Single lesson
The Wise Woman of Abel and Sheba's Rebellion
2 Samuel 20:1–26
This lesson traces a rebellion against David, a painful situation in David’s house, a violent struggle for control, and the wise action of a woman in Abel. Students will follow the whole passage and identify choices and outcomes.
Before you teach
Sheba calls Israel to break away from David, while Judah stays with the king. After David returns to Jerusalem, the passage reports what he does with the ten concubines he had left to keep the house. David then responds to Sheba’s rebellion, Joab takes over the pursuit, and the account ends with a list of officials and their roles under David. (2 Samuel 20:1, 2 Samuel 20:2, 2 Samuel 20:3, 2 Samuel 20:6, 2 Samuel 20:22, 2 Samuel 20:23, 2 Samuel 20:24, 2 Samuel 20:25, 2 Samuel 20:26)
Students will be able to sequence 2 Samuel 20:1–26 and identify how rebellion, delay, violence, wise speech and leadership decisions shaped the outcome.
Welcome: Listen for key turning points
5 minExplain that this passage includes serious conflict, graphic violence, and a difficult report about women in David’s house, so the class will study it carefully and respectfully. Invite students to listen for the main turning points: Sheba’s rebellion, David’s return to Jerusalem, Amasa’s delay, Joab’s violence, the wise woman’s intervention, and the closing list of officials.
2 Samuel 20:1, 2 Samuel 20:3, 2 Samuel 20:5, 2 Samuel 20:10, 2 Samuel 20:16, 2 Samuel 20:23
Read and explain: Follow the whole chapter in order
12 minRead the chapter in short parts. Sheba calls Israel away from David, while Judah stays with him. David returns to Jerusalem and places the ten concubines in custody, provides for them, and they live in widowhood. He sends Amasa, but when Amasa delays, pursuit begins. Joab kills Amasa, pursues Sheba to Abel, and the passage later ends with a list of officials and their roles under David.
2 Samuel 20:1, 2 Samuel 20:2, 2 Samuel 20:3, 2 Samuel 20:4, 2 Samuel 20:5, 2 Samuel 20:6, 2 Samuel 20:10, 2 Samuel 20:15, 2 Samuel 20:23, 2 Samuel 20:24, 2 Samuel 20:25, 2 Samuel 20:26
Discuss: Which choices increased trouble, and which reduced it?
8 minDiscuss the different actions in the passage. Sheba stirs division against the king. David acts regarding the women in his house after returning to Jerusalem. Amasa is late. Joab uses deception and violence. The wise woman asks questions, names the problem clearly, and acts with the people to bring the siege to an end. Keep observations grounded in the wording of the passage.
2 Samuel 20:1, 2 Samuel 20:3, 2 Samuel 20:5, 2 Samuel 20:9, 2 Samuel 20:10, 2 Samuel 20:19, 2 Samuel 20:21, 2 Samuel 20:22
Make and respond: Whole-passage sequence cards
9 minStudents make seven sequence cards for the whole passage: Sheba’s call, Judah’s loyalty, David’s return and the women’s confinement, Amasa’s delay, Joab killing Amasa, the siege and wise woman’s words, and the closing officials list. On each card, they write one choice or action and one result from the text. Then they place the cards in order and compare with a partner.
2 Samuel 20:1, 2 Samuel 20:2, 2 Samuel 20:3, 2 Samuel 20:5, 2 Samuel 20:10, 2 Samuel 20:16, 2 Samuel 20:22, 2 Samuel 20:23, 2 Samuel 20:24, 2 Samuel 20:25, 2 Samuel 20:26
Closing: Review the ending of the passage
6 minReview the sequence aloud from beginning to end. Emphasise what the text states: rebellion divided people, David returned to Jerusalem and dealt with the concubines, Joab used violence, the wise woman’s action ended the siege, and the passage ends with a list of officials and their roles under David. Invite students to state one text-based observation each.
2 Samuel 20:1, 2 Samuel 20:3, 2 Samuel 20:10, 2 Samuel 20:22, 2 Samuel 20:23, 2 Samuel 20:24, 2 Samuel 20:25, 2 Samuel 20:26
Questions to explore
What happened when David returned to Jerusalem, and what does the passage say he did for the ten concubines?
Answer only from the verse: it says he put them in custody, provided for them, and they lived in widowhood.
2 Samuel 20:3
How did Joab take control of the pursuit after Amasa delayed?
Trace the account from David’s instruction to pursue Sheba, through Amasa’s delay, to Joab’s meeting with Amasa and the people following Joab.
2 Samuel 20:5, 2 Samuel 20:6, 2 Samuel 20:8, 2 Samuel 20:9, 2 Samuel 20:10, 2 Samuel 20:11, 2 Samuel 20:13
What does the wise woman say about Abel, and how does her action change the outcome for the city?
Notice how she describes Abel, what she asks Joab, and what happens after she speaks with the people.
2 Samuel 20:18, 2 Samuel 20:19, 2 Samuel 20:21, 2 Samuel 20:22
Make, think or respond
Sequence Cards: The Whole Chapter
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pens or pencils
- ruler
- Bible text
Try it together
- Divide paper into seven cards.
- Label the cards with these events: Sheba’s call, Judah stays with David, David returns and confines the ten women, Amasa delays, Joab kills Amasa, the wise woman and the siege, officials listed under David.
- On each card, add one short note about an action or choice in that event.
- Add one short note about the result that followed.
- Place the cards in order and explain your sequence to a partner or small group.
This activity helps students trace the whole passage from 2 Samuel 20:1–26, including the difficult report in verse 3 and the final list of officials in verses 23–26.
Adapt for your group
- For less confident readers, write the seven event titles on the board and let students draw a simple symbol on each card before adding a few words from the text.
- For more confident students, ask them to add one exact phrase from the passage to each card and explain why that phrase matters in the sequence.
An optional closing prayer
Lord, help us read hard passages carefully. Teach us to recognise harmful choices, to value wise words, and to speak and act with care. Amen.
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
2 Samuel 20
1 There happened to be there a wicked fellow, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!”
2 So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah joined with their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
3 David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in custody and provided them with sustenance, but didn’t go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Call me the men of Judah together within three days, and be here present.”
5 So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together, but he stayed longer than the set time which had been appointed to him.
6 David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your lord’s servants and pursue after him, lest he get himself fortified cities, and escape out of our sight.”
7 Joab’s men went out after him with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men; and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
8 When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was clothed in his apparel of war that he had put on, and on it was a sash with a sword fastened on his waist in its sheath; and as he went along it fell out.
9 Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.
10 But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So he struck him with it in the body and shed out his bowels to the ground, and didn’t strike him again; and he died. Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.
11 One of Joab’s young men stood by him, and said, “He who favors Joab, and he who is for David, let him follow Joab!”
12 Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. When the man saw that all the people stood still, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.
13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 He went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, to Beth Maacah, and all the Berites. They were gathered together, and went also after him.
15 They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down.
16 Then a wise woman cried out of the city, “Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, ‘Come near here, that I may speak with you.’ ”
17 He came near to her; and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your servant.” He answered, “I’m listening.”
18 Then she spoke, saying, “They used to say in old times, ‘They shall surely ask counsel at Abel,’ and so they settled a matter.
19 I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’s inheritance?”
20 Joab answered, “Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.
21 The matter is not so. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Just deliver him, and I will depart from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”
22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
23 Now Joab was over all the army of Israel, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites,
24 Adoram was over the men subject to forced labor, Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder,
25 Sheva was scribe, Zadok and Abiathar were priests,
26 and Ira the Jairite was chief minister to David.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.