Chapter Twenty

Sheba’s Rebellion

2 Samuel 20:3. And David came to his house in Jerusalem, and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in a house under guard, and supported them, but did not go in to them. And they were kept there until the day of their death, living like widows. See (2 Sam 16:20-22). David considered it shameful and “lawbreaking to have relations with them after their vile relations with his son; and he married them to no other man, so that this would not serve as a pretext for seizing the supreme power” (Blessed Theodoret, commentary on 2 Samuel, question 38), since in the Eastern view of that time, possession of the king’s wife or concubine already meant some actual claim to the king’s authority.

2 Samuel 20:4. And David said to Amasa: Summon the men of Judah to me within three days, and be here yourself. 2 Samuel 20:5. And Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the time that was appointed to him. 2 Samuel 20:6. Then David said to Abishai: Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord’s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and hide from our sight. 2 Samuel 20:7. And the men of Joab went out after him, along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. “David gave the charge to Amasa to summon the militia within three days to suppress the rebellion, and by this he effectively set Amasa as commander-in-chief in place of Joab (2 Sam 19:13). But Amasa proved unequal to the position to which he was elevated. Whether through lack of competence and energy, or through a cold reception from the people as a man less authoritative than Joab, he was unable to fulfill the charge in the appointed time. Meanwhile, delay was impossible. And David was forced to turn to Joab’s brother Abishai to send him with the available military forces after Sheba.” Joab also joined those pursuing Sheba on his own authority. However, Joab was thinking less about suppressing Sheba’s rebellion than about removing from the list of the living his new rival at David’s court—Amasa (I. Bogorodskiy, “Hebrew Kings”, p. 244).

2 Samuel 20:14. And he passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah and through all the Berim; and [all the inhabitants of the cities] gathered together and went after him. “Abel of Beth-maacah”—a city in the northern borders of Palestine, near the mountain of Great Hermon.

2 Samuel 20:19. I am of the peaceable and faithful cities of Israel; you seek to destroy a city and a mother [of cities] in Israel; why would you destroy the inheritance of the Lord? “Mother [of cities] in Israel.” See (2 Sam 20:18).

2 Samuel 20:23. And Joab was set over all the army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites; “And Joab was set over all the army of Israel.” “David did not attempt again to remove him from the position of commander-in-chief, because he was indispensable and defended this post with such demonic persistence that it was better to yield to avoid new bloodshed” (I. Bogorodskiy, “Hebrew Kings”, p. 246). On the Cherethites and Pelethites see the note to (2 Sam 8:18).

2 Samuel 20:24. Adoram was over the tribute; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; “Jehoshaphat... was the recorder.” See (2 Sam 8:16).

2 Samuel 20:25. Sheva was the scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; See (2 Sam 8:17).

2 Samuel 20:26. And also Ira the Jairite was the priest of David. The word “Jairite” some understand to mean “from the villages of Jair,” the son of Manasseh, which lay in the eastern Transjordan (see “An Attempt at a Biblical Dictionary of Proper Names” by Archpriest Solyarskiy). “Was the priest of David,” that is, a person through whose mediation the aged king performed many of his religious duties at the tent and outside it (Blessed Theodoret, Calmet, and others).