2 Samuel 20:16

16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, "Hear, hear! Say, I pray you, unto Joab, `Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.'"

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 And Sheba went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel and to Bethmaachah and all the Berites; and they were gathered together, and went also with him.

15 And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah; and they cast up a siege 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.

16 Then cried a wise woman out of the city, "Hear, hear! Say, I pray you, unto Joab, `Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.'"

17 And when he had come near unto her, the woman said, "Art thou Joab?" And he answered, "I am he." Then she said unto him, "Hear the words of thine handmaid." And he answered, "I do hear."

18 Then she spoke, saying, "They were wont to speak in olden times, saying, `They shall surely ask counsel at Abel'; and so they ended the matter.