Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 20:14-22
We have here the conclusion of Sheba's attempt.
I. The rebel, when he had rambled over all the tribes of Israel, and found them not so willing, upon second thoughts, to follow him, as they had been upon a sudden provocation to desert David (having only picked up a few like himself, that sided with him), at length entered Abel-Beth-maacah, a strong city in the north, in the lot of Naphtali, where we find it placed, Kg2 15:29. Here he took shelter, whether by force or with consent does not appear; but his adherents were most Berites, of Beeroth in Benjamin, Sa2 20:14. One bad man will find or make more.
II. Joab drew up all his force against the city, besieged it, battered the wall, and made i…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 20:14
JOAB PURSUES SHEBA UNTO ABEL. (Sa2 20:14-15)
he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel--beating up for recruits. But there the prompt marches of Joab overtook and hemmed him in by a close siege of the place.
Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 20:14
Unto Abel - This is supposed to have been the capital of the district called Abilene in St. Luke's Gospel, Luk 3:1.
Beth-maachah - Is supposed to have been in the northern part of the Holy Land, on the confines of Syria, and probably in the tribe of Naphtali.
John Gill on 2 Samuel 20:14
And he went through all the tribes of Israel,.... That is, Sheba the son of Bichri, last mentioned, 2 Samuel 20:13, who passed through all the tribes of Israel to get as many to be of his party as he could, and to be proclaimed their king; or finding himself pursued, he passed on as fast as he could from place to place, through all the tribes, until at length he fixed for safety in a place later named; though Josephus (w) understands this of Joab pursuing Sheba through all the tribes of Israel with the forces under him; and to this sense the Syriac and Arabic versions, and so R. Isaiah interprets it; but the first sense is more generally received, that Sheba is meant, who passing through var…
