2 Samuel 20:7

7 So Abishai and Joab, together with the king’s bodyguard and all the mighty warriors, set out from Jerusalem to go after Sheba.

2 Samuel 20:7 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 20:7

And there went out after him Joab's men
Who though he was removed from his post as general, yet might still have the command of a regiment:

and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites;
over whom Benaiah was, ( 2 Samuel 20:23 ) ; these attended David in his flight, and had now returned with him, ( 2 Samuel 15:18 ) ;

and all the mighty men;
the military men that were at Jerusalem as many as could be spared:

and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri;
with Abishai at the head of them; Josephus ^F17 says there were six hundred, besides the soldiers at Jerusalem that went on this pursuit.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 11. sect. 7.

2 Samuel 20:7 In-Context

5 So Amasa went out to notify Judah, but it took him longer than the time he had been given.

6 Then David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bicri is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my troops and chase after him before he gets into a fortified town where we can’t reach him.”

7 So Abishai and Joab, together with the king’s bodyguard and all the mighty warriors, set out from Jerusalem to go after Sheba.

8 As they arrived at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa met them. Joab was wearing his military tunic with a dagger strapped to his belt. As he stepped forward to greet Amasa, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.

9 “How are you, my cousin?” Joab said and took him by the beard with his right hand as though to kiss him.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew So Joab’s men.
• [b] Hebrew the Kerethites and Pelethites; also in 20:23 .