2 Samuel 20:12
Ver. 12. And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway,.... By which it seems, that though the wound was mortal, and of which he died, that as yet there was life in him, and through the pain he was in, and the pangs of death on him, he rolled himself about in his own blood in the high road, where the fact was committed: and when the man saw that all the people stood still; gazing at the shocking sight, and could not be prevailed upon to go on:he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field; which was adjoining to it:and cast a cloth upon him; that the body might not be seen:when he saw that everyone that came by him stood still; and so retarded the people in their march, to prevent which he took the above method, and it was a very prudent one. 2 Samuel 20:13Ver. 13. When he was removed out of the highway,.... Into the field, and covered over with a cloth, that he could not be seen:all the people went on after Joab; made no stop at all, knowing nothing of the matter, or what had happened:to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri; these were the troops that Amasa had been assembling, which followed one another after him; for Joab and Abishai, with their men, were at Gibeon first. 2 Samuel 20:14Ver. 14. And he went through all the tribes of Israel,.... That is, Sheba the son of Bichri, last mentioned, 2Sa 20:13, who passed through all the tribes of Israel to get as many to be of his party as he could, and to be proclaimed their king; or finding himself pursued, he passed on as fast as he could from place to place, through all the tribes, until at length he fixed for safety in a place later named; though Josephus {w} understands this of Joab pursuing Sheba through all the tribes of Israel with the forces under him; and to this sense the Syriac and Arabic versions, and so R. Isaiah interprets it; but the first sense is more generally received, that Sheba is meant, who passing through various tribes, cameunto Abel, and unto Bethmaachah; which were two places very near one another, if not one and the same place; since Abel is in 2Sa 20:15 called Abel of Bethmaachah, to distinguish it from any other place: it was a city that lay to the north of Israel near Syria; and from2Ki 15:29, it appears to be in the tribe of Naphtali. There was one city of this name of Abel, six miles from Philadelphia, another twelve miles from Gadara, and a third between Paneas and Damascus, which, of the three, Reland thinks {x}, is most eligible to be the place here meant; though he rather chooses to look for it in Galilee, to the west or south of Paneas, than to the east or north in the way to Damascus; and so Adrichomius {y} calls it a city of upper Galilee, sixty furlongs or seven and an half miles from Jordan; and though he also places it in the tribe of Naphtali, in the plain of the country of Berim (from whence perhaps were the Berites next mentioned), not far from Caesarea Philippi; see 1Ki 15:20;and all the Berites; the inhabitants of Beeroth, in the tribe of Benjamin, of which tribe Sheba was, they followed him hither, as in the next clause:and they were gathered together, and went also after him; unto Abel; of these, see Jos 18:25; though perhaps these Berim or Berites were nearer to Abel; or rather that was in their country, as has been observed by Adrichomius.{w} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 11. sect. 7.) {x} Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. p. 519. {y} Theatrum Terrae S. p. 101. 2 Samuel 20:15Ver. 15. And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah,.... That is, Joab and Abishai, with the forces under them, who pursued him hither:and they cast up a bank against the city; which some understand of a warlike machine or engine, with which stones were cast; but it rather seems to be a bank of earth thrown up, for the better working of such engines to more advantage against the city, by throwing from thence darts into the city, or stones against the walls of it, to batter it down; such banks were used in sieges, as that Caesar's soldiers raised in twenty five days, which was three hundred thirty feet broad, and eighty feet high {z}; Kimchi interprets this of filling up the ditches round about the city with dust and earth, and so making it level, whereby they could come the more easily to the walls and batter them, or scale them, and take the city by storm:and it stood in the trench; the army under Joab stood where the trench round the city had been, now filled up:and all the people that [were] with Joab battered the wall to throw it down; with their engines, or whatever battering instruments they had; so, often, as Hesiod {a} says, a whole city suffers for one bad man.{z} Caesar. Comment. l. 7. c. 24. {a} Opera & Dies, l. 1. ver. 236. 2 Samuel 20:16Ver. 