20:1 Now by chance a scoundrel of a man happened to be there. His name was Sheba, the son of Bicri, a Benjamite.1 He blew the horn2 and said,
20:2 So all the men of Israel left off following David and went after Sheba the son of Bicri. But the men of Judah stuck by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
20:3 Then David went to his house in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubine women that he had left to care for the palace and confined them to detention. Though he provided for their needs, he had no sexual relationship with them.4 They remained in confinement until the day of their death, living out the rest of their lives as widows.5
20:4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Call together for me the men of Judah in three days,6 and you be present here with them too.” 20:5 So Amasa went out to call Judah together. But in doing so he took longer than the time that the king had allotted to him.
20:6 Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he secure7 for himself fortified cities and get away from us.” 20:7 So Joab’s men, accompanied by the Kerethites and the Pelethites and all the warriors, went out from Jerusalem in order to pursue Sheba the son of Bicri.
20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced forward, it fell out.8
20:9 Joab said to Amasa, “How goes it, my brother?” With his right hand Joab took hold of the beard of Amasa in order to kiss him. 20:10 Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s hand, and he stabbed him in the belly with it, causing his intestines to pour out on the ground. There was no need to repeat the action; he immediately died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bicri.
20:11 One of Joab’s soldiers who stood by Amasa said, “Whoever is for9 Joab and whoever is for David, join with Joab!” 20:12 Meanwhile Amasa was squirming in the blood in the middle of the path, and this man had noticed that all the soldiers stopped. Having noticed that everyone who came on him stopped, he pulled Amasa away from the path and into the field and threw over him a garment. 20:13 Once he had removed him from the path, everyone continued with Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bicri.
20:14 Sheba10 continued through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of11 Beth Maacah and all the Berechite area. When they were consolidated together,12 they too joined him. 20:15 So they came and laid siege against him in Abel of Beth Maacah. They prepared a siege mound to the city which stood against its outer rampart. As all the soldiers who were with Joab were trying to damage13 the wall so that it would collapse, 20:16 a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen up! Listen up! Tell Joab, ‘Come nearby so that I may speak to you.’”
20:17 When he approached her, the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He replied, “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to the words of your handmaid.” He said, “Go ahead. I’m listening.” 20:18 She said, “In the past they used to say, ‘Let them inquire in Abel,’ and in this way they settled things. 20:19 I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to put to death a mother city14 in Israel. Why should you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”
20:20 Joab answered, “Get serious!15 I don’t want to swallow up or destroy anything! 20:21 That’s not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim—Sheba the son of Bicri is his name—who has lifted his hand against king David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city.” The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown over the wall to you right away!”
20:22 Then the woman wisely went to all the people, and they decapitated Sheba and threw his head out to Joab. Then he blew the horn, and they dispersed from the city, each going to his home.16 Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
20:23 Now Joab was over all the army of Israel. Benaiah the son of Jehoida was over the Kerethites and the Perethites. 20:24 Adoniram was over the forced labor. Jehosophat the son of Ahilud was the recorder. 20:25 Sheva was the scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests. 20:26 Ira the Jairite was priest to David.