CHAPTER 20

(1022 B.C.)

SHEBA REVOLTS AGAINST DAVID

¹And there happened to be there a man of Belial (worthless), 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.

²So 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. (The ten Tribes had come down to the Jordan to bring the king back in triumph, but, on finding that the men of Judah had forestalled them, they had a quarrel. It ended in open revolt, and they transferred their allegiance to the worthless Sheba. So David now has a great problem on his hands!)

³And 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 (these whom Absalom had desecrated). So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood (it actually meant until the day of Davids death).

JOAB MURDERS AMASA

⁴Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be you here present.

⁵So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he (David) had appointed him. (These Verses proclaim Davids intention of replacing Joab with Amasa as the military leader of Israel; however, Amasas lack of energy showed incapacity or disloyalty, for the Scripture says, He tarried longer than the set time.)

⁶And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom: take you your lords servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us.

⁷And there went out after him Joabs 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 went before them. And Joabs 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.

⁹And Joab said to Amasa, Are you in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

¹⁰But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joabs 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.

JOAB PURSUES SHEBA

¹¹And one of Joabs men stood by him, and said, He who favours Joab, and he who is for David, let him go after Joab. (It must be understood that Joabs occupation of this position is not because of fidelity to the Lord or His anointed, but because of place and position. How many today are in the Church, fulfilling particular duties, not because of love for God, but because of position, money, popularity, or self-will?)

¹²And 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 everyone who came by him 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 (those who had been following Amasa now follow Joab, showing the hold that Joab had over the army of Israel).

THE DEATH OF SHEBA

¹⁴And he went through all the Tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

¹⁵And they came and besieged him (besieged Sheba) in Abel of Beth-maachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

¹⁶Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with you.

¹⁷And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of your handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

¹⁸Then she spoke, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter (in other words, the judgment rendered in Abel was given up to be very wise).

¹⁹I am one of them who is peaceable and faithful in Israel: you seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why will you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

²⁰And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

²¹The matter is not so: but a man of Mount 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. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.

²²Then 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 (the revolt of Sheba had been quelled).

THE OFFICERS OF DAVID

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

²⁴And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:

²⁵And Sheva was Scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the Priests (both were High Priests):

²⁶And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David. (Verses 23-26 record by the Holy Spirit the restoration of Davids kingdom, but at great cost. All that had gone on before was the effort of Satan. The ordered structure under David was now recorded, despite the ungodliness of some of its participants, such as Joab, as Gods Will. How so much better off Israel would have been had they adhered to that in the beginning.

This Verse says, About David. Israel would have inserted Absalom, or even Sheba. Man, and even the church, so seldom desire Gods Ways.)