Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Sheba raises a sedition against David, who opposes Amasa to him, whom Joab treacherously kills. Sheba, verse 14, occupies Abel; Joab besieges it; the citizens cut off Sheba's head and hand it over to Joab: wherefore, with the sedition quelled by Sheba's death, Joab returns victorious to David.
Vulgate Text: 2 Kings 20:1-26
1. Now it happened that there was a worthless man there named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, and he sounded the trumpet and said: We have no share in David, nor any inheritance in the son of Jesse; return to your tents, O Israel. 2. And all Israel separated from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah adhered to their king from the Jordan to Jerusalem. 3. And when the king had come to his house in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines whom he had left to guard the house and placed them in custody, providing them with food; but he did not go in to them, and they were shut up until the day of their death, living as widows. 4. Then the king said to Amasa: Summon all the men of Judah to me within three days, and be here yourself. 5. So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the time that the king had set for him. 6. And David said to Abishai: Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take therefore your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he find fortified cities and escape us. 7. So Joab's men went out after him, the Cherethites and the Pelethites also, and all the mighty men went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8. And when they were near the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a tight tunic fitted to his body, and over it was girded a sword hanging to his hip in its sheath, which was designed so that it could come out with a slight movement and strike. 9. So Joab said to Amasa: Greetings, my brother. And he took hold of Amasa's chin with his right hand as if to kiss him. 10. But Amasa did not notice the sword that Joab had, and he struck him in the side and poured out his intestines on the ground; he did not strike a second blow, and Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11. Meanwhile certain men, standing near Amasa's corpse, from Joab's companions, said: Behold, the one who wished to be David's companion in place of Joab! 12. But Amasa lay covered in blood in the middle of the road. A certain man, seeing that all the people stopped to look at him, moved Amasa from the road into a field and covered him with a garment, so that passersby would not stop because of him. 13. When he had been removed from the road, every man passed on following Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 14. Now Sheba had passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth-maacah; and all the chosen men had gathered to him. 15. So they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they surrounded the city with siege works, and the city was under siege; and all the host that was with Joab was trying to destroy the walls. 16. And a wise woman cried out from the city: Listen, listen! Tell Joab: Come near here, and I will speak with you. 17. When he had come near to her, she said to him: Are you Joab? And he answered: I am. To whom she spoke thus: Hear the words of your handmaid. And he answered: I am listening. 18. And she again said: It used to be said in an old proverb: Those who inquire, let them inquire at Abel, and so they would settle the matter. 19. Am I not one who gives true answers in Israel, and you seek to destroy the city and overthrow a mother in Israel? Why do you swallow up the Lord's inheritance? 20. And Joab answered: Far be it, far be it from me! I do not swallow up or destroy. 21. The matter is not so; but a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba by name, the son of Bichri, has raised his hand against King David; hand him over alone, and we will withdraw from the city. And the woman said to Joab: Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall. 22. So she went to all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab, and he blew the trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, each to his own tent, and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. 23. So Joab was over all the army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites. 24. And Adoram was over the tribute; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder. 25. And Sheva was the scribe; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests. 26. And Ira the Jairite was David's priest.
Verse 1: Sheba's Rebellion
SHEBA THE SON OF BICHRI, A BENJAMINITE — namely of the tribe of Benjamin, who bore it ill that the kingdom had been transferred from Saul and his tribe of Benjamin to David and the tribe of Judah; hence it seems that this Sheba was one of the leaders of Absalom against David, and perhaps the first after Amasa.
WE HAVE NO SHARE IN DAVID — that is: The tribe of Judah, at the end of the preceding chapter, has clearly shown by words and deeds that David, as their kinsman, belongs to them, not to us who are Israel, that is, the ten tribes, and that he is in no part ours but entirely theirs. Let us therefore each return to our tents and homes, and cast off David as a stranger, who does not pertain to us. This was the sixth punishment of David, namely the rebellion of the ten tribes, stirred up by Sheba.
From this, princes and kings should learn politically to guard against and quell the rivalry among the diverse nations they govern, so that they show equal affection, care, and provision to all, and do not prefer one to another, but treat them with equal goodwill, and thus unite them both to themselves and to each other. Remarkable in this regard was Charles V, who though he ruled over such diverse nations, yet showed himself equal to each, indeed a father, so that to the Spanish he seemed Spanish, to the Italians Italian, to the Germans German, to the French French, to the Belgians Belgian.
Verse 5: Amasa's Delay
5. SO AMASA WENT TO SUMMON JUDAH — so that he, as commander of the army in place of Joab, appointed by David, might through soldiers from the tribe of Judah loyal to David and himself suppress and smother Sheba's rebellion at its very start, lest, if given time, it should grow so much that it could not be overcome. I myself saw in Belgium twenty-two rebellions of royal soldiers due to delayed payment of wages, some of which were immediately suppressed but most of the rest, given a delay of time, so grew that they became impregnable.
