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Joab (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
Modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
: ''Yōʼav'',
Tiberian
Tiberian may refer to:
* Tiberian vocalization, an oral tradition within the Hebrew language
* Tiberian Hebrew, the variety of Hebrew based on Tiberian vocalization
* Tiberias, a city in Lower Galilee, Israel
* Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesa ...
: ''Yōʼāḇ'') the son of
Zeruiah Zeruiah ( sometimes transliterated Tzruya or Zeruya) was a sister of King David. According to both and the Babylonian Talmud, Zeruiah was a daughter of Jesse and sister of Abigail, to whom reference is made in 1 Chronicles () and Samuel 2 (). Zer ...
, was the nephew of
King David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and the commander of his army, according to the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
.
Name
The name Joab is, like many other Hebrew names,
theophoric
A theophoric name (from Greek language, Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relat ...
- derived from
YHVH
The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ' ...
(), the name of the God of Israel, and the Hebrew word 'av' (), meaning 'father'. It therefore means 'YHVH
sfather'.
Life
![Morgan-bible-fl-46](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Morgan-bible-fl-46.jpg)
Joab was the son of Zeruiah, a sister of king David (1 Chronicles 2:15-16). According to Josephus (
Antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
VII, 1, 3) his father was called Suri.
[Flavius Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'']
Book VII, Chapter 1, 3
Joab had two brothers,
Abishai and
Asahel
Asahel ( he, עשהאל, grc, ‘Ασαέλ, Latin ''Asael'') was a military leader under King David and the youngest son of David's sister Zeruiah. Asahel thus was the nephew of David and the younger brother of David's general, Joab, Asahel is m ...
. Asahel was killed by
Abner
In the Hebrew Bible, Abner ( he, אַבְנֵר ) was the cousin of King Saul and the commander-in-chief of his army. His name also appears as "Abiner son of Ner", where the longer form Abiner means "my father is Ner".
Biblical narrative
Ab ...
in combat, for which Joab took revenge by murdering Abner against David's wishes and shortly after David and Abner had secured peace between the House of David and the House of
Saul
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...
(2 Samuel 2:13-3:21; 3:27).
While 2 Samuel 3:27 explicitly states that Joab killed Abner "to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel",
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
(
Antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
VII, 1, 3) paints a different picture: Joab had forgiven Abner for the death of Joab's brother Asahel, since Abner had slain Asahel honorably in combat, but killed Abner as a potential threat to his rank after Abner had switched to the side of David and granted David control over the tribe of Benjamin.
[
After Joab lead the assault on the fortress of ]Mount Zion
Mount Zion ( he, הַר צִיּוֹן, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; ar, جبل صهيون, ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew ...
, David made him captain of his army (2 Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
8:16; 20:23; 1 Chronicles
Chronicles may refer to:
* ''Books of Chronicles'', in the Bible
* Chronicle, chronological histories
* ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis
* ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', the collected works of Raphael Holinshed
* '' The Idh ...
11:4-6; 18:15; 27:34). He led the army against Aram
Aram may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Aram'' (film), 2002 French action drama
* Aram, a fictional character in Japanese manga series '' MeruPuri''
* Aram Quartet, an Italian music group
* ''Aram'' (Kural book), the first of the three ...
, Ammon
Ammon (Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; he, עַמּוֹן ''ʻAmmōn''; ar, عمّون, ʻAmmūn) was an ancient Semitic-speaking nation occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Arnon and Jabbok, in p ...
, Moab
Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀
''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...
and Edom
Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...
. He also colluded with David in the murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14-25).
Joab played a pivotal role as the commander of David's forces during Absalom
Absalom ( he, ''ʾAḇšālōm'', "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur.
2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled ag ...
's rebellion. Absalom, one of David's sons, rallied much of Israel in rebellion against David, who was forced to flee with only his most trusted men. However, David could not bring himself to harm his son, and ordered that none of his men should kill Absalom during the ensuing battle. However, when a man reported that Absalom had been found alive and caught in a tree, Joab and his men killed him (2 Samuel 18:1-33).
Hearing of David's grief over the reported death of Absalom, Joab confronted and admonished David. The king followed Joab's advice to make a public appearance to encourage his troops (2 Samuel 19:1-8).
David later replaced him as commander of the army with David's nephew, Amasa (2 Samuel 19:13). Joab later killed Amasa (2 Samuel 20:8-13; 1 Kings 2:5).
Joab and other commanders began questioning David's judgment (2 Samuel 24:2-4). As David neared the end of his reign, Joab offered his allegiance to David's eldest living son, Adonijah
According to 2 Samuel, Adonijah ( he, , ''’Ǎḏōnīyyā''; "my lord is Yah") was the fourth son of King David. His mother was Haggith as recorded in the book of . Adonijah was born at Hebron during the long conflict between David and the ...
, rather than to the eventual king, Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
(1 Kings 1:1-27).
On the brink of death, David told Solomon to have Joab killed, citing Joab's past betrayals and the blood that he was guilty of. Solomon ordered Joab's death by the hand of Benaiah
Benaiah ( he, בניה, "Yahweh builds up") is a common name in the Hebrew Bible.
Etymology
In the etymology of the name, the first part of Benaiah comes from the root-verb בנה (bana), which is a common Hebrew verb meaning "to build". The se ...
(1 Kings 2:29-34). Hearing this, Joab fled to the Tent of the Tabernacle (where Adonijah had previously sought successful refuge according to 1 Kings 1:50-53) and told Benaiah that he would die there. Benaiah killed Joab there and thereby replaced him as commander of the army. Joab was buried in 'the wilderness' (1 Kings 2:34).
Commentary
The ATS Bible Dictionary describes Joab as "a valiant warrior, and an able general; and his great influence on public affairs was often exerted for good, as in the rebellion of Absalom, and the numbering of Israel .. t as a man he was imperious, revengeful, and unscrupulous".[Rand, W. W]
ATS Bible Dictionary: Joab
1859, Public Domain, out of copyright, accessed 7 July 2017
See also
* Joab in Rabbinic Literature
References
{{Authority control
Biblical murderers
Biblical murder victims
Books of Kings people
Books of Samuel people
People associated with David
10th-century BCE Hebrew people
Male murder victims
Solomon