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2 Shamu'al 20

2 Shamu'al chapter 20 in the Qadmoni reader. Read the full chapter text with direct verse references and continue into the interactive reader.

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20:1

The Rebellion of Sheba and the Treason of Yoab

And there happened to be there a man of Beliyaal, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Binyamiynite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, "We have no part in Dawid, neither have we inheritance in the son of Yishai: every man to his tents, O Yashar'al."
20:2
So every man of Yashar'al went up from after Dawid, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Yahudah clave unto their king, from Yardan even to Yarushalayim.
20:3

The Quarantine of the Defiled Concubines

And Dawid came to his house at Yarushalayim; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.
20:4

The Commission of Amasa

Then said the king to Amasa, "Assemble me the men of Yahudah within three days, and be thou here present."
20:5
So Amasa went to assemble the men of Yahudah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.
20:6

The Deployment of the Mighty Men

And Dawid said to Abishai, "Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Abshalum: take thou thy adun's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us."
20:7
And there went out after him Yoab's men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Yarushalayim, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:8

The Assassination at Gibeon

When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Yoab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.
20:9
And Yoab said to Amasa, "Art thou in health, my brother?" And Yoab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
20:10
But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Yoab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Yoab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:11

The Rally of the Host

And one of Yoab's men stood by him, and said, "He that favoreth Yoab, and he that is for Dawid, let him go after Yoab."
20:12
And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.
20:13
When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Yoab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
20:14

The Siege of Habal Beth-maachah

And he went through all the tribes of Yashar'al unto Habal, and to Beth-maachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.
20:15
And they came and besieged him in Habal of Beth-maachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Yoab battered the wall, to throw it down.
20:16

The Wisdom of the Mother City

Then cried a wise woman out of the city, "Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Yoab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee."
20:17
And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, "Art thou Yoab?" And he answered, "I am he." Then she said unto him, "Hear the words of thine handmaid." And he answered, "I do hear."
20:18
Then she spake, saying, "They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Habal: and so they ended the matter."
20:19
"I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Yashar'al: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Yashar'al: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄?"
20:20

The Surgical Strike of Justice

And Yoab answered and said, "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy."
20:21
"The matter is not so: but a man of mount Aphrayiym, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against Dawid: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city." And the woman said unto Yoab, "Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall."
20:22
Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Yoab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Yoab returned to Yarushalayim unto the king.
20:23

The Restored Cabinet of the Scepter

Now Yoab was over all the host of Yashar'al: and Benaiah the son of Yehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:
20:24
And Adoram was over the tribute: and Yahushaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:
20:25
And Sheva was scribe: and Tzadok and Abiathar were the priests:
20:26
And Ira also the Yairite was a chief ruler about Dawid.