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 20:17Ver. 17. And when he was come near unto her,.... As he did, upon the information of his men, that a woman on the wall had something to say to him:the woman said, [art] thou Joab? she was willing to be satisfied that he was really the general, before she would impart her mind to him:and he answered, I [am he]; the very person you ask after:and she said unto him, hear the words of thine handmaid; though a woman, vouchsafe to hear what I have to say:and he answered, I do hear: am ready to hear, and shall patiently and attentively hear whatever may be spoken; which was giving her leave and encouragement to proceed. 2 Samuel 20:18Ver. 18. Then she spake, saying, they were wont to speak in old time,.... It was a common saying, a proverbial expression among the ancient sages:saying, they shall surely ask [counsel] at Abel, and so they ended [the matter]. Abel, it seems, had been a city so famous for wise and prudent men, that it was common for the inhabitants of other cities, in the several parts of the kingdom, when any controversy arose among them, to say to one another, since we cannot agree this matter among ourselves, let us go to Abel, and take advice there, and leave it to their arbitration; and so they did, and things were presently brought to an issue, and happily concluded; nay, when the king had a mind to make a decree or law, as R. Isaiah observes, he used to send to Abel to know whether they would submit to it; and if they agreed to it, then he proceeded in it; for other cities followed their example, so famous was this city, and of so great account: now the woman argues from hence, that surely such a renowned city should not hastily be destroyed; but the Targum directs to another sense, and which perhaps is best, and is followed by Jarchi, Kimchi, and others, paraphrasing the words thus,"she spake, saying, I remember now what is written in the book of the law, to ask a city first, saying, (will ye make peace?) so shouldest thou have asked of Abel, will ye make peace, or receive terms of peace?''referring to the law in De 20:10; signifying, if that had been attended to as it ought (for if such methods were to be taken with Heathen cities, much more with a city of Israel, as Abel was), things would soon have been agreed and issued; had Joab upon approaching the city proposed his terms of peace, they would have immediately yielded to them, and so the matter would have ended at once; for they were a peaceable people, as it follows: though Dr. Lightfoot {b} gives another sense of these words, that Sheba and his party when they came to the city,"they at first certainly said thus, that they would ask Abel of its peace (or on whose side it was), and so they made the matter entire, or made a show of their own integrity:''by which this woman assured Joab, that the men of Abel had not invited, nor willingly received Sheba and his rebels into the city, but they had deceived them by fawning and false words, pretending only to inquire about the peace and welfare of their city.{b} Works, vol. 2. p. 367. 2 Samuel 20:19Ver. 19. I [am one of them that are] peaceable [and] faithful in Israel,.... Her meaning is, that she was of a city which consisted of peaceable and faithful men, that were peaceable among themselves, and faithful to their king, who never were concerned in any insurrection or rebellion, not in the late one under Absalom:thou seekest to destroy a city, and a mother in Israel; a metropolitan city, which had several towns and villages under its jurisdiction, which were as daughters to it. Some think she means herself, because very old, supposed {c} to be Serah, the daughter of Asher, a son of Jacob, which is improbable:wilt why thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? a city which is a part of the land, that is the Lord's inheritance.{c} Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 79. L. 2 Samuel 20:20Ver. 20. And Joab answered and said, far be it from me, far be it from me,.... He repeats these words, to show how detestable it was to him to do what she suggested:that I should swallow up or destroy; any in a violent and unrighteous manner, and especially a city of which she had given such a character for its greatness and worth, and for the peaceableness and fidelity of its inhabitants. 