2 Samuel 20:16

16 Then ¹a wise woman called from the city, "Hear, hear! Please tell Joab, 'Come here * that I may speak with you.' "

2 Samuel 20:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 20:16

Then cried a wise woman out of the city
And such an one as the woman of Tekoah, supposed by some to be the governess of the city; but whoever she was, she well deserved the character of a wise woman; her conduct in this affair shows it: she cried with a loud voice, upon the wall of the city, to Joab's men, who were underneath battering it,

hear, hear;
which she repeated to make them hear:

say, I pray you, unto Joab, come near hither, that I may speak with
thee;
tell your general I desire to speak with him; which was wisely done, to have nothing to say but to the general himself.

2 Samuel 20:16 In-Context

14 Now he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they were gathered together and also went after him.

15 They came and besieged him in Abel Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood by the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall.

16 Then a wise woman called from the city, "Hear, hear! Please tell Joab, 'Come here that I may speak with you.' "

17 So he approached her, and the woman said, "Are you Joab?" And he answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your maidservant." And he answered, "I am listening."

18 Then she spoke, saying, "Formerly they used to say, 'They will surely ask advice at Abel,' and thus they ended the dispute.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Samuel 14:2