II Samuel 20

שמואל ב׳ פרק כ׳

Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: II Samuel | Chapter: 20 of 24 | Day: 96 of 742

Date: May 18, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 20 of II Samuel opens in the immediate wake of the bitter quarrel between Yehuda and Israel that closed the previous chapter, and it shows how quickly Dovid’s restoration to the throne could unravel. A “wicked man” (איש בליעל) named Sheva ben Bichri, a Binyaminite and thus a remnant of Sha’ul’s tribe, blows the shofar and proclaims a slogan whose echo will reverberate for a century: “אין לנו חלק בדוד ולא נחלה לנו בבן ישי, איש לאהליו ישראל” (we have no portion in Dovid, nor inheritance in the son of Yishai; every man to his tents, Israel). All the men of Israel desert Dovid for Sheva; only Yehuda escorts the king from the Jordan to Jerusalem. The same words will be quoted verbatim by the ten northern tribes when they break from Rechavam in I Kings 12:16. The narrative thus marks the first audible crack of what will become the permanent fracture of the kingdom, and the tribal undercurrent — a Yemini lifting his hand against the son of Yishai — gives the rebellion an unmistakable Sha’ulide flavor.

Before the pursuit can begin, the chapter pauses for one of the most desolate vignettes in Sefer Shmuel: Dovid’s treatment of the ten concubines whom Avshalom had violated on the rooftop in chapter 16. Halachically caught — he cannot return to them, cannot return them to their fathers, cannot leave them in his house as wives — Dovid sustains them but isolates them, and they live out their days “צרורות עד יום מותן אלמנות חיות” (sealed up until the day of their death, living widows). Chazal read this as the bitter completion of Natan’s prophecy “הנני מקים עליך רעה מביתך” (I will raise up evil from your own house, 12:11): the concubines become Dovid’s permanent domestic monument to the Bat-Sheva sin, ten silent women in a shut house attesting to a punishment that Avshalom himself had unwittingly executed. The moral weight of this verse, sandwiched between two military movements, is enormous.

The pursuit itself becomes the stage on which Yoav reasserts a power Dovid had tried to take from him. Dovid had demoted Yoav after the Avshalom episode and elevated Amasa to commander of the host (19:14); when Amasa fails to muster Yehuda within the assigned three days, Dovid pointedly bypasses Yoav and gives the order to Avishai. Yoav goes along anyway, and at the great stone of Giv’on he stages one of the most calculated murders in Tanakh. His sword “falls” from his belt as he steps forward — Radak and Metzudat David note that this was no accident but a deliberate ruse, designed so that Amasa, seeing the dropped weapon, would not suspect the kiss. Yoav grasps Amasa’s beard with his right hand as if to embrace him, picks up the sword with his left, and drives it into Amasa’s belly in a single fatal blow. The detail that one blow sufficed, and that a young man must drag the body off the road and cover it because the troops keep halting at the corpse, register the obscenity of the act and the indifference with which Yoav resumes the pursuit. By the chapter’s last verses Yoav is again “על הצבא” (over the host); the demotion has been erased, not by Dovid but by murder, and the king’s silence on the matter will linger until his deathbed charge to Shlomo in I Kings 2.

The pursuit reaches Avel Beit Maakha, where Sheva’s Bichri kinsmen rally to him and Yoav builds a siege ramp against the wall. Then, abruptly, the narrative pivots to a different mode of resolution. An unnamed “אישה חכמה” (wise woman) calls down from the city and summons Yoav to a parley. Her speech is a small masterpiece of biblical rhetoric: she claims for herself and her city the status of “שלמי אמוני ישראל” (the peaceable and faithful of Israel), names the city “עיר ואם בישראל” (a city and a mother in Israel), and accuses Yoav of seeking “to swallow up the inheritance of the LORD.” Yoav, suddenly defensive, agrees to lift the siege if Sheva is given up; she goes to the people “in her wisdom” (בחכמתה), and Sheva’s head is thrown over the wall. The wise woman of Avel takes her place beside the woman of Tekoa earlier in the book and the other unnamed wise women of Tanakh as figures whose speech, rather than military force, averts catastrophe. The narrator’s interest is unmistakable: the brutal Yoav is talked out of destroying a city by a woman whose name we never learn.

