Neville Goddard on 2 Samuel 20:14-22 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 2 Samuel 20 in context

Scripture Focus

14And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.

15And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.

16Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.

17And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

18Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

19I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?

20And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

21The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.

22Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

2 Samuel 20:14-22

Biblical Context

Joab besieges Abel to destroy it. A wise woman speaks, guiding Joab to spare the city by delivering Sheba, after which the people remove the threat and peace returns to the king.

Neville's Inner Vision

Viewed through the Neville lens, the siege of Abel is a drama of the mind under pressure. Abel represents a state of consciousness that seeks counsel before action, a sacred inner city where you trust the I AM to speak through intuition. The wise woman at the gate embodies your inner imagination or inner voice—the counsel that can turn fear into strategy by inviting Joab, the bold external impulse, to come near and listen. When the old saying about seeking counsel in Abel is recalled, the scene shifts from destruction to discernment: you claim a peaceful, faithful stance in Israel, refusing to swallow up the inheritance of the LORD with mere force. Joab’s claim that he would depart if spared signals the ego’s resistance to true alignment; yet the decisive move is to deliver him only and permit the disruptive element to be released. The head tossed over the wall is a symbolic release of a problem from your awareness, allowing the army to withdraw and the king to return. The lesson: real resolution comes when inner counsel governs, and sovereignty returns to the king within you.

Practice This Now

Imaginative_act: In a quiet moment, assume the role of Abel’s wise counselor within you. Listen for the inner counsel before reacting to a disturbance; revise the impulse to destroy, and feel the problem released beyond the wall, restoring inner harmony and your kingly authority.