Abel Beth Maacah

Biblical Text

Abel Beth Maacah is a city of northern Israel mentioned several times in the Old Testament.

• 2 Samuel 20:14-22: After the rebellion of Absalom had ended, Sheba, a Benjamite, rebelled against David and fled to this city. When Joab besieged it and built a siege ramp (a mound of earth) in order to batter down the wall, a wise woman of the city negotiated with him. Calling it "a city and a mother in Israel" (2 Samuel 20:19), she pleaded with him not to destroy it. When Joab said he would withdraw if Sheba alone were handed over, the inhabitants threw Sheba's head over the wall, and Joab withdrew his army.
• 1 Kings 15:20: When Ben-hadad king of Aram, at the request of King Asa of Judah, attacked the northern kingdom of Israel, he struck this city along with Ijon and Dan. The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 16:4 calls the city "Abel-maim."
• 2 Kings 15:29: In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria captured this city along with the regions of Galilee and Naphtali and carried the inhabitants captive to Assyria.

Background and Location

"Abel" is commonly interpreted as "meadow" or "pasture," and "Beth Maacah" is understood to mean "house of Maacah." Maacah also appears as the name of a small Aramean kingdom northeast of Israel (2 Samuel 10:6). Because the city lay near Israel's northern border, it was among the first places attacked by powers advancing from the north, such as Aram and Assyria.

The city is widely identified with a tell near Metula, at the northernmost tip of modern Israel, and archaeological excavations are reported to be under way at the site. Scholars differ, however, on the details of the site's dating and character.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

The account in 2 Samuel shows that tension already existed between the northern tribes and the house of David before the division of the kingdom. Sheba's cry, "We have no part in David" (2 Samuel 20:1), is nearly identical to the words spoken by the northern tribes when they broke away under Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:16). In Kings, the city appears among the first to fall to foreign invaders from the north, and it is one of the place names that mark the events leading to the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The name does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• One place or two?: The Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 20:14 can also be read as referring to two places, "Abel and Beth Maacah." For this reason, spelling and interpretation differ somewhat among translations and commentaries. Most scholars, however, regard it as the name of a single city on the basis of other verses in the same chapter and its usage in Kings.
• The wise woman: The text does not give the woman's name. Some later Jewish traditions (midrash) identify her with Serah, the granddaughter of Jacob (Genesis 46:17), but this is a later embellishment with no basis in the biblical text.
• Moral evaluation: Sermons and commentaries often portray the woman as a wise mediator who spared an entire city from bloodshed brought on by one man's rebellion. Because the negotiation ended in the rebel's execution, however, readers differ on whether the text commends her action or merely describes the events.