2 Samuel 20:4

Joab Assassinates Amasa

4 Then the king said to Amasa, "Summon for me the men of Judah [within] three days, {and be here yourself}."

2 Samuel 20:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 20:4

Then said the king to Amasa
Whom he had promised to make general of his army, ( 2 Samuel 19:13 ) ; and by the following order declared him such:

assemble me the men of Judah within three days;
which was done by the sound of the trumpet, or by the proclamation of a herald; it seems that the men of Judah, who attended David to Jerusalem, were gone to their respective cities and places of abode, or there would have been no occasion for such a summons; though it is strange they should, when the men of Israel appeared so inclinable to a new rebellion:

and be thou here present;
to take the command of them.

2 Samuel 20:4 In-Context

2 Then all the men of Israel went up from [following] after David, [following instead] after Sheba the son of Bicri, but the men of Judah stuck to their king from the Jordan up to Jerusalem.

3 David went up to his house in Jerusalem, then the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to look after the house, and he put them {under confinement}. However, he provided for them, but {he did not sleep with them}. So they were confined until the day of their death, like a lifetime of widowhood.

4 Then the king said to Amasa, "Summon for me the men of Judah [within] three days, {and be here yourself}."

5 So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he tarried more than the appointed time which he had set for him.

6 Then David said to Abishai, "Now Sheba the son of Bicri will do us more harm than Absalom. You take the servants of your lord and pursue after him, lest he find fortified cities for himself and escape from us."

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "and you stand here"