Wise Woman of Abel

Biblical Account

This woman appears only in 2 Samuel 20:14-22. Scripture does not record her name, her family, or the details of her life.

After the rebellion of Absalom had ended, Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, rose up against David. Joab pursued him north to the city of Abel Beth Maachah. Joab's army cast up a siege mound (a bank of earth) against the city and set about battering down the wall. At this point a wise woman inside the city called out to Joab and spoke with him.

The woman cited an old saying, "They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter," to show that the city was renowned for its wisdom and judgment (2 Samuel 20:18). She then described herself as "one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel" and challenged Joab for seeking "to destroy a city and a mother in Israel" and to "swallow up the inheritance of the LORD" (2 Samuel 20:19).

Joab replied that he did not intend to destroy the city; he would withdraw if only Sheba, the one man who had lifted up his hand against the king, were handed over. The woman promised that Sheba's head would be thrown to him over the wall. She then "went unto all the people in her wisdom" and persuaded them, and they cut off Sheba's head and cast it out to Joab. Joab blew a trumpet, the army withdrew from the city, and he returned to the king at Jerusalem (2 Samuel 20:22).

Significance Within Scripture

The story is set at the point where the internal strife of David's kingdom comes to an end. It records how one woman's words and judgment spared an entire city from war.

Like the woman of Tekoa in 2 Samuel 14, she is called a "wise woman," and both stories involve Joab. The expression "a mother in Israel" is also used in Judges 5:7, where Deborah applies it to herself. The New Testament makes no mention of this woman.

Interpretations and Debates

• Some scholars point to the two "wise woman" narratives as evidence that ancient Israel had a role for women who handled community affairs through wisdom and mediation. Others hold that the stories simply portray individual characters.
• Interpreters differ over her decision to hand over one man in order to save many. Some see it as a just judgment in dealing with a rebel, while others also weigh the ethical burden of an unavoidable choice made in wartime.
• Because she is a wise person who saved a city, her story is sometimes read alongside the account of the poor wise man in Ecclesiastes 9:13-16, although the two texts are not directly connected.
• Rabbinic midrash (interpretive literature on Scripture) reportedly includes accounts that identify this woman with Serah the daughter of Asher. This is a later tradition not stated in the biblical text.

In Korean Churches

In Korean churches she is not a prominent figure. She is sometimes mentioned in sermons on wisdom, peace, and conflict mediation, or in introductions to women of the Bible. In such contexts she is occasionally cited together with the Beatitudes, which speak of the peacemakers.