^20:17When he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He replied, “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” He said, “Go ahead. I’m listening.” ^20:18She said, “In the past they would always say, ‘Let them inquire in Abel,’ and that is how they settled things. ^20:19I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city²⁷ in Israel. Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”

^20:20Joab answered, “Get serious!²⁸ I don’t want to swallow up or destroy anything! ^20:21That’s not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri. He has rebelled²⁹ against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city.” The woman said to Joab, “This very minute³⁰ his head will be thrown over the wall to you!”

^20:22Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice and they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it out to Joab. Joab³¹ blew the trumpet, and his men³² dispersed from the city, each going to his own home.³³ Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

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Footnotes

27 Heb “a city and a mother.” The expression is a hendiadys, meaning that this city was an important one in Israel and had smaller cities dependent on it.
28 Heb “Far be it, far be it from me.” The expression is clearly emphatic, as may be seen in part by the repetition. P. K. McCarter, however, understands it to be coarser than the translation adopted here. He renders it as “I’ll be damned if …” (II Samuel [], , ), which (while it is not a literal translation) may not be too far removed from the way a soldier might have expressed himself.
29 Heb “lifted his hand.”
30 Heb “Look!”
31 Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 Heb “they”; the referent (Joab’s men) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33 Heb “his tents.”