2 Samuel 20
2 Samuel Chapter 20, Explained
Sheba, a Benjamite, exploits the Judah and Israel quarrel and calls Israel to abandon David. David sends forces after him; on the way Joab treacherously murders Amasa, his replacement, and takes command. Joab pursues Sheba to the city of Abel and besieges it. A wise woman of the city negotiates with Joab, and to spare her town the people cut off Sheba's head and throw it over the wall, ending the revolt.
Key verses from 2 Samuel 20
“And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.”
2 Samuel 20:1
“But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’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 Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.”
2 Samuel 20:10
What happens in 2 Samuel 20
A worthless man named Sheba, a Benjamite, blows a trumpet and cries that Israel has no share in David, and the men of Israel desert the king to follow him, though Judah stays loyal. Back in Jerusalem, David shuts away the ten concubines Absalom had defiled, keeping them in seclusion. He orders Amasa to muster Judah, but when Amasa delays, David sends Abishai and Joab's men after Sheba. Meeting Amasa, Joab feigns a greeting, takes him by the beard as if to kiss him, and stabs him dead, then presses the pursuit. Joab corners Sheba in Abel of Beth-maachah and batters the wall.
A wise woman calls out, rebuking Joab for destroying a peaceable mother-city in Israel. He answers that he seeks only Sheba. She persuades the townspeople, who cut off Sheba's head and throw it over the wall. Joab blows the trumpet, the siege lifts, and he returns to Jerusalem and to command.
Where 2 Samuel 20 sits
Sheba's revolt is the immediate aftershock of the Judah and Israel jealousy that ended chapter 19; the northern discontent that fueled Absalom has not died. Joab's murder of Amasa mirrors his earlier killing of Abner, removing a rival to reclaim the command David had taken from him. The wise woman of Abel stands in a small tradition of Israelite women whose counsel saves a city, echoing the wise woman of Tekoa. The chapter closes with a list of David's restored officials.
Themes in 2 Samuel 20
One man's death spares a city. To save Abel from destruction, its people surrender the one rebel, Sheba, whose death lifts the siege from the whole town (2 Samuel 20:21, 20:22). The wise woman's bargain trades a single guilty life for the safety of many, sparing the innocent city.
Wisdom that saves. A nameless wise woman stops an army by her words, appealing to Israel's heritage and negotiating peace where swords would have leveled the city (2 Samuel 20:16, 20:19). The account honors the quiet power of wisdom to avert bloodshed that brute force would only multiply.
Ambition cloaked in a kiss. Joab greets Amasa as a brother and murders him mid-embrace (2 Samuel 20:9, 20:10), removing the rival who had taken his post. His treachery secures his command but stains it; the chapter shows raw ambition wearing the mask of friendship.
How 2 Samuel 20 points to Jesus
The wise woman of Abel saves an entire city by giving up one man to death, and the many are spared because the one is delivered. The pattern faintly echoes a truth John's Gospel states directly: the high priest Caiaphas said it was expedient that one man should die for the people, that the whole nation not perish, and John notes he unknowingly prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation. But here the logic is inverted for the gospel. At Abel a guilty rebel dies so the city lives; at Calvary the one who dies is innocent, and he gives himself willingly. The true King is not the Sheba handed over to save others, but the sinless Son who lays down his own life so that a whole people, guilty as we are, might be spared and gathered home.
A thought to carry
A city was spared because one man was given up to death. Let that turn your eyes to the far greater exchange, where the innocent King gave himself so the guilty could live. And weigh Joab's kiss: ambition can wear the face of friendship. Ask whether your warmth toward others is ever a mask for self-interest.
A prayer. Lord, one life was surrendered so a whole city might live, pointing me to your Son, who gave himself, though innocent, that the guilty might be spared. Guard me from Joab's kiss, from warmth hiding ambition, and make my love honest and true. Amen.
Want to sit with this chapter for yourself? Read all of 2 Samuel 20 in the King James Version, then open The Living Bread to ask any question about it and pray with others, free.
Questions people ask about 2 Samuel 20
How does the wise woman of Abel save her city?
When Joab besieges Abel to capture the rebel Sheba, the woman calls him to the wall, reminds him that Abel is a peaceable, faithful mother-city in Israel, and asks why he would swallow up the LORD's inheritance (2 Samuel 20:18, 20:19). Joab explains he wants only Sheba. She persuades her people to surrender the one rebel's head, and the whole city is spared. Her wisdom averts a slaughter that force alone would have caused.
Why does Joab murder Amasa?
Amasa had been Absalom's general, and David appointed him over the army in Joab's place as a gesture of reconciliation. Joab, unwilling to lose the command, greets Amasa warmly and stabs him under the guise of a kiss (2 Samuel 20:9, 20:10). It repeats his earlier treacherous killing of Abner. Joab is effective and fiercely loyal to David's cause, but ruthless and self-serving, willing to murder any rival who stands in his way.
Every chapter in 2 Samuel
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