Tuesday, June 25, 2013

2 Samuel 20

2 Samuel 20:21
Such is not the case.  But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against King David.  Only hand him over, and I will depart from the city."  And the woman said to Joab, "Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall."
I have to admit I'm somewhat confused by this exchange.  The woman wants to know why an army from Judah is besieging her city.  She doesn't know why?  Sheba publicly denounced the king, got all the other tribes to turn their backs on David, then flees to this town.  This army shows up and starts attacking the wall, and the people don't know why?

Is he in hiding so deep that they didn't know he was there?  If so, how did they find him to kill him?  If he's not hiding, is he so much a nobody that he was just another anonymous person?  If so, how was he important enough to draw attention in the first place?  I wouldn't think that just anyone can say "let's go" and almost the entire nation would.

I guess another possibility is that she thought that because they had harbored Sheba, the army had come to punish the entire city.  She came to plead for mercy, and when she learned they were not all doomed, they "extradited" him as requested.

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