Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 2:26 - 2:35
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The End of Joab
v. 26. And unto Abiathar, the priest, said the king, in deposing him and his family from office, Get thee to Anathoth, a priests' town in the tribe of Benjamin, some five miles northeast of Jerusalem, unto thine own fields, for he had possessions there; for thou art worthy of death, as a conspirator against the king; but I will not at this time put thee to death because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David, my father, 1Sa_23:6; 2Sa_15:24-29, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted, both during the persecution of Saul and during the rebellion of Absalom.
v. 27. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh, from whom Abiathar was, through Ithamar, descended. The office of the high priest, from this time forth, passed over to the house of Eleazar, to which Zadok belonged. If a servant of the Word becomes guilty of flagrant transgressions of God's holy Law, he becomes unworthy of the holy office.
v. 28. Then tidings came to Joab, he received news of the execution of Adonijah and of the deposition of Abiathar; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, probably the tent of David on Mount Zion, and caught hold on the horns of the altar, the altar being considered a place of refuge, 1Ki_1:50.
v. 29. And it was told King Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the official executioner, saying, Go, fall upon him.
v. 30. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. He did not like to perform the execution in the sanctuary. And he, Joab, said, Nay; but I will die here. He relied upon his defiance to save his life. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
v. 31. And the king, assuming the responsibility, said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and, after the execution, bury him, that thou mayest take away the innocent blood which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father; for as long as the murderer was unpunished, the blood-guiltiness rested upon the chief magistrate of the land, Num_35:30-31; Deu_19:13.
v. 32. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon the two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner, the son of Ner, 2Sa_3:27, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether, 2Sa_20:10, captain of the host of Judah. Thus the blood of these men, which had been shed by Joab in deliberate murder, mould be avenged.
v. 33. Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, to be required at his hand, and upon the head of his seed forever, Cf 2Sa_3:28-29; but upon David and upon his seed and upon his house, his family in all its descendants, and upon his throne, upon the royal office hereditary in his family, shall there be peace forever from the Lord, salvation and blessing in richest measure.
v. 34. So Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, went up and fell upon him, in the sanctuary, and slew him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness, that of Judah, not far from Bethlehem and Tekoa.
v. 35. And the king put Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who till now had been captain of the king's body-guard, in his room over the host, making him commander-in-chief over the army; and Zadok, the priest, did the king put in the room of Abiathar, the only high priest in office. No matter if one has, for a long time, walked in the paths of righteousness; if he becomes unfaithful to his Lord, he loses the credit of his former conduct and must suffer the penalty of his transgressions.