Joab

Joab the son of Zeruiah is David's nephew, the long-serving captain of his host, and one of the most consequential — and most blood-stained — figures in the Davidic narrative. The UPDV traces him from the pool of Gibeon to the horns of the altar, where Solomon's officer cuts him down for blood once shed in peace. Around him cluster the deaths of Abner and Amasa, the storming of Zion and the siege of Rabbah, the stratagem that returned Absalom to Jerusalem and the dart that killed him, the protested census that brought wrath on Israel, and the Adonijah faction that finally undid him. Three other men — and a place-name — share the name in the Old Testament rosters, but the figure primarily indexed is David's commander, and the bulk of the entry follows him.

Son of Zeruiah, Captain of the Host

Joab is one of the three sons of David's sister Zeruiah: "and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three" (1Ch 2:16). 2 Samuel introduces the brothers together at Gibeon: "And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe" (2Sa 2:18).

His captaincy is fixed by his role at the capture of Jerusalem. "And David said, Whoever strikes the Jebusites first will be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief" (1Ch 11:6). Thereafter the administrative summaries name him at the head of the army again and again: "And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder" (2Sa 8:16); "Now Joab was over all the host of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites" (2Sa 20:23); the Chronicler repeats it word for word at 1Ch 18:15, and the roster of David's officers ends, "and the captain of the king's host was Joab" (1Ch 27:34). Plunder taken in his campaigns went to the sanctuary fund: "And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated, whoever had dedicated anything, it was under the hand of Shelomoth, and of his brothers" (1Ch 26:28).

Abner and the Pool of Gibeon

Joab's first long action is at the pool of Gibeon, where the men of Ish-bosheth meet "Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the slaves of David" (2Sa 2:13). After the contest of the twelve and twelve at Helkath-hazzurim, the men of Israel are beaten and Asahel chases Abner: "And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he didn't turn to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner" (2Sa 2:19). Abner warns him twice — "How then should I hold up my face to Joab your brother?" (2Sa 2:22) — and then strikes: "Abner with the hinder end of the spear struck him in the body, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place" (2Sa 2:23). Joab and Abishai pursue until evening; Abner pleads from the hill of Ammah, "Will the sword devour forever?" (2Sa 2:26), and Joab blows the trumpet to call off the men. They bury Asahel at Bethlehem and march all night back to Hebron (2Sa 2:32).

The vendetta is settled at the gate of Hebron: "And when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the body, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother" (2Sa 3:27). David's deathbed charge will return to it: "Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace" (1Ki 2:5).

The Wars: Ammon, Aram, and Edom

Against the sons of Ammon and their Syrian hire, Joab improvises a two-front battle. "And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men" (2Sa 10:7). Faced with attack before and behind, Joab divides the army: "And the rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai his brother; and he put them in array against the sons of Ammon" (2Sa 10:10). His charge to Abishai is the closest thing to a creed Joab leaves on record: "Be strong and we will be strengthened for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Yahweh will do that which is good in his eyes" (2Sa 10:12). The Syrians flee, the Ammonites flee after them, and Joab returns to Jerusalem (2Sa 10:13-14). The Chronicler tells the same battle in parallel (1Ch 19:6-15).

The Edomite campaign is preserved as a one-line aside in 1 Kings: "(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom)" (1Ki 11:16) — the basis on which Hadad escaped to Egypt. The title of Psalm 60 keeps the same campaign in liturgical memory: "For the Chief Musician; set to Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and struck of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand" (Ps 60:1).

Rabbah and the Letter Against Uriah

The Ammonite war resumes the next spring at Rabbah. "And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out [to battle], that David sent Joab, and his slaves with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the sons of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem" (2Sa 11:1). It is during this siege that David writes the letter Joab is told to act on: "And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah" (2Sa 11:14). Joab carries out the order — "he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were" (2Sa 11:16); "Uriah the Hittite died also" (2Sa 11:17) — and sends the report back through a messenger primed against any rebuke. David's reply is to encourage Joab: "Don't let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage him" (2Sa 11:25).

When Rabbah is on the point of falling, Joab summons David in: "Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah; yes, I have taken the city of waters. Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; or else I will take the city, and it will be called after my name" (2Sa 12:26-28). The Chronicler compresses the same campaign: "Joab led forth the army, and wasted the country of the sons of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah ... And Joab struck Rabbah, and overthrew it" (1Ch 20:1).

The Wise Woman of Tekoa

Joab is also David's reader. "Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom" (2Sa 14:1), and he sets up the parable of the woman of Tekoa: "And Joab sent to Tekoa, and fetched from there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray you, feign yourself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, I pray you, and don't anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has a long time mourned for the dead" (2Sa 14:2). David hears the parable, sees through it — "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?" (2Sa 14:19) — and gives the order Joab wanted: "Look now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom back" (2Sa 14:21). "So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem" (2Sa 14:23). David, however, refuses an audience: "Let him turn to his own house, but don't let him see my face" (2Sa 14:24).

