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Sheba’s Rebellion

20 Right about then, Bichri’s son Sheba, an ungodly man[a] from the tribe of Benjamin, sounded a battle trumpet and announced:

We’ve never been a part of David!
    We’ll never gain anything from Jesse’s son!
        It’s every man to his tent, Israel!

So all of the other Israeli soldiers[b] abandoned David to follow Bichri’s son Sheba, while the army of Judah remained with the king all the way from the Jordan River[c] to Jerusalem.

When David arrived at his palace in Jerusalem, the king took the ten mistresses[d] whom he had left behind to keep the palace in order and placed them in a separate house, providing for them under the care of a protective guard. He never visited them again, so they were under care until they died, living as if their husbands had died.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 20:1 Lit. a son of Belial
  2. 2 Samuel 20:2 I.e. the ten tribes apparently mentioned in 2Sam 19:43; the Heb. lacks other
  3. 2 Samuel 20:2 The Heb. lacks River
  4. 2 Samuel 20:3 Lit. concubines; i.e. secondary wives