The chapter closes with a ministerial list that is not the bureaucratic afterthought it appears to be. Yoav is over the host; Benayahu ben Yehoyada is over the Cretans and Pelethites; Adoram is over the corvée; Yehoshafat is recorder; Sheva is scribe; Tzadok and Evyatar are kohanim; Ira HaYa’iri is “כהן לדוד,” which Rashi explains as a personal teacher rather than a literal priest. The cabinet looks restored, but every reader of Sefer Shmuel can see what is unhealed beneath the surface: Yoav’s unanswered murder of Amasa, the ten silent concubines, the Yemini slogan now planted in the northern tribes’ mouths, and a king who has clawed back his throne but not his moral authority. Chapter 20 is the structural close of the Avshalom-rebellion arc, yet it functions equally as the prologue to Sefer Melachim, leaving the wounds of Dovid’s house visibly open and waiting for Shlomo to finish what his father could not.

פרק כ׳ · Chapter 20

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וְשָׁ֨ם נִקְרָ֜א אִ֣ישׁ בְּלִיַּ֗עַל וּשְׁמ֛וֹ שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִ֖י אִ֣ישׁ יְמִינִ֑י וַיִּתְקַ֣ע בַּשֹּׁפָ֗ר וַ֠יֹּ֠אמֶר אֵֽין־לָ֨נוּ חֵ֜לֶק בְּדָוִ֗ד וְלֹ֤א נַחֲלָה־לָ֙נוּ֙ בְּבֶן־יִשַׁ֔י אִ֥ישׁ לְאֹהָלָ֖יו יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

English:

A scoundrel named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, happened to be there. He sounded the horn and proclaimed:“We have no portion in David,No share in Jesse’s son!Back to your homes, O Israel!”

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֜עַל כׇּל־אִ֤ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מֵאַחֲרֵ֣י דָוִ֔ד אַחֲרֵ֖י שֶׁ֣בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִ֑י וְאִ֤ישׁ יְהוּדָה֙ דָּבְק֣וּ בְמַלְכָּ֔ם מִן־הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן וְעַד־יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

Israel’s entire contingent left David and followed Sheba son of Bichri; but Judah’s contingent accompanied their king from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֨א דָוִ֣ד אֶל־בֵּיתוֹ֮ יְרוּשָׁלַ֒͏ִם֒ וַיִּקַּ֣ח הַמֶּ֡לֶךְ אֵ֣ת עֶשֶׂר־נָשִׁ֣ים ׀ פִּלַגְשִׁ֡ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר הִנִּ֩יחַ֩ לִשְׁמֹ֨ר הַבַּ֜יִת וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֤ם בֵּית־מִשְׁמֶ֙רֶת֙ וַֽיְכַלְכְּלֵ֔ם וַאֲלֵיהֶ֖ם לֹא־בָ֑א וַתִּהְיֶ֧ינָה צְרֻר֛וֹת עַד־י֥וֹם מֻתָ֖ן אַלְמְנ֥וּת חַיּֽוּת׃ {ס}        

English:

David went to his palace in Jerusalem, and the king took the ten concubines he had left to mind the palace and put them in a guarded place; he provided for them, but he did not cohabit with them. They remained in seclusion until the day they died, in living widowhood.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֶל־עֲמָשָׂ֔א הַזְעֶק־לִ֥י אֶת־אִישׁ־יְהוּדָ֖ה שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וְאַתָּ֖ה פֹּ֥ה עֲמֹֽד׃

English:

The king said to Amasa, “Call up Judah’s force to my standard, and report here three days from now.”

