A crisis will bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. The representatives of the tribes were gathered at Gilgal to escort their king back to Jerusalem, and instead of rejoicing at the victory God had given His people, the tribes were fighting among themselves. The “men of Israel” were the ten northern tribes, and they were angry at the southern tribe of Judah, which had also absorbed the tribe of Simeon. Israel was angry because Judah had not waited for them to arrive on the scene to help take David home. Judah had “kidnapped” the king and had ignored and insulted the other ten tribes. Judah replied that David was from their tribe, so they had the greater responsibility to care for him. Israel argued that they had ten shares in David but Judah had only two, as though the king were some kind of security on the stock market. Apparently nobody urged the tribes to call on Jehovah for His help and to remember that Gilgal was the place where Israel had made a new beginning in Joshua’s day (Josh. 3–5).
The conflict between Judah and Israel had deep roots, just like the political conflicts that divide many nations today. When King Saul assembled his first army, it was divided between Israel and Judah (1 Sam. 11:8), and this division continued throughout his reign (15:4; 17:52; 18:16). After the death of Saul, the ten tribes of Israel followed Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth, while Judah followed David (2 Sam. 2:10–11). Judah, of course, was obeying the will of God, for the Lord had named David as the nation’s next king. This tribal rivalry existed even in David’s day (11:11; 12:8). “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,” said Jesus, “and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matt. 12:25). When Rehoboam became king after the death of Solomon his father, the rift widened and the kingdom divided into Judah and Israel.
All it takes to light the fires of conflict is a speech from a would-be leader, and Sheba was that leader. Being a Benjamite, he favored the house of Saul, and he was probably an officer in the northern army. If the ten tribes seceded from the kingdom, perhaps he could become commander of their army. Sheba didn’t declare war; all he did was dismiss the army and the citizens who came from the northern tribes and tell them not to follow David any longer. But in essence it was a declaration of war, for Sheba marched through the northern tribes trying to gather a following (v. 14). It appears that not many people responded, and Sheba and his followers ended up in the walled city of Abel.
Joab again took command of David’s troops and followed Sheba to Abel, surrounded the city, and began to lay siege to it. For the third time in the “David story,” a woman changes the course of events. Abigail was the first (1 Sam. 25), and the woman of Tekoa was the second (2 Sam. 14). The wise woman called to Joab from the wall and assured him that her city was not in league with any rebels and therefore didn’t deserve to be attacked. Perhaps she was thinking about the law in Deuteronomy 20:10–16 requiring that a city first be given an offer of peace before it was attacked. When Joab explained that it was only Sheba he was after, she persuaded the citizens to kill the rebel leader and save the city. However, Sheba wasn’t a scapegoat; as a rebel against the king, he deserved to be slain. Sheba wanted to be head of the army, but instead, his head was thrown over the wall to the army.
The chapter closes with a second listing of David’s officers (8:15–18), and two new officers are added: Adoram (or Adoniram) was in charge of the forced labor, and Ira the Jairite served as David’s chaplain. The “forced labor” was done by prisoners of war, but Israelites were occasionally conscripted to assist with government building projects. During Solomon’s reign and after, the officer in charge of these labor projects didn’t have an easy time of it (1 Kings 4:6; 5:14; 12:18ff.; 2 Chron. 10:18–19).
Now we must back up a bit to discover how Joab regained the command of David’s army.