2 Samuel 20:15

Contextual Overview

¹⁴Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah. All the Berites came together and followed him. ¹⁴ He went through all the tribes of Yisra'el to Hevel, and to Beit-Ma`akha, and all the Beri`i: and they were gathered together, and went also after him. ¹⁴ And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him. ¹⁴ (He had passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maacah; now all of the Berites had been treated badly, so they also followed after him.) ¹⁴ And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. ¹⁴ Sheba went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maacah. All the Berites also came together and followed him. ¹⁴ Sheba traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, they too joined him. ¹⁴Now Joab went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and also went after Sheba. ¹⁴ Now he went on through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, that is, Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they assembled and went after him as well. ¹⁴ And he went through all the tribes of Israel vnto Abel, and Bethmaachah and all places of Berim: and they gathered together, and went also after him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

cast up: 2 Kings 19:32, Jeremiah 32:24, Jeremiah 33:4, Luke 19:43

a bank: So LXX generally render solelah, by נסןףקשלב or קשלב; which latter is described by Potter as "a mount, which was raised so high as to equal, if not exceed, the top of the besieged walls. The sides were walled in with bricks or stones, or secured with strong rafters; the fore part only, being by degrees to be moved near the walls, remained bare."

it stood in the trench: or, it stood against the outmost wall

battered: etc. Heb. marred to throw down

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 15:20 - Dan 2 Kings 15:29 - Ijon Ecclesiastes 9:14 - There was Ezekiel 26:8 - he shall make

Cross-References

Genesis 13:9
Isn't the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left."

Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you want what is on the left, then I will go right; if you want what is on the right, I will go left."

Genesis 13:9
We should separate. The whole land is there in front of you. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. If you go to the right, I will go to the left."

Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go to the left, then I'll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I'll go to the left."

Genesis 13:9
"Is not the entire land before you? Please separate [yourself] from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left."

Genesis 13:9
"Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left."

Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before thee? depart I pray thee from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will goe to the right: or if thou goe to the right hand, then I will take the left.

Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left."

Genesis 13:9
There is plenty of land for you to choose from. Let's separate. If you go north, I'll go south; if you go south, I'll go north."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah,.... That is, Joab and Abishai, with the forces under them, who pursued him hither:

and they cast up a bank against the city; which some understand of a warlike machine or engine, with which stones were cast; but it rather seems to be a bank of earth thrown up, for the better working of such engines to more advantage against the city, by throwing from thence darts into the city, or stones against the walls of it, to batter it down; such banks were used in sieges, as that Caesar's soldiers raised in twenty five days, which was three hundred thirty feet broad, and eighty feet high z; Kimchi interprets this of filling up the ditches round about the city with dust and earth, and so making it level, whereby they could come the more easily to the walls and batter them, or scale them, and take the city by storm:

and it stood in the trench; the army under Joab stood where the trench round the city had been, now filled up:

and all the people that [were] with Joab battered the wall to throw it down; with their engines, or whatever battering instruments they had; so, often, as Hesiod a says, a whole city suffers for one bad man.

z Caesar. Comment. l. 7. c. 24. a Opera & Dies, l. 1. ver. 236.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Cast up a bank - See the marginal references. The throwing up of mounds against the walls of besieged places by the besiegers is well illustrated in the Assyrian sculptures.

The trench - The “pomoerium,” or fortified space outside the wall. When the mound was planted in the pomoerium the battering engines were able to approach close to the wall to make a breach.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 20:15. They cast up a bank against the city — The word סללה solelah, which we render bank, means, most probably, a battering engine of some kind, or a tower overlooking the walls, on which archers and slingers could stand and annoy the inhabitants, while others of the besiegers could proceed to sap the walls. That it cannot be a bank that stood in the trench, is evident from the circumstance thus expressed.