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ עֲמָשָׂ֖א לְהַזְעִ֣יק אֶת־יְהוּדָ֑ה (וייחר) [וַיּ֕וֹחֶר] מִן־הַמּוֹעֵ֖ד אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְעָדֽוֹ׃ {ס}        

English:

Amasa went to call up Judah, but he took longer than the time set for him.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר דָּוִד֙ אֶל־אֲבִישַׁ֔י עַתָּ֗ה יֵ֧רַֽע לָ֛נוּ שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִ֖י מִן־אַבְשָׁל֑וֹם אַ֠תָּ֠ה קַ֞ח אֶת־עַבְדֵ֤י אֲדֹנֶ֙יךָ֙ וּרְדֹ֣ף אַחֲרָ֔יו פֶּן־מָ֥צָא ל֛וֹ עָרִ֥ים בְּצֻר֖וֹת וְהִצִּ֥יל עֵינֵֽנוּ׃

English:

And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bichri will cause us more trouble than Absalom. So take your lord’s servants and pursue him, before he finds fortified towns and eludes us.”aeludes us Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וַיֵּצְא֤וּ אַחֲרָיו֙ אַנְשֵׁ֣י יוֹאָ֔ב וְהַכְּרֵתִ֥י וְהַפְּלֵתִ֖י וְכׇל־הַגִּבֹּרִ֑ים וַיֵּֽצְאוּ֙ מִיר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם לִרְדֹּ֕ף אַחֲרֵ֖י שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִֽי׃

English:

Joab’s men, the Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the warriors marched out behind him.bJoab’s men … behind him Emendation yields “Joab, the Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the warriors marched out behind Abishai.” They left Jerusalem in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

הֵ֗ם עִם־הָאֶ֤בֶן הַגְּדוֹלָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּגִבְע֔וֹן וַעֲמָשָׂ֖א בָּ֣א לִפְנֵיהֶ֑ם וְיוֹאָ֞ב חָג֣וּר ׀ מִדּ֣וֹ לְבֻשׁ֗וֹ וְעָלָ֞ו חֲג֥וֹר חֶ֙רֶב֙ מְצֻמֶּ֤דֶת עַל־מׇתְנָיו֙ בְּתַעְרָ֔הּ וְה֥וּא יָצָ֖א וַתִּפֹּֽל׃ {ס}        

English:

They were near the great stone in Gibeon when Amasa appeared before them. Joab was wearing his military dress, with his sword girded over it and fastened around his waist in its sheath; and, as he stepped forward, it fell out.cJoab was wearing … it fell out Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יוֹאָב֙ לַעֲמָשָׂ֔א הֲשָׁל֥וֹם אַתָּ֖ה אָחִ֑י וַתֹּ֜חֶז יַד־יְמִ֥ין יוֹאָ֛ב בִּזְקַ֥ן עֲמָשָׂ֖א לִנְשׇׁק־לֽוֹ׃

English:

Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, brother?” and with his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa’s beard as if to kiss him.

פסוק י״ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַעֲמָשָׂ֨א לֹא־נִשְׁמַ֜ר בַּחֶ֣רֶב ׀ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּיַד־יוֹאָ֗ב וַיַּכֵּ֩הוּ֩ בָ֨הּ אֶל־הַחֹ֜מֶשׁ וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֨ךְ מֵעָ֥יו אַ֛רְצָה וְלֹא־שָׁ֥נָה ל֖וֹ וַיָּמֹ֑ת וְיוֹאָב֙ וַאֲבִישַׁ֣י אָחִ֔יו רָדַ֕ף אַחֲרֵ֖י שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִֽי׃

English:

Amasa was not on his guard against the sword in Joab’s [left] hand, and [Joab] drove it into his belly so that his entrails poured out on the ground and he died; he did not need to strike him a second time.Joab and his brother Abishai then set off in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri,

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וְאִישׁ֙ עָמַ֣ד עָלָ֔יו מִֽנַּעֲרֵ֖י יוֹאָ֑ב וַיֹּ֗אמֶר מִי֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר חָפֵ֧ץ בְּיוֹאָ֛ב וּמִ֥י אֲשֶׁר־לְדָוִ֖ד אַחֲרֵ֥י יוֹאָֽב׃

English:

while one of Joab’s henchmen stood by the corpsedthe corpse Heb. “him.” and called out, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is on David’s side, follow Joab!”

