2 Samuel 20:6

_AND DAVID SAID TO ABISHAI, NOW SHALL SHEBA THE SON OF BICHRI DO US MORE HARM THAN DID ABSALOM: TAKE THOU THY LORD'S SERVANTS, AND PURSUE AFTER HIM, LEST HE GET HIM FENCED CITIES, AND ESCAPE US._ David said to Abishai ... take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he ... escape us, х_ HATSIYL_ (H5337) _ `EEYNEENUW_ (H5869), turn away our eyes - i:e., elude our sight; Septuagint, skiasei tous ofthalmous heemoon]....

4-13 Joab barbarously murdered Amasa. The more plot there is in a sin, the worse it is. Joab contentedly sacrificed the interest both of the king and the kingdom to his personal revenge. But one would wonder with what face a murderer could pursue a traitor; and how, under such a load of guilt, he had courage to enter upon danger: his conscience was seared....

TO ABISHAI - Probably, as the king was on bad terms with Joab, and wished to deprive him of his post as Captain of the host, he gave his orders to Abishai, and weakly connived at the execution of them by Joab, which was inevitable....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 20:1 THERE HAPPENED TO BE THERE A MAN OF BELIAL. The fierce words of the men of Judah led to evil results. It was a time when all wise and thoughtful persons would have laboured for peace, and tried to soothe and appease the angry passions fomented by the late war. Instead of this, the men of Judah irritated the Israelites with insult and contumely, and the day, intended as one of rejoicing and of the restoration of David to his throne by common consent, saw the rebellion break forth afresh. Among those who had taken part in the discussion with Judah was Sheba, a man of Belial, that is, a worthless fellow, but possibly possessed of rank and influence; for, according to many commentators, _ben-Bichri _does not mean THE SON OF BICHRI, but "a descendant of Becher," the second son of Benjamin ...

AND DAVID SAID TO ABISHAI,.... For it seems he would have nothing to say to Joab, being displeased with him for slaying Absalom, and having removed him from his posts; and therefore speaks to the next officer in his army, Abishai; though Josephus p says, he addressed himself to Joab, contrary to the express words of the text: NOW SHALL SHEBA THE SON OF BICHRI DO US MORE HARM THAN [DID] ABSALOM; gain a greater party, and give more trouble to subdue him, unless suppressed in time: TAKE THOU THY LORD'S SERVANTS, AND PURSUE AFTER HIM; without waiting for Amasa, and the troops he was assembling; delays in such a case as an insurrection being dangerous, which ought to be nipped in the bud, and crushed as soon as possible; in order to which, he bids him take his servants that were about him, his bodyguards, and pursue Sheba: LEST HE GET HIM FENCED CITIES; where he may secure himself, and hol...

10. THE REVOLT OF SHEBA CHAPTER 20 _ 1. Sheba's revolt (2 Samuel 20:1)_ 2. The ten concubines shut up (2 Samuel 20:3) 3. Amasa's failure (2 Samuel 20:4) 4. Joab and the death of Amasa (2 Samuel 20:7) 5. Joab, the wise woman and the death of Sheba (2 Samuel 20:14) 6. David's officials (2 Samuel 20:23) The final revolt in David's reign was headed by a wicked man, whose name was Sheba. Israe

1 SAMUEL 20. THE REVOLT OF SHEBA (J). 2 SAMUEL 20:1 F. The result of this altercation was a fresh rebellion under a Benjamite, Sheba ben Bichri. 2 SAMUEL 20:3. The members of the king's harem whom he had left in Jerusalem are condemned to pass the rest of their days in seclusion (_cf._ 2 Samuel 16:21). 2 SAMUEL 20:4. David bade his new commander-in-chief, Amasa, assemble the general levy of Judah by a given day; the day came, but Amasa and the army did not appear. A few days before Amasa had been in command of an army fighting against Judah, and the men of Judah might be slow to tru

THOU. Some codices, with two early printed editions, read "now", and others, with Septuagint, read "now therefore ...

The pursuit of Sheba. Amasa murdered by Joab 4. _to Amasa_ The commission was given to Amasa in fulfilment of the promise privately made to him (ch. 2 Samuel 19:13). _Assemble me the men of Judah_ Clearly then "the men of Judah" in 2 Samuel 20:2 were only a small body of representatives....

_Amasa's Indolence._ 2 Samuel 20:4-9 4 Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present. 5 So Amasa went to assemble _the men of_ Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. 6 And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than _did_ Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us. 7 And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When they _were_ at the great stone which _is_ in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And Joab'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 she