The king said to him, “Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house. Yahweh will return his blood on his own head, because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and killed them with the sword, and my father David didn’t know it: Abner the son of Ner, captain of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the army of Judah. So their blood will return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his offspring forever. But for David, for his offspring, for his house, and for his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.”
Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell on him, and killed him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv31, 33 For it was lawful to take the willful murderer…
For it was lawful to take the willful murderer from the altar, Exod. 21:14.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv31–34 1Ki 2:31 And the king said unto him, Do…
1Ki 2:31 And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.
Ver. 31. Do as he hath said.] Slay him, though it be at the altar. Becket, the traitor, was so served by some that belonged to our Henry II, and thought to gratify him thereby. And although the king constantly protested, se nec mandasse, nec voluisse, nec suo artificio quaesivisse necem Thomae, that he was neither witting nor willing to the taking away of his life in that sort; yet, for a penance, he was, by the command of the Pope’s legate, lashed on the bare [back] with rods, each of the priests and friars there present - and they were not a few - giving him three or four stripes, till the blood followed: besides that he was forced to go three miles on his bare feet, which yielded bloody tokens of his devotion, on the way to Becket’s sepulchre, which he went to visit. {a}
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{a} Rev., De Vit. Pontif., 149. Dan., Hist., fol. 101.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv31–34 Do as he hath said; either,
Do as he hath said; either,
1. Kill him in that place; and for so doing Solomon might seem to have warrant from God, Exo 21:14, and might further design by this just severity to deter future offenders, by showing that no place nor person should protect them from the stroke of justice. Or rather,
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2. Let him die as he is resolved; kill him, though he be there; take him by violence from that place, and then kill him; for Exo 21:14 doth not command the ruler to kill the murderer there, but to remove him thence, to
take him from the altar, that he may die. And seeing this might be done, why should Solomon unnecessarily stain the altar with his blood?
The innocent blood, i. e. both the guilt of it, which would rest upon my father and my family if it went unpunished; and the scandal and reproach of it, that neither this nor following ages may imagine that it was done by David’s secret instigation, or with his consent.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv31–34 And the Lord shall return his blood upon his…
And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head,.... By way of retaliation, blood for blood:
who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he; later named; for though they had been in open rebellion against David, yet had submitted, and were reconciled and received into favour; and even their open crimes were not so bad, Solomon judged, as his secret treacherous murders of innocent persons in cool blood; they were men of more honour and integrity than he was, not so cruel and barbarous, though guilty in other respects:
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and slew them with the sword, my father not knowing thereof; this is observed to remove all suspicion, and which doubtless had been entertained by some, that David had an hand in their death; and that Joab did what he did with his knowledge and consent, and by his advice and order; they having been both concerned in rebellion against him, the one under Ishbosheth, and the other under Absalom:
to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah: the reason of the two hosts, of which they were captains or generals, being thus distinguished, is, because the tribes of Israel were on the side of Ishbosheth, whose general Abner was, in opposition to Judah, who made David their king; and, on the other hand, they were the men of Judah that were first and chiefly in the rebellion of Absalom, whose general Amasa was; of the murder of these two men by Joab, see Sa2 3:27.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv31, 34 Do, &c. - Kill him, though he be there;…
Do, &c. - Kill him, though he be there; take him from that place, and then kill him: for, Exod. xxi, 14, doth not command the ruler to kill the murderer there, but to remove him thence, to take him from the altar, that he may die.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v34 Verse 34. So Benaiah - went up - and…
Verse 34. So Benaiah - went up - and slew him] It appears he slew him at the very altar. Joab must have been both old and infirm at this time, and now he bleeds for Abner, he bleeds for Amasa, and he bleeds for Uriah. The two former he murdered; of the blood of the latter he was not innocent; yet he had done the state much service, and they knew it. But he was a murderer, and vengeance would not suffer such to live.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv31–32 1Ki 2:31. Do as he hath said — Kill…
