joab. One of Joab’s men,

left there on purpose to deliver the following message.

He that favoureth Joab;

he that would have Joab to be general, rather than such a perfidious rebel and traitor as Amasa.

He that is for David;

he that wisheth David good success against Sheba, and against all rebels; whereby he implies that though this fact of his was done against the king’s command, yet it was for his interest and defence.

2 Samuel 20:12 And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still. Wallowed,

Heb.

rolled himself, being in the pangs of death; yet having so much life left as to move himself a little, though not to raise himself up from his place.

In blood;

in his own blood, which was shed there.

All the people,

to wit, the soldiers which were upon their march.

Stood still;

wondering at the spectacle, and inquiring into the author and occasion of it.

He removed Amasa out of the highway into the field;

perceiving that it both incensed them against Joab, and hindered the king’s present service.

2 Samuel 20:13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. No text from Poole on this verse.

2 Samuel 20:14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him. He went;

either,

1. Joab, who pursued Sheba through all the tribes as far as Abel. Or rather,

2. Sheba, who was last mentioned, who marched from tribe to tribe to stir them up to sedition; and to him the following words seem best to agree.

Unto Abel, and to Beth-aachah,

or rather,

to Abel, even to Beth-maachah, i.e. unto

Abel-beth-maachah, as this place is called here in the Hebrew text,

2 Samuel 20:15 1 Kings 15:20 2 Kings 15:29, to distinguish it from other Abels; and to signify that this was that Abel which was in the tribe of Naphtali in the northern border of Canaan, towards that part of Syria called

Maachah,

2 Samuel 10:8.

The Berites;

such as lived in the city or territory of Beeroth of Benjamin,

Joshua 18:25, who being of the same tribe, if not city, with Sheba, and his greatest acquaintance and friends, or being most implacable against David, adhered to Sheba, and followed him through all the tribes of Israel.

They were gathered together,

to wit, the tribes of Israel, i. e. a considerable number of them; as might well be expected, when the discontents were so high and general.

After him,

i.e. after Sheba.

2 Samuel 20:15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. They came,

i.e. Joab and his army, which is easily understood, both from the foregoing and following verses.

They cast up a bank;

from whence they might either batter the wall, or shoot at those who defended it against them who should assault it. See

2 Kings 19:32 Jeremiah 32:24 33:4. Otherwise,

they threw down the bank of the city, which they had raised up to defend the city on the weakest side.

It stood in the trench,

i.e. the bank stood in or near to the trench, or wall of the city; so that the city was in great danger of being taken. Otherwise, the city stood within the trench, or wall, being defended only by a single trench, or a weak wall; the bank which was raised up there to defend it being thrown down.

2 Samuel 20:16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. No text from Poole on this verse.

2 Samuel 20:17 And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he . Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. No text from Poole on this verse.

2 Samuel 20:18 Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter . According to this translation the sense is, This city which thou art about to destroy is no mean and contemptible one, but so honourable and considerable for its wisdom, and the wise people in it, that when any differences did arise among any of the neighbours, they used proverbially to say,

We will ask the opinion and advice of the men of Abel about it, and we will stand to their arbitration; and so all parties were satisfied, and disputes ended. But there is another translation in the margin, embraced also by some others, which seems to be the best:

They

(i. e. the citizens of this city)

plainly

(or,

commonly) spake (among themselves)

in the beginning, (to wit, when Sheba and his men first came into the city, and they were informed, that Joab was pursuing him,)

saying, Surely they will ask of Abel, and so make an end. They will peaceably expostulate the business with us, and inquire why we received Sheba into our city; and whether we would deliver him up into their hands, and would inform us of the reason of their hostile attempt upon us, and offer to us conditions of peace, which by God’s law,

Deu 20:10, they were to do even to strange, and much more to Israelitish cities. So she doth both modestly reprove Joab for the neglect of this duty, and oblige him to the performance of it.

2 Samuel 20:19 I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? Or, I (to wit, the city of Abel, in whose name and person she speaks this) am one of the

peaceable and faithful

cities of Israel. Whatsoever Sheba may design, whom we have innocently received into our city before we well understood the matter, we of this city abhor the thoughts of warring and rebelling against the king, as having had no hand in Absalom’s late rebellion: which is probable enough, considering both their situation in the utmost borders of the land, very remote from the seat of that civil war; and their open profession of their peaceableness and fidelity or loyalty to the king; which had been impudent if they had been so lately involved in the last war and rebellion.

