Sheba (son of Bichri)

Biblical Account

Sheba appears in 2 Samuel 20. After Absalom's rebellion was put down, a dispute arose between the men of Judah and the rest of Israel as David was returning to Jerusalem. At issue was which group had the greater right to bring the king back (2 Samuel 19:41-43).

At that moment Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, blew a trumpet and cried out: "We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel." The men of Israel left David and followed Sheba, while the men of Judah remained with David (2 Samuel 20:1-2). The New Korean Revised Version describes Sheba as a "scoundrel"; the underlying Hebrew expression, rendered in the KJV as "a man of Belial," denotes a worthless and wicked man.

Fearing that Sheba would do more harm than Absalom had, David sent out troops against him (2 Samuel 20:6). When Amasa, who was first given charge of suppressing the revolt, failed to return by the appointed time, Abishai and Joab set out in pursuit. Along the way, Joab killed Amasa beside the great stone in Gibeon (2 Samuel 20:8-10).

Sheba passed through the tribes of Israel and entered the northern city of Abel Beth Maacah. Joab besieged the city and set about battering down its wall. A wise woman within the city then negotiated with Joab and secured his promise to spare the city if Sheba alone were handed over. The people of the city cut off Sheba's head and threw it over the wall to Joab, who blew the trumpet and withdrew his troops, bringing the rebellion to an end (2 Samuel 20:14-22).

Significance Within the Bible

Sheba's cry is nearly identical to the words spoken by the northern tribes when they broke away from the house of David in the days of Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:16). For this reason, Sheba's rebellion is read as evidence that a rift already existed between Judah and the other tribes in David's time, and as an event foreshadowing the later division of the kingdom. Some interpreters, noting that Sheba belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, the same tribe as Saul, connect his revolt with the discontent of those who had supported Saul's house. The New Testament does not mention Sheba.

Interpretation and Issues

• 2 Samuel 20:2 states that "every man of Israel" followed Sheba. In the narrative that follows, however, the band that stayed with Sheba to the end appears to have been small. Scholars therefore differ over the actual scale of the rebellion.
• On the basis of manuscript evidence, some scholars read the "Berites" of 2 Samuel 20:14 as "Bichrites," that is, Sheba's own clan.
• Sheba should be distinguished from the following:
• Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, whose name is similar in Korean
• The Queen of Sheba
• Another Sheba, listed in the genealogy of the tribe of Gad (1 Chronicles 5:13)
• No major differences among denominations in the interpretation of this figure are known.

In the Korean Church

Sermons devoted solely to Sheba are rare. He is more often treated in the context of the narrative of David's later years, or together with Joab's killing of Amasa and the story of the wise woman of Abel. In preaching, he is cited as an example of agitation that sows division within a community, or as the backdrop to the story of an entire city spared from disaster through the wisdom of one person.