2 Samuel 20:7

7 Therefore the men of Joab went out with Abishai, and (the) Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the strong men, (and they) went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri.

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 Therefore Amasa went forth, that he call together the people of Judah; and he dwelled over the covenanted time, which the king had set to him. (And so Amasa went out to call together the people of Judah; but he took more time to arrange matters than what the king had set for him.)

6 And (so) David said to Abishai, Now Sheba, the son of Bichri, shall torment us (even) more than Absalom did; therefore take the servants of thy lord (and so take my bodyguards), and pursue him, lest in hap he find strengthened, (or fortified,) cities, and escape us.

7 Therefore the men of Joab went out with Abishai, and (the) Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the strong men, (and they) went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri.

8 And when they were beside the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa came, and ran to them; and Joab was clothed with a strait coat at the measure of his shape, and he was girded above with a sword hanging down unto his entrails in a sheath; and it went out, and felled down. (And when they were beside the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa came over to them; and Joab was clothed with a narrow coat tight to his body, and he was girded with a sword in a sheath hanging down to his entrails; and as Amasa came over, it fell out/he secretly took it out.)

9 And so Joab said to Amasa, Hail, my brother! And Joab held with his right hand the chin of Amasa, as kissing him (And Joab held Amasa's chin with his right hand, as if to kiss him).