A city and a mother,

i.e. a mother; for great cities are commonly called mothers; as lesser towns or villages subject to them, and depending upon them for direction and defence, are called their daughters, as

Ezekiel 16:27 ,46.

The inheritance of the Lord,

i.e. a considerable part of that land which God hath chosen for his peculiar possession. The destruction which thou art about to bring upon us is an injury also to Israel, and to the God of Israel.

2 Samuel 20:20 And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. A man of Mount Ephraim.

Quest.

How can this be so when he is called a Benjamite,

2 Samuel 20:1?

Answ,

Either he was a Benjamite by birth, but dwelt in the tribe of Ephraim, as many did upon several occasions dwell out of their own tribes; or Mount Ephraim was a place in Benjamin, which might be so called, either because it was upon the borders of Ephraim, and looked towards it; or from some notable action or event of the Ephraimites in that place. Compare

2 Samuel 18:6.

Hath lift up his hand, i.e. taken up arms, or raised rebellion.

His head shall be thrown, to thee over the wall; which she undertook, because she knew the present temper and great fears of the citizens, and soldiers too; and that considering their evident and extreme danger, they were generally desirous of peace, from which they were restrained only by Sheba’s authority and interest; and therefore did not doubt by God’s blessing upon her wise counsel to effect it, as indeed she did. And it is not unlikely that this woman might be a governess in that city for though this office was commonly performed by men, yet were not the women wholly excluded, but sometimes employed in the government; as we see in Deborah, who judged Israel,

Judges 4:4; and queen Athaliah,

2Ki 11.

2 Samuel 20:21 The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. A man of Mount Ephraim.

Quest.

How can this be so when he is called a Benjamite,

2 Samuel 20:1?

Answ. Either he was a Benjamite by birth, but dwelt in the tribe of Ephraim, as many did upon several occasions dwell out of their own tribes; or Mount Ephraim was a place in Benjamin, which might be so called, either because it was upon the borders of Ephraim, and looked towards it; or from some notable action or event of the Ephraimites in that place. Compare

1 Samuel 18:6.

Hath lift up his hand,

i.e. taken up arms, or raised rebellion.

His head shall be thrown,

to thee over the wall; which she undertook, because she knew the present temper and great fears of the citizens, and soldiers too; and that considering their evident and extreme danger, they were generally desirous of peace, from which they were restrained only by Sheba’s authority and interest; and therefore did not doubt by God’s blessing upon her wise counsel to effect it, as indeed she did. And it is not unlikely that this woman might be a governess in that city for though this office was commonly performed by men, yet were not the women wholly excluded, but sometimes employed in the government; as we see in Deborah, who judged Israel,

Judges 4:4; and queen Athaliah,

2Ki 11.

2 Samuel 20:22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king. In her wisdom

prudently treated with them about it, either severally or jointly, as she saw fit; representing to them the certainty and nearness of all their ruin, if they did not speedily comply with her desires, and certain deliverance if they did.

They retired;

Joab and his army which besieged them.

2 Samuel 20:23 Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites: Joab was over all the host of Israel:

the good success of this and of the former expedition, under the conduct of Joab, had so fixed his interest in the army, and others of David’s fastest friends, that the king could not without danger to the public weal displace him.

2 Samuel 20:24 And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder: Over the tribute;

the receiver and manager of the king’s public revenue.

See Poole on " 1 Kings 4:6 ".

Jehoshaphat was recorder: See Poole on " 2 Samuel 8:16 ".

2 Samuel 20:25 And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests: No text from Poole on this verse.

2 Samuel 20:26 And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David. The Jairite;

so called from his birth or dwelling in the country of Jair in Gilead,

Numbers 32:41 Judges 10:4.

A chief ruler;

either the president of the king’s council; or his chief minister (as the Hebrew word

cohen

signifies) of state, instead of Ahithophel; or in some other very high place near the king’s person. Compare

2 Samuel 8:18, where this title is given to David’s sons, the chief of which were now cut off. And these things are here repeated with some alteration to show that David was now fully re-established in his former estate.