Sheba Rebels against David

2 Samuel 20

Sometime after David’s son Absalom had rebelled and was killed near Mahanaim (2 Samuel 13-18; see “Absalom Rebels against David” map), he and his forces began the journey back to Jerusalem. Along the way, many people from Judah and other Israelite tribes came to the Jordan River to escort David and his men back to Jerusalem. A Benjaminite named Sheba, however, rallied many people to follow him instead of David. After David completed his journey back to Jerusalem, he summoned Amasa and instructed him to gather the people of Judah, presumably to begin hunting down Sheba. David had earlier reaffirmed Amasa’s role as commander over his forces, even though Amasa had first ascended to this role when he was appointed by Absalom during the rebellion (2 Samuel 17:25; 19:13-14). But now Amasa delayed in rallying the people of Judah, perhaps indicating that he was not fully committed to David’s return as king, so David dispatched Joab to deal with Sheba instead. By this time, Sheba had passed through the tribes of Israel and assembled his forces in the town of Abel-beth-maacah. Located near the northern boundary of the land occupied primarily by Israelites, Abel-beth-maacah sat at the edge of the region known as Maacah. This region, along with Geshur to the south, remained as a Canaanite enclave in the midst of Israelite territory and had even fought against David’s forces year earlier (2 Samuel 10:6-8; 1 Chronicles 19:6-8). As Joab began his pursuit of Sheba, he first headed to Gibeon, where he found Amasa and killed him. Then Joab and all those that followed him headed north and set up a siege ramp against Abel-beth-maacah. A wise woman from the city called out to Joab, however, and convinced him to cease attacking the city if they would deliver the head of Sheba to him. Joab agreed, Sheba’s head was delivered to him, and Joab rallied his troops and headed back to Jerusalem.

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