2 Samuel 20:1

THE REVOLT OF SHEBA; JOAB'S MURDER OF AMASA

In this chapter, we have the homecoming of King David, the happiness of which was overshadowed by a new rebellion led by Sheba. We also see the results of some of David's rash and unwise decisions.

THE HOMECOMING OF DAVID TO JERUSALEM

"Now there happened to be there a worthless fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite; and he blew the trumpet and said,

"We have no portion in David,

and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;

every man to his tents, O Israel"!

So all the men of Israel withdrew from David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem."

"Sheba ... blew the trumpet" (2 Samuel 20:1). Here the trumpet was blown to raise an army, but in 2 Samuel 20:22, below, Joab blew the trumpet to signal the cessation of hostilities. "Different blasts on the trumpet were used to denote different things."[1] Of course, that is the way it still is today, as for example in the well-known "reveille" and "taps".

This new rebellion was the direct result of the bitter words exchanged in the quarrel mentioned at the end of the preceding chapter. Josephus tells us that, Sheba's actions occurred, "While these rulers (the men of Israel and those of Judah) were disputing with one another."[2] "The fierce words of the men of Judah led to evil results,"[3] giving us another example of the frequent danger of winning an argument.

"We have no portion in David ... no inheritance in the son of Jesse" (2 Samuel 20:1). As Caird observed, "This war-cry raised by Sheba lasted longer than his rebellion; because it was raised again successfully against Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:16)."[4]

"All the men of Israel withdrew from David, and followed Sheba" (2 Samuel 20:2). The literal text here is: "All the men of Israel went up from after David to after Sheba."[5] "All the men of Israel," as used here, probably refers merely to the representatives of the northern tribes who had brought their complaint to David and engaged in that bitter controversy with the elders of Judah. Certainly, Sheba soon found out that all Israel would not follow him.

"The men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem" (2 Samuel 20:2). This was David's homecoming, but the happiness of it was marred by a new rebellion, which, at that point, was an unpredictable threat. "David arrived home with only his Judean escort and all the rest of Israel apparently in open rebellion."[6]