Read 2 Samuel 20 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
20:1-3 {s} Israel rejects the king/ the king rejects his ten concubines
20:4-5 {s} David charged Amasa to assemble Judah, but Amasa delayed
20:6-8 {s} As David could not delay longer, he set Abishai over Judah to pursue Sheba
20:9-14a {s} Joab murdered Amasa and continued the pursuit of Sheba
20:14b-19 {p} Joab besieged Abel, where Sheba had taken refuge
20:20-22 {s} Abel delivers Sheba to Joab, and he returned to the king at Jerusalem
20:23-26 {s} David’s ministers in Jerusalem
The Strong Theme:
19:29-20:19 {sx10+p} Jealousy over the king, between Israel and Judah, and Joab and Amasa
2 Samuel 20:4-22 Chiastic Structure:
What an unusual central axis. In verse 4, the king told Amasa to have the men mustered within three days. Three is a Sign of Messiah in Scripture. As I began to dwell on the Messianic significance of this chapter, I realized that the king (Messiah by Prophetic Type) sent Amasa on a kingdom mission, and he delayed to execute it. Joab realized Amasa was a traitor, thinking that his delay would support Sheba (a Benjamite, that is, an adherent to the house of Saul as king). So Joab executed Amasa. Now the central axis: the men of Judah were likewise on a kingdom mission. But the downfall of Amasa was distracting them from their mission; everyone stood still. The young man who removed the distraction focused the men on their mission once more. And that, I believe, is why we have the unusual central axis.
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