The Kingdom · c. 980 BC
Chapter 14
The Way Home
Mephibosheth said to the king, “Yes, let him take all, because my lord the king has come in peace to his own house.”
For parents
This chapter tells of two killings. Joab stabs Amasa while greeting him (2 Samuel 20:8–10), and the people of a town under siege cut off the rebel Sheba’s head and throw it to Joab (20:22). Both are told plainly, without gory detail. One sentence says that David kept his ten concubines shut away for the rest of their lives (20:3).
The battle was won, but word came to : “The king is weeping and mourning for .” Word went around the whole army: “The king is grieving for his son.” And so that day the victory turned into mourning.
The soldiers slipped back into the city quietly that day, the way men creep home ashamed after running from a battle. The king covered his face and cried out loud, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”
Joab went into the house to see the king. “Today you have put all your men to shame,” he said. “Today they saved your life. They saved your sons and daughters, your wives and your . But you love those who hate you, and you hate those who love you. You have made it plain today that your commanders and your men mean nothing to you. I can see now that you would be pleased if Absalom had lived today and all of us had died.
“So get up. Go out there and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord, if you don’t go out, not one man will be left with you by tonight. And that would be worse for you than all the trouble you’ve had since you were young.”
So the king got up and sat down in the city gate. Word spread to all the people: “The king is sitting in the gate!” And they all came to him. Meanwhile the men of Israel who had followed Absalom had all run home.
All through the tribes of Israel the people were arguing. “The king rescued us from our enemies,” they said. “He saved us from the Philistines. And now he has fled the land to get away from Absalom. But Absalom, the man we to rule us, is dead. He died in the battle. So why isn’t anyone talking about bringing the king back?”
Judah was David’s own tribe. King David sent a message to the priests and : “Speak to the leaders of Judah. Tell them, ‘The king has heard that all Israel is talking about bringing him home. Why are you the last to bring him back to his palace? You are my brothers, my own flesh and blood. Why are you the last to bring the king back?’
“And tell , ‘Aren’t you my own flesh and blood too? May God punish me severely if I don’t put you in charge of my army from now on, instead of Joab.’”
Amasa was Joab’s cousin, the man Absalom had made commander of his army.
Every man in Judah was won over, as if they were one man. They sent the king a message: “Come back, you and all your officials.”
So the king started home and came to the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to to meet him and bring him across the river.
son of Gera, a man of the tribe of Benjamin from , came down in a hurry with the men of Judah to meet King David. He was the man who had cursed David and thrown stones at him on the day he fled from Jerusalem.
A thousand men of Benjamin came with him. , the servant of Saul’s family, came too, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, and they crossed the Jordan to the king.
A ferry crossed over to bring the king’s household across and to do whatever the king wanted. And there at the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself face down in front of the king.
“Please, my lord, don’t hold it against me,” he said. “Forget the wrong I did on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. Please put it out of your mind. I know that I have sinned. That is why I have come today. Of all the , I am the first to come down and meet my lord the king.”
But son of , Joab’s brother, spoke up. “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for cursing the king the Lord anointed?”
“You sons of Zeruiah, what do you and I have in common?” said David. “Why are you working against me today? Should anyone in Israel be put to death today? Don’t I know that today I am king over Israel?”
Then the king said to Shimei, “You will not die,” and he swore an oath to him.
, Saul’s grandson, came down to meet the king too. From the day the king went away until the day he came home safely, Mephibosheth had not cared for his feet. He had not trimmed his beard or washed his clothes.
On the day David fled, Ziba had told him that Mephibosheth was staying in Jerusalem, hoping to get back his grandfather’s kingdom. And David had given Ziba everything that belonged to Mephibosheth.
Mephibosheth came to Jerusalem to meet the king, and the king said to him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”
“My lord the king,” he answered, “my servant tricked me. Because I am lame, I said, ‘I’ll saddle a donkey and ride it, so I can go with the king.’ And he told you lies about me. But you, my lord the king, are like an angel of God. Do whatever you think is right.
“My grandfather’s whole family were as good as dead in the eyes of my lord the king. Yet you gave me a place among those who eat at your own table. What right do I have to ask the king for anything more?”
“Why say any more?” the king said to him. “I have decided: you and Ziba will split the land.”
“Let him take it all,” Mephibosheth said to the king, “now that my lord the king has come home safely.”
, from , had come down from Rogelim to take the king across the Jordan. He was a very old man, eighty years old. He had supplied the king with food the whole time the king stayed at , because he was a very important man.
The king said to Barzillai, “Come across with me. You can live with me in Jerusalem, and I will take care of you.”