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַעֲמָשָׂ֛א מִתְגֹּלֵ֥ל בַּדָּ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הַֽמְסִלָּ֑ה וַיַּ֨רְא הָאִ֜ישׁ כִּֽי־עָמַ֣ד כׇּל־הָעָ֗ם וַיַּסֵּב֩ אֶת־עֲמָשָׂ֨א מִן־הַֽמְסִלָּ֤ה הַשָּׂדֶה֙ וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ עָלָיו֙ בֶּ֔גֶד כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר רָאָ֔ה כׇּל־הַבָּ֥א עָלָ֖יו וְעָמָֽד׃

English:

Amasa lay in the middle of the road, drenched in his blood; and the man saw that everyone stopped. And when he saw that all the people were stopping, he dragged Amasa from the road into the field and covered him with a garment.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר הֹגָ֖ה מִן־הַֽמְסִלָּ֑ה עָבַ֤ר כׇּל־אִישׁ֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י יוֹאָ֔ב לִרְדֹּ֕ף אַחֲרֵ֖י שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִֽי׃

English:

Once he was removed from the road, everybody continued to follow Joab in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֞ר בְּכׇל־שִׁבְטֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אָבֵ֛לָה וּבֵ֥ית מַעֲכָ֖ה וְכׇל־הַבֵּרִ֑ים {ס}        (ויקלהו) [וַיִּקָּ֣הֲל֔וּ] וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַף־אַחֲרָֽיו׃

English:

[Sheba] had passed through all the tribes of Israel up to Abel ofeof Heb. “and.” Cf. v. 15 (and “Abel-beth-maacah” in 1 Kings 15.20 and 2 Kings 15.29). Beth-maacah; and all the BeeritesfBeerites Emendation yields “Bichrites”; cf. Septuagint. assembled and followed him inside.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֜אוּ וַיָּצֻ֣רוּ עָלָ֗יו בְּאָבֵ֙לָה֙ בֵּ֣ית הַֽמַּעֲכָ֔ה וַיִּשְׁפְּכ֤וּ סֹֽלְלָה֙ אֶל־הָעִ֔יר וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֖ד בַּחֵ֑ל וְכׇל־הָעָם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶת־יוֹאָ֔ב מַשְׁחִיתִ֖ם לְהַפִּ֥יל הַחוֹמָֽה׃

English:

[Joab’s men] came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah; they threw up a siege mound against the city and it stood against the rampart.gand it stood against the rampart Meaning of Heb. uncertain. The phrase would read well in the next verse (“…a clever woman stood on the rampart and shouted…”). All the troops with Joab were engaged in battering the wall,hengaged in battering the wall Lit. “destroying, to topple the wall.” Septuagint and Targum read “were planning to topple the wall.”

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַתִּקְרָ��א אִשָּׁ֥ה חֲכָמָ֖ה מִן־הָעִ֑יר שִׁמְע֤וּ שִׁמְעוּ֙ אִמְרוּ־נָ֣א אֶל־יוֹאָ֔ב קְרַ֣ב עַד־הֵ֔נָּה וַאֲדַבְּרָ֖ה אֵלֶֽיךָ׃

English:

when a woman who was wiseiwise I.e., in this context, quick-witted and resourceful. shouted from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come over here so I can talk to him.”

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְרַ֣ב אֵלֶ֔יהָ וַתֹּ֧אמֶר הָאִשָּׁ֛ה הַאַתָּ֥ה יוֹאָ֖ב וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אָ֑נִי וַתֹּ֣אמֶר ל֗וֹ שְׁמַע֙ דִּבְרֵ֣י אֲמָתֶ֔ךָ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר שֹׁמֵ֥עַ אָנֹֽכִי׃

English:

He approached her, and the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” “Yes,” he answered; and she said to him, “Listen to what your handmaid has to say.” “I’m listening,” he replied.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וַתֹּ֖אמֶר לֵאמֹ֑ר דַּבֵּ֨ר יְדַבְּר֤וּ בָרִֽאשֹׁנָה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר שָׁא֧וֹל יְשָׁאֲל֛וּ בְּאָבֵ֖ל וְכֵ֥ן הֵתַֽמּוּ׃

English:

