2 Samuel 20:20-26

20 And Joab answereth and saith, `Far be it -- far be it from me; I do not swallow up nor destroy.

21 The matter [is] not so; for a man of the hill-country of Ephraim -- Sheba son of Bichri his name -- hath lifted up his hand against the king, against David; give ye up him by himself, and I go away from the city.' And the woman saith unto Joab, `Lo, his head is cast unto thee over the wall.'

22 And the woman cometh unto all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and cast [it] unto Joab, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and they are scattered from the city, each to his tents, and Joab hath turned back to Jerusalem unto the king.

23 And Joab [is] over all the host of Israel, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada [is] over the Cherethite, and over the Pelethite,

24 and Adoram [is] over the tribute, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud [is] the remembrancer,

25 and Sheva [is] scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar [are] priests,

26 and also, Ira the Jairite hath been minister to David.

2 Samuel 20:20-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 20

This chapter gives an account of a new rebellion raised by Sheba, 2Sa 20:1,2; of David's shutting up his concubines unto the day of their death, whom Absalom had lain with, 2Sa 20:3; of Amasa being ordered to assemble the men of Judah to crush the rebellion, but being dilatory, Abishai is sent out with David's servants, and was followed by Joab with the men under him, 2Sa 20:4-7; and of the murder of Amasa by Joab, 2Sa 20:8-13; and of Sheba being shut up in the city Abel, 2Sa 20:14,15; whose head, by the means of a wise woman, was delivered to Joab, and so an end was put to the rebellion, 2Sa 20:16-22; and, lastly, of the chief officers in David's camp and court, 2Sa 20:23-26.