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2 Samuel 20
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| 20:1
And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the
son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part
in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his
tents, O Israel. |
 Revolt, Murder, Decapitation
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| 20:2
So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the
son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even
to Jerusalem.
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| 20:3
And David came to his
house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines,
whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but
went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto
the day of their death, living in widowhood. |
 "David ... went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their
death."
To punish his ten concubines for being raped by his son
(See 2 Samuel 16:21-22),
David refuses to ever again have sex with them and forces them to
"keep house" for the rest of their lives.
 David Imprisons His Concubines
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| 20:4
Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three
days, and be thou here present.
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| 20:5
So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the
set time which he had appointed him.
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| 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.
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| 20:7
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. |
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| 20:8
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 sheath thereof; and as
he went forth it fell out. |
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| 20:9
And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took
Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. |
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| 20:10
But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him
therewith in the fifth rib
and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again;
and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of
Bichri. |
(20:10-12, 12)
Amasa is viciously slaughtered by Joab (by smiting him "in
the fifth rib", of course) who "shed out his bowels to the ground ... And Amasa wallowed in blood in
the midst of the highway."
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| 20:11
And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and
he that is for David, let him go after Joab. |
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| 20:12
And Amasa wallowed
in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all
the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field,
and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood
still. |
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| 20:13
When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab,
to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. |
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| 20:14
And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to
Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went
also after him. |
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| 20:15
And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a
bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that
were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. |
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| 20:16
Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto
Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. |
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| 20:17
And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he
answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid.
And he answered, I do hear. |
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| 20:18
Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They
shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter. |
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| 20:19
I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest
to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the
inheritance of the LORD? |
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| 20:20
And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should
swallow up or destroy. |
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| 20:21
The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri
by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David:
deliver him only, and I will depart from the city.
And the woman said unto
Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. |
(20:21-22) "And they cut off the head of Sheba ... and cast it
out to Joab."
What the Bible says about decapitation
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| 20:22
Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom.
And they cut off
the head of Sheba the son of Bichri,
and cast it out to Joab. And he
blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab
returned to Jerusalem unto the king. |
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| 20:23
Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada
was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites: |
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| 20:24
And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was
recorder: |
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| 20:25
And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests: |
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| 20:26
And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
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