2 Samuel 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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
David	דָּוִד֙ da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Abishai	אֲבִישַׁ֔י 'a.vi.Shai	H52	Abishai · proper noun, a man's name
Sheba	שֶׁ֥בַע She.va'	H7652	Sheba · proper noun, a man's name
son	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Bichri	בִּכְרִ֖י bikh.Ri	H1075	Bikri · proper noun, a man's name
harm	יָרַע yâraʻ	H3415	properly
Absalom	אַבְשָׁל֑וֹם 'av.sha.Lom	H53	Abshalom · proper noun, a man's name
take	קַ֞ח kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
lord’s	אֲדֹנֶ֙יךָ֙ 'a.do.Nei.kha	H113	sovereign · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
servants	עַבְדֵ֤י 'av.Dei	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct
pursue	וּרְדֹ֣ף u.re.Dof	H7291	to run after (usually with hostile intent · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
after	אַחֲרָ֔יו 'a.cha.Rav	H310	properly · cardinal number, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
get	מָ֥צָא Ma.tza'	H4672	properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
fenced	בְּצֻר֖וֹת be.tzu.Rot	H1219	to gather grapes · adjective, feminine plural absolute
cities	עָרִ֥ים 'a.Rim	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural absolute
escape	וְהִצִּ֥יל ve.hi.Tzil	H5337	to snatch away · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
us	עֵינֵֽנוּ 'ei.Ne.nu	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Samuel 11:11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in th…
2 Samuel 21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou s…
1 Kings 1:33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him do…
1 Samuel 26:6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me…
2 Samuel 2:18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.
2 Samuel 3:30 So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
2 Samuel 3:39 And I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil a…
2 Samuel 10:9-10 When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in arra…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 20:4-13

We have here Amasa's fall just as he began to rise. He was nephew to David (Sa2 17:25), had been Absalom's general and commander-in-chief of his rebellious army, but, that being routed, he came over into David's interest, upon a promise that he should be general of his forces instead of Joab. Sheba's rebellion gives David an occasion to fulfil his promise sooner than he could wish, but Joab's envy and emulation rendered its fulfillment of ill consequence both to him and David. I. Amasa has a commission to raise forces for the suppressing of Sheba's rebellion, and is ordered to raise them with all possible expedition, Sa2 20:4. It seems, the men of Judah, though forward to attend the king's t…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 20:4

Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days--Amasa is now installed in the command which David had promised him. The revolt of the ten tribes, probably, hastened the public declaration of this appointment, which he hoped would be popular with them, and Amasa was ordered within three days to levy a force from Judah sufficient to put down the insurrection. The appointment was a blunder, and the king soon perceived his error. The specified time passed, but Amasa could not muster the men. Dreading the loss of time, the king gave the commission to Abishai, and not to Joab--a new affront, which, no doubt, wounded the pride of the stern and haughty old general. But h…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 20:4

Then said the king to Amasa - Thus he invests him with the command of the army, and sends him to collect the men of Judah, and to come back to receive his orders in relation to Sheba, in three days. It appears that Amasa found more difficulty in collecting his country-men than was at first supposed; and this detaining him beyond the three days, David, fearing that Sheba's rebellion would get head, sent Abishai, who it appears was accompanied by Joab, to pursue after Sheba. Amasa, it seems, got up with them at Gibeon, Sa2 20:8, where he was treacherously murdered by the execrable Joab.

Dictionary and topics

Amasa — Burden. (1.) The son of Abigail, a sister of king David (1 Chr. 2:17; 2 Sam. 17:25). He was appointed by David to command the army in room of his cousin Joab (2 Sam. 19:13), who afterwards…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Gibeon — Hill-city, “one of the royal cities, greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty” (Josh. 10:2). Its inhabitants were Hivites (11:19). It lay within the territory of Benjamin, and became a…
Joab — Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, and “captain of the host” during the whole of David’s reign (2 Sam. 2:13; 10:7; 11:1; 1 Kings 11:15). His father’s name…
Sheba — An oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf. (2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan (Gen. 10:28), probably the founder of…
Abishai · Overthrows Sheba — Overthrows Sheba

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Samuel 20:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 20:4-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 20:4

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 20:4

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 20:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 20:4-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 20:4

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 20:4

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 2 Samuel 20:6

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 20:1-22

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 20:4-5

Rashi on 2 Samuel 20:6