And she continued, “In olden times people used to say, ‘Let them inquire of Abel,‘jLet them inquire of Abel Meaning of Heb. uncertain. and that was the end of the matter.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

אָנֹכִ֕י שְׁלֻמֵ֖י אֱמוּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אַתָּ֣ה מְבַקֵּ֗שׁ לְהָמִ֨ית עִ֤יר וְאֵם֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לָ֥מָּה תְבַלַּ֖ע נַחֲלַ֥ת יְהֹוָֽה׃ {פ}

English:

I am one of those who seek the welfare of the faithful in Israel. But you seek to bring death upon a mother city in Israel! Why should you destroy GOD’s possession?”

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֥עַן יוֹאָ֖ב וַיֹּאמַ֑ר חָלִ֤ילָה חָלִ֙ילָה֙ לִ֔י אִם־אֲבַלַּ֖ע וְאִם־אַשְׁחִֽית׃

English:

Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me to destroy or to ruin!

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

לֹא־כֵ֣ן הַדָּבָ֗ר כִּ֡י אִישׁ֩ מֵהַ֨ר אֶפְרַ֜יִם שֶׁ֧בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִ֣י שְׁמ֗וֹ ��ָשָׂ֤א יָדוֹ֙ בַּמֶּ֣לֶךְ בְּדָוִ֔ד תְּנוּ־אֹת֣וֹ לְבַדּ֔וֹ וְאֵלְכָ֖ה מֵעַ֣ל הָעִ֑יר וַתֹּ֤אמֶר הָאִשָּׁה֙ אֶל־יוֹאָ֔ב הִנֵּ֥ה רֹאשׁ֛וֹ מֻשְׁלָ֥ךְ אֵלֶ֖יךָ בְּעַ֥ד הַחוֹמָֽה׃

English:

Not at all! But a certain man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba son of Bichri, has rebelled against King David. Just hand him alone over to us, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman assured Joab, “His head shall be thrown over the wall to you.”

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וַתָּבוֹא֩ הָאִשָּׁ֨ה אֶל־כׇּל־הָעָ֜ם בְּחׇכְמָתָ֗הּ וַֽיִּכְרְת֞וּ אֶת־רֹ֨אשׁ שֶׁ֤בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִי֙ וַיַּשְׁלִ֣כוּ אֶל־יוֹאָ֔ב וַיִּתְקַע֙ בַּשֹּׁפָ֔ר וַיָּפֻ֥צוּ מֵעַל־הָעִ֖יר אִ֣ישׁ לְאֹהָלָ֑יו וְיוֹאָ֛ב שָׁ֥ב יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם אֶל־הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ {ס}        

English:

The woman came to all the people with her wise plan; and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it down to Joab. He then sounded the horn; those attacking the city dispersed to their homes, and Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

וְיוֹאָ֕ב אֶ֥ל כׇּל־הַצָּבָ֖א יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּבְנָיָה֙ בֶּן־יְה֣וֹיָדָ֔ע עַל־(הכרי) [הַכְּרֵתִ֖י] וְעַל־הַפְּלֵתִֽי׃

English:

Joab was commander of the whole army [of] Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the Cherethites and the Pelethites;

פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24

Hebrew:

וַאֲדֹרָ֖ם עַל־הַמַּ֑ס וִיהוֹשָׁפָ֥ט בֶּן־אֲחִיל֖וּד הַמַּזְכִּֽיר׃

English:

AdoramkAdoram So in 1 Kings 12.18 and 2 Chron. 10.18 (“Hadoram”); elsewhere “Adoniram.” was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;

פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25

Hebrew:

(ושיא) [וּשְׁוָ֖א] סֹפֵ֑ר וְצָד֥וֹק וְאֶבְיָתָ֖ר כֹּהֲנִֽים׃

English:

ShevalSheva See second note at 8.17. was scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests.

פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26

Hebrew:

וְגַ֗ם עִירָא֙ הַיָּ֣אִרִ֔י הָיָ֥ה כֹהֵ֖ן לְדָוִֽד׃ {ס}        

English:

Ira the Jairite also served David as priest.

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