But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years do I have left? Why should I go up to Jerusalem with the king? I am eighty years old. Can I still tell what is good from what is bad? Can I taste what I eat or drink? Can I still hear the voices of men and women singing? Why should I be a burden to my lord the king?
“I’ll just cross the Jordan with the king. Why should the king reward me like this? Please let me go back home. Let me die in my own town, close to the grave of my father and mother. Here is , your servant. Let him go across with you, my lord the king. Do for him whatever you think best.”
“Chimham will come with me,” the king answered, “and I will do for him whatever you think best. And anything you ask of me, I will do for you.”
Then all the people crossed the Jordan, and the king crossed too. The king kissed Barzillai goodbye and blessed him, and Barzillai went back home.
The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went along with him. All the soldiers of Judah had brought the king across, and half the soldiers of Israel too.
Then all the men of Israel, from the other tribes, came to the king. “Why have our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away?” they asked him. “Why did they bring the king and his household across the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?”
“Because the king is our close relative,” the men of Judah answered the men of Israel. “Why are you angry about that? Has the king paid for a single meal for us? Has he given us any gifts?”
“We are ten tribes, so we have ten shares in the king,” the men of Israel answered. “We have more right to David than you do. Why did you look down on us? Why weren’t we asked first about bringing back our king?” But the men of Judah answered even more angrily than the men of Israel.
There happened to be a wicked man there named son of Bichri, from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew the trumpet. “We have no share in David!” he shouted. “We have no part in the son of ! Everyone go home, Israel!”
So all the men of Israel stopped following David and went after Sheba son of Bichri. But the men of Judah stayed close to their king, from the Jordan all the way to Jerusalem.
David came home to his palace in Jerusalem. He had left his ten concubines there to look after the palace, and now he put them under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer lived with them as his wives. So they were shut away until the day they died, living like widows.
Then the king said to Amasa, “Gather the men of Judah for me within three days, and be here yourself.”
So Amasa went to gather the men of Judah, but he took longer than the time the king had given him.
Then David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bichri is going to do us more harm than Absalom did. Take my soldiers and go after him, before he gets into walled cities and escapes us.”
So Joab’s men marched out of Jerusalem after Sheba son of Bichri, along with the and all the mighty warriors.
When they reached the great stone at , Amasa came to meet them. Joab was dressed for battle. Over his clothes he had a belt, with a sword in its sheath strapped to his waist. As he went along, the sword fell out.
“How are you, my brother?” Joab said to Amasa. And he took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
Amasa paid no attention to the sword in Joab’s hand. Joab drove it into his stomach. He did not strike him a second time, and Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai went on chasing Sheba son of Bichri.
One of Joab’s young men stood over Amasa and called out, “Whoever is on Joab’s side, and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”
But Amasa lay in his own blood in the middle of the road. The young man saw that everyone who came by stopped there and stood still. So he carried Amasa off the road and into a field, and he threw a cloak over him.
Once Amasa was off the road, all the soldiers went on after Joab to chase Sheba son of Bichri.
Sheba went through all the tribes of Israel to , to Beth Maacah, and to all the Berites, and they gathered together and followed him too.
Joab’s army came and trapped Sheba in Abel of Beth Maacah. They piled up a ramp of earth against the city until it reached the outer wall, and all Joab’s soldiers began battering the wall to bring it down.
Then a wise woman shouted from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please say to Joab, ‘Come closer, so I can talk with you.’”
Joab came near, and the woman asked, “Are you Joab?”
“I am,” he answered.
“Listen to what I have to say,” she said.
“I’m listening,” he said.
“Long ago people used to say, ‘If you need advice, ask at Abel,’” she said, “and that was how they settled things. I am one of the peaceful, faithful people of Israel. This city is a , and you are trying to destroy it! Why would you wipe out what belongs to the Lord?”
“Never!” Joab answered. “I don’t want to wipe out or destroy anything! That isn’t it at all. A man from the hill country of Ephraim, named Sheba son of Bichri, has rebelled against the king, against David. Hand over just this one man, and I will leave the city alone.”
“His head will be thrown to you over the wall,” the woman told Joab.
Then the woman, in her wisdom, went to all the people. They cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. Joab blew the trumpet, and his men scattered from the city and went home. Then Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
Now Joab was in command of the whole army of Israel. son of Jehoiada commanded the Cherethites and Pelethites. was in charge of the men doing forced labor. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud kept the royal records. Sheva was the secretary. Zadok and Abiathar were the priests. And Ira the Jairite was David’s chief minister.