2 Samuel 20:21Ver. 21. The matter [is] not so,.... I am not come with the army against this city with any ill will to it, and with an intention to destroy it: the case is this,but a man of Mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name; for though he was by birth a Benjaminite, his dwelling was in Mount Ephraim in that tribe; unless there was a place of this name in the tribe of Benjamin, so called from any memorable event there, as the wood of Ephraim, 2Sa 18:6. This same man, says Joab,hath lifted up his hand against the king, [even] against David; is in rebellion against the king, even so great and good a king as David; he has lifted up his hand, and blown a trumpet to draw off men from David, and after himself; he has committed acts of hostility and treason; he has drawn his sword, and raised an insurrection and rebellion in the nation:deliver him only, and I will depart from the city: he did not desire any of his followers to be delivered up, only himself, knowing the rebellion would cease upon the delivery of him; and being unwilling that the blood of any Israelite should be shed, whom he had unawares drawn into this rebellion, and who he knew would return to their own cities upon this:and the woman said unto Joab, behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall; she knew the fright the inhabitants of the city were in, and how disposed they were to do anything to save their city; she knew what influence she had among them, and how weak Sheba's party was, and therefore could assure Joab that this should be done. 2 Samuel 20:22Ver. 22. Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom,.... Went from the wall of the city into it, and convened the principal inhabitants together, and made so wise a speech to them, and represented things in such a light, and so prudently conducted, that they unanimously agreed to her motion:and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast [it] out to Joab; whose face Joab knew full well, and was satisfied it was his head that was thrown over:and he blew a trumpet; as a sign of retreat:and they retired from the city, every man to his tent; the army under Joab broke up the siege, and departed, every man to his own city, as the Targum:and Joab returned unto Jerusalem unto the king; to give him an account of his success, and how the rebellion was crushed; and this gave him courage and boldness to appear before the king, which one would wonder else he should have, when he had killed his general in cold blood, the king had sent out, and without his leave had reassumed his post as general of the army; but he was a bold daring man, a man of blood, and hardened in sin, and had power in the army, and over David himself, that he could not do what he would with him, but was obliged to be silent, and overlook things, and even to reestablish him in his office, as appears by what follows. 2 Samuel 20:23Ver. 23. Now Joab [was] over all the host of Israel,.... Established in the post in which he formerly was; either having been never displaced, which though David thought to do, he was not able to effect it, because of his power and influence with the people; or if he had displaced him, which by some things in this chapter seemed to be the case, yet Amasa being dead, and the rebellion crushed by Joab, which still made him more haughty, and increased his popularity, David saw it most advisable to replace him; and because mention is made of him, as established in his office as general over the whole army, an account is given of the rest of David's officers; and the rather, as it was a sort of beginning his reign anew, after quelling the above rebellions:and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the Cherethites, and over the Pelethites; was continued in his post, see 2Sa 8:18. 2 Samuel 20:24Ver. 24. And Adoram [was] over the tribute,.... Or over those that collected and brought it, as the Targum; this was a new office, and which respected both the revenue he received from his own people, and the tribute brought him from the nations conquered by him:and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] recorder; who was in this office before, and now continued and established in it, 2Sa 8:16. 2 Samuel 20:25Ver. 25. And Sheva [was] scribe,.... Either the same with Benaiah, or he was dead or removed, and Sheva was put in his place, see 2Sa 8:17;and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the priests; as before;See Gill on "2Sa 8:17". 2 Samuel 20:26Ver. 26. And Ira also the Jairite,.... Which some take to be the same with Ira the Ithrite, 2Sa 23:38; a son of Jether or Ithra the Israelite, 2Sa 17:25; though others suppose he was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, 2Sa 23:26; and so the Targum here calls him Ira the Jairite, which was of Tekoah; and Tekoah being the chief place in Israel for oil olive {d}, with which the lamps were lighted, Jarchi thinks he had the name of Jairite from Jair, which signifies to enlighten; but rather he was a descendant from Jair the Gileadite, and perhaps was a great friend to David when in Gilead, and from whence he brought him and promoted him: for hewas a chief ruler about David; a prime minister, an intimate friend, the chief of his privy council; perhaps he succeeded Ahithophel; it is much we hear nothing of Hushai.{d} Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.