In a similar way heresies have grown: for, as St. Jerome says, Arius was a spark in Alexandria, which because it was not immediately extinguished, burst into a flame that devastated the whole world. Hence "the whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian," says the same against Lucifer.
Verse 6: Abishai Sent in Pursuit
6. AND DAVID SAID TO ABISHAI — because Amasa, who had gone to summon an army from Judah, was delaying beyond the three days prescribed by David and was not returning; David, fearing that Sheba would strengthen himself against him, immediately sent ahead Abishai, Joab's brother, with the portion of troops that was at hand, to pursue him.
Verse 8: Joab's Concealed Sword
WHICH WAS DESIGNED SO THAT IT COULD COME OUT WITH A SLIGHT MOVEMENT AND STRIKE. — So that Joab, grasping Amasa's chin with his right hand as if to kiss him, would with his left hand draw a shorter sword or dagger from its sheath with a slight movement, and treacherously stab the unsuspecting Amasa with it.
The cause of the killing was that Joab resented that Amasa had been preferred before him by David, and that he himself had been removed and Amasa made commander of the army. Joab sinned gravely by killing Amasa, and therefore David on his deathbed ordered Solomon to kill him. Amasa, however, also paid just penalties for his own treachery, in that he had rebelled against David his uncle and had been the leader of the rebels.
Verse 9: The Treacherous Kiss
AND HE TOOK HOLD OF AMASA'S CHIN WITH HIS RIGHT HAND AS IF TO KISS HIM. — For this was the ancient custom of greeting. Hear Pliny, book XI, chapter 5: "Among the ancient Greeks it was the custom to touch the chin when supplicating." Hence about Thetis who was supplicating Jupiter, Homer says in Iliad I: "With her right hand she grasped his chin and addressed Jupiter as a suppliant."
Verse 11: The Companion of David
BEHOLD, THE ONE WHO WISHED TO BE DAVID'S COMPANION IN PLACE OF JOAB — namely David's deputy in war and Captain-General.
Verse 15: The Siege of Abel
THEY BESIEGED HIM IN ABEL AND IN BETH-MAACAH. — "And" means "that is"; for Abel was called by another name Beth, that is "house of," Maacah: for Sheba was not in two cities but in one which Joab besieged. It is a notable and fortified city of upper Galilee and a metropolis of the Israelites, situated in the tribe of Naphtali, not far from Caesarea Philippi.
Verse 18: The Proverb of Abel
IT USED TO BE SAID IN AN OLD PROVERB: THOSE WHO INQUIRE, LET THEM INQUIRE AT ABEL, AND SO THEY WOULD SETTLE THE MATTER. — Our city "Abel" from ancient times has been considered the dwelling of wise men, a school and as it were an oracle of wisdom, so that if anything in religion, in morals, or in matters to be dealt with was ambiguous and difficult, they would refer it to the wise men of Abel for resolution, and whatever they resolved, they would carry out and "complete," and that with happy and excellent success. So Angelomus, Abulensis, Cajetan, and others.
Verse 19: A Mother in Israel
AM I NOT ONE WHO GIVES TRUE ANSWERS IN ISRAEL? — The woman speaks in the person of her city and homeland, namely Abel, as if to say: I, Abel, am she who settles all the doubts and disputes of the Israelites, and thus I pacify the litigants by answering them with truth. I, Abel, abound in wise men and prudent men, and I am an Academy of learned men, and therefore like a mother and university from which all Israel seeks instruction and counsel.
AND YOU SEEK TO OVERTHROW A MOTHER IN ISRAEL — a mother, that is, and nurse of wisdom, religion, and virtue. For such are orthodox Academies, as Abel was, and as before David in the time of Joshua was the city of Debir, that is "oracle," and Kiriath-sepher, that is "city of letters," Joshua chapter 15, verse 15.
Verse 22: The Wise Woman's Counsel
AND SHE SPOKE TO THEM WISELY — saying, as Josephus relates: "Do you wish, wicked ones, to perish miserably with your children and wives on account of a wicked and unknown man, and for him to reign instead of David, whose benefits to you are so great? Do you hope that one city can resist so powerful an army?"
Verse 26: Ira the Jairite, David's Priest
AND IRA THE JAIRITE WAS DAVID'S PRIEST. — "Priest" here is properly speaking, through whom David offered his sacrifices to God. Just as today kings have their chaplains, who celebrate Masses for them and before them. So Theodoret and Abulensis. Hence the Chaldean translates "priest" as "prince," that is, a close and particular friend of David.