Bible Strands
2 Samuel 20:6
And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David commands Abishai to lead the king’s troops in pursuit of Sheba son of Bichri immediately after Amasa delays gathering Judah (2 Samuel 20:5).
The words — The Hebrew יֵ֧רַֽע (Ye.ra') literally means "he will be bad," recording David's direct assessment that Sheba's threat will exceed Absalom's before issuing the pursuit order.
The thread — This directive to mobilize the king's servants aligns with the royal command in 1 Kings 1:33 and recalls Abishai's established role as a royal military leader in 2 Samuel 21:17.
Why it lands — The text establishes that delayed mobilization allows rebellion to secure fortified positions, requiring immediate royal action to prevent the kingdom from fracturing.
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
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 11:11 Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”
- 2 Samuel 21:17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to his aid, struck the Philistine, and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You must never again go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel may not be extinguished.”
- 1 Kings 1:33 “Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.
- 1 Samuel 26:6 And David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” “I will go with you,” answered Abishai.
- 2 Samuel 2:18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,
- 2 Samuel 3:30 (Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
- 2 Samuel 3:39 And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”
- 2 Samuel 10:9 When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.
- 2 Samuel 10:14 When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
- 2 Samuel 18:2 He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.”