1Ki 2:31. Do as he hath said — Kill him, though he be there; take him from that place, and then kill him: for Exo 21:14, doth not command the ruler to kill the murderer there, but to remove him thence; to take him from the altar, that he may die. That thou mayest take away the innocent blood from me — Kings or judges owe that justice to God, whose vicegerents they are, as to inflict those punishments on offenders which the divine laws require them to inflict: or otherwise, the punishment due to the offenders may with justice fall upon their own heads, as, by not executing the punishment, they, in some measure, give their approbation to the crime.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv31–34 It was only a murderer to whom the tabernacle…
It was only a murderer to whom the tabernacle was to be no protection (margin reference). Hence, the reference to the “innocent blood.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v34 Slew him, holding the altar; though some think that…
Slew him, holding the altar; though some think that he was removed by force, like Athalia, 4 Kings xi. 15. Both actions were contrary to the reverence due to so holy a place, and perhaps inexcusable; (Calmet) unless the law had ordered it otherwise, Exodus xxi. 14. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv33–34 Their blood shall . . . return upon the…
Their blood shall . . . return upon the head of Joab, &c.--A reference is here made to the curse publicly and solemnly pronounced by King David (Sa2 3:28-29).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv33–34 33. Upon… his seed for ever — So the…
33. Upon… his seed for ever — So the bitter curse of David had long before predicted. See 2Sa_3:29. On that archaic jurisprudence which visited the sins of the fathers upon the children, see note on Jos_7:24.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv31–34 31. and bury him] The LXX. adds these words…
31. and bury him] The LXX. adds these words to the king’s previous order in 1Ki_2:29. Joab was Solomon’s cousin, and so though it was a political necessity to put him to death, the king would not care to add further dishonour to the dead body.
the innocent blood] i.e. The causeless bloodshed of innocent people of which Joab had been guilty, and which, until it was avenged, would lie at the door of David and his descendants.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv31–34 And the king said unto him do as he…
And the king said unto him do as he hath said, and fall upon him the law decreed (Exo_21:14) that, if a man had slain his neighbour with guile, he should be taken from the altar to die. Possibly the desperate character of Joab made literal compliance with this command well nigh impossible. The attempt to drag him from his place of refuge might have led to a bloody encounter. And the king evidently felt that Joab"s crimes justified exceptional measures, and bury him why this injunction? Possibly because the spirit of; Deu_21:23 seemed to Solomon to require it. Both Bahr and Keil think it was that Joab"s services to the kingdom might be requited with an honourable sepulture. Was it not rather that the corpse might be removed with all possible haste from the sanctuary, which it defiled, and hidden from view, as one accursed of God, in the earth? So Bishop Hall: "He sends Benaiah to take away the offender both from God and men, from the altar and the world" that thou mayest take away LXX "today," shmeron the innocent blood for the construction cf. 1Sa_25:31; Neh_2:12; and Ewald, 287 d. Innocent blood, i.e., blood not shed in war, or forfeited to justice, rested upon the community, or the authorities responsible for its punishment (Num_35:33; Deu_19:10, 13 21:9. Cf. Gen_4:10) until satisfaction was made. See on ver. 5, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father. Heb. "from upon me." Solomon evidently believed that the guilt of blood was upon him and his house so long as Abner"s and Amasa"s blood remained unavenged ("The blood that is not required from the murderer will be required from the magistrate." Henry), and that he and his seed might have to answer for it, as Saul"s seed had done. (2Sa_21:1, 2Sa_21:9) This is one of the many considerations which show that both David and Solomon were actuated not by "cold-blooded vengeance" or "long-cherished resentment" (Stanley), but by a sense of duty. In fact, Jewish law imperatively demanded the death of Joab, and to spare him was to violate all law, and to imperil the throne and the people. "Only a superficial observer," says Ewald, "can here reproach Solomon with needless severity."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 34 General Information:
General Information:
King Solomon explains why Joab should die.
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May Yahweh return his blood on his own head
The word "his" refers to Joab. "Blood" is a metonym for murder. And, the idiom "his blood on his own head" means the person should be considered guilty for murder. AT: "Joab has murdered people, and I want Yahweh to hold him guilty for what he has done" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)
more righteous and better
These words mean basically the same thing and emphasize that Abner and Amasa were much better men than Joab. (See: Doublet)
may their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants
The word "blood" is a metonym for murder. And, the idiom "blood return on the head of" means the person should be considered guilty for murder. AT: "I want Yahweh to hold Joab and his descendants guilty" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)
to his house, and to his throne
The words "house" and "throne" are metonyms for the family and the kingdom. AT: "to David's descendants and to David's kingdom" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
righteous
sword
Abner
Israel
Judah
David
descend
eternity
throne
peace
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.