Bible Strands
2 Samuel 20:16
a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A wise woman in the besieged city of Abel-beth-maacah calls out to Joab’s forces, interrupting the wall-battering to demand a direct audience. The words — The text foregrounds חֲכָמָה (ḥāḵāmâ, “wise”) to identify the speaker and repeats שִׁמְעוּ (šimʿû, “listen”) to command immediate attention. The thread — This tactical appeal mirrors the wise woman Joab previously dispatched from Tekoa (2 Samuel 14:2) and reflects the siege narrative in Ecclesiastes 9:14. Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to acknowledge that measured speech can halt military action and redirect conflict toward negotiation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
- Ecclesiastes 9:14 There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.
- 1 Samuel 25:3 His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
- 1 Samuel 25:32 Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!