When Absalom can get neither Joab nor an audience, he forces Joab's hand by setting the field on fire: "Joab's field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire" (2Sa 14:30). "Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said to him, Why have your slaves set my field on fire?" (2Sa 14:31). The episode ends with Joab brokering the kiss: "So Joab came to the king, and told him; and when he had called for Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom" (2Sa 14:33).

The Forest of Ephraim

In the rebellion that follows, Absalom appoints Amasa over the host in Joab's place: "And Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Israelite, that entered Abigal the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother" (2Sa 17:25). When David musters his men east of the Jordan, however, Joab is again at the head of a third of the army: "And David divided the people in three [parts], a third part under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite" (2Sa 18:2). David's parting charge to the captains is unmistakable: "Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom" (2Sa 18:5).

The forest of Ephraim swallows the rebellion. When a soldier reports Absalom hanging in the oak, Joab rebukes him for not striking and acts himself: "Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with you. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak" (2Sa 18:14); "And ten young men who bore Joab's armor surrounded and struck Absalom, and slew him" (2Sa 18:15). "And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; for Joab held back the people" (2Sa 18:16). Joab declines to send Ahimaaz with the news — "this day you will bear no good news, because the king's son is dead" (2Sa 18:20) — and dispatches the Cushite instead.

David's grief is met with a soldier's reproof: "And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, You have shamed this day the faces of all your slaves, who this day have saved your soul, and the souls of your sons and of your daughters, and the souls of your wives, and the souls of your concubines; in that you love those who hate you, and hate those who love you" (2Sa 19:5-6). The threat is open: "if you don't go forth, there will not tarry a man with you this night" (2Sa 19:7). "Then the king arose, and sat in the gate" (2Sa 19:8). The reconciliation, however, costs Joab his command. David sends word to Amasa: "God do so to me, and more also, if you are not captain of the host before me continually in the place of Joab" (2Sa 19:13).

The Great Stone of Gibeon

The replacement does not last. When Sheba's revolt summons Amasa to gather Judah, Amasa is slow, and Joab meets him with the kiss that has become the pattern of his career. "And Joab was girded with his apparel of war that he had put on, and on it was a belt with a sword fastened on his loins in its sheath; and as he went forth it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well with you, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he struck him with it in the body, and shed out his insides to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri" (2Sa 20:9-10). One of Joab's young men cries, "He who favors Joab, and he who is for David, let him follow Joab" (2Sa 20:11), and the army goes after him.

At Abel of Beth-maacah a wise woman cries from the wall, and Joab — who came to throw down the city — accepts her terms instead. "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. The matter is not so: but a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city" (2Sa 20:20-21). "And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king" (2Sa 20:22).

The Census

In the matter of the census, Joab opposes the king and then carries out the order under royal compulsion. "And Joab said to the king, May Yahweh your God add to the people, however many they may be, a hundredfold; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?" (2Sa 24:3). The Chronicler is sharper: "Yahweh make his people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's slaves? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?" (1Ch 21:3).

The protest fails. "Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host" (2Sa 24:4); "Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem" (1Ch 21:4). The numbering takes nine months and twenty days, and Joab reports the totals: "in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men" (2Sa 24:9); the Chronicler gives different figures — "a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men who drew sword: and Judah was 470,000 men who drew sword" (1Ch 21:5). The Chronicler also notes the unfinished business and the wrath that came of it: "Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but didn't finish; and there came wrath for this on Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of King David" (1Ch 27:24).

Adonijah and the Horns of the Altar

Joab's last political action recorded in the narrative is to side with Adonijah at the succession. "And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and those following Adonijah helped him" (1Ki 1:7). Solomon, raised to the throne despite the faction, hears Bathsheba's request that Adonijah be given Abishag and reads it as a renewed claim on the kingship: "Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; and [you ask] for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah" (1Ki 2:22).

When the news reaches Joab he runs to the sanctuary: "And the news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he didn't turn after Absalom. And Joab fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns of the altar" (1Ki 2:28). Solomon sends Benaiah: "It was told King Solomon, Joab had fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and, look, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What was [wrong] with you that you fled to the altar? And Joab said, Because I was afraid of you, I fled to Yahweh. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him" (1Ki 2:29). Joab refuses to come out — "No; but I will die here" — and Solomon's grounds are explicit: "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 ... because he fell on two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David didn't know it, [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" (1Ki 2:31-32). "Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell on him, and slew him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness" (1Ki 2:34).

The Other Joabs

Three other men in the Old Testament rosters share the name. The Chronicler's Calebite genealogy lists "Seraiah begot Joab the father of Ge-harashim; for they were craftsmen" (1Ch 4:14) — a grandson of Kenaz, the eponym of the Valley of Craftsmen. A second Joab — perhaps two — heads a clan whose descendants come back from Babylon: "The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua [and] Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve" (Ezr 2:6); "Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males" (Ezr 8:9); and Nehemiah's parallel list, "The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred [and] eighteen" (Ne 7:11). And the place-name "Atroth-beth-joab" appears once in the Salma genealogy: "The sons of Salma: Beth-lehem, and the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites" (1Ch 2:54) — a settlement carrying the household name probably of David's commander himself.