שמואל ב, פרק כ׳, פסוק ט״ו

Joab's military forces corner the rebel Sheba son of Bichri, trapping him inside a fortified city and laying a heavy siege [מצודת ציון, רלב״ג]. The rebel's choice to hide in a city named Abel served as an ominous sign of the mourning and death that awaited him [אברבנאל]. To ensure clear identification among several towns with this common name, the location was specifically known as Abel of Beth-maacah [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

To breach the city, the attackers built a massive dirt ramp. They poured earth into the surrounding trenches or directly against the wall, aiming to climb over the defenses. As the soldiers repeatedly trampled the dirt, it became tightly packed and solid, forming a stable pathway [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The siege focused heavily on the city's fortification system. The primary approach among commentators is that these defenses consisted of a low outer wall situated just in front of the main, high wall [רש״י, מצודת דוד]. Others suggest the focus was on the inner wall [רלב״ג] or the deep trench surrounding the city [רד״ק]. The standoff at these defenses is understood in a few ways. One perspective is that the attacking army advanced and positioned itself directly on or at the base of the low wall [מצודת דוד, רד״ק]. Alternatively, the ramp itself reached the fortifications but stalled there, proving insufficient to penetrate the city [מלבי״ם, אברבנאל]. A third view suggests that the city itself stood strong, holding out by relying on its inner wall after the outer wall had already fallen [רש״י].

Because the dirt ramp alone was not enough to force a surrender, the soldiers shifted their strategy to bring the wall down completely [מלבי״ם, אברבנאל]. Since this was a standard walled city rather than a massive, impenetrable fortress, the attackers knew a breach was entirely possible [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. To achieve this, they either used heavy tools to physically smash the stones, or they began to carefully calculate and plan the exact tactical maneuvers needed to topple the defenses to the ground [רד״ק].