שמואל ב, פרק כ׳, פסוק א׳

In the midst of a fiery debate between the people of Judah and the people of Israel over who holds a greater claim to King David, a new crisis emerges that threatens to tear the kingdom apart. A man named Sheba son of Bichri enters the scene. The primary approach among commentators is that he simply happened to be there by chance, though another perspective suggests he was deliberately summoned to the gathering [רש״י]. He is characterized as a deeply wicked individual who had completely cast off the authority of heaven [מצודת ציון] and operated entirely without restraint [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Coming from the tribe of Benjamin, the same tribe as the former King Saul, Sheba harbored a deep grudge against David over the fall of Saul's royal house. His resentment likely mirrored the quiet frustrations of others within his tribe [אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Observing that David remained silent and chose not to intervene in the bitter dispute between the tribes, Sheba seized the perfect opportunity to incite conflict. He launches an open rebellion, signaling the sudden uprising by sounding a horn [מצודת דוד].

Mocking the ongoing argument over who was closer to the king, Sheba declares that his faction has no share in David at all. He essentially tells the bickering tribes that while they argue over the size of their stake in the monarchy, they should not speak so proudly, as his people claim no part in it [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. He further emphasizes this detachment by referring to David merely as the son of Jesse. This can be understood simply as a poetic repetition [מצודת ציון], but it also serves as a pointed insult directed at David's ancestry. By highlighting that David's father was a commoner, Sheba argues that this kingship is not a legitimate, generational inheritance, and therefore, there is no reason to remain loyal to it [מלבי״ם].

Finally, Sheba issues a call for the Israelites to return to their homes and abandon the king. More than just a political separation from David, this rallying cry can be seen as a complete rejection of the concept of monarchy altogether. It promotes the idea that a national king is entirely unnecessary and that every man should simply rule over his own household [אברבנאל]. According to tradition, this specific rallying cry is noted as one of the eighteen scribal corrections found in the Bible [מנחת שי].