(14) В¶ And 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. (15) And 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.
As this city belonged to the tribe of Napthali, it is to be wondered at, that Joab did not according to the law, first propose terms of peace, before that he and his army began to batter the wall. See Deuteronomy 20:10-14.