{"id":60859,"date":"2019-08-08T23:27:48","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T20:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60859"},"modified":"2023-03-05T09:14:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T07:14:30","slug":"joabs-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/joabs-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Joab\u2019s Choice\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[834,900],"acf":{"old_id":"60859","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34891,"related_cahpter":"281","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Joab serves the kingdom, not the king","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Absalom first began to assert himself, Joab was<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/929.org.il\/lang\/en\/author\/34891\/post\/60599\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">powerless<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to stop him.\u00a0 Now, the conflict between David and Absalom is a zero sum game: neither can rule while the other survives. The fact that the conflict centers on the person of David dictates, paradoxically, that David stay out of the military action and Joab take center stage. (Previously, David got into trouble when<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/929.org.il\/lang\/en\/page\/274\/post\/60300\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he stayed home<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> while Joab and his men went out to fight). And yet, despite his physical remove, David attempts to dictate the most important term of the battle: \u201cDeal gently with my boy Absalom, for my sake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joab, whose<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/929.org.il\/lang\/en\/author\/34891\/post\/60312\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">obedience<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">seems secure after<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/929.org.il\/lang\/en\/author\/34891\/post\/59746\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shaky beginnings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is in a bind. His job is to serve the king. But in this case, what the king wants as a father will undercut him as a king; Joab<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/929.org.il\/lang\/en\/author\/34891\/post\/60599\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">knows full well<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Absalom will remain a source of potential chaos in the kingdom as long as he is alive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joab\u2019s choice to kill Absalom is highlighted with masterful detail.\u00a0 When informed that Absalom is hanging in a tree, Job asks the messenger, incredulously, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you kill him then and there?\u201d For Joab, it is as if the King\u2019s impossible request to \u201cdeal gently\u201d has simply not registered. The text has Joab\u2019s interlocutor explicitly cite the king\u2019s order, however, to highlight the conscious choice Joab is making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is at stake?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The man ends his reply to Joab with a cutting comment: \u201cIf I betrayed myself . . . you would have stood aloof.\u201d The man seems to understand as well as Joab &#8211; as well as anyone not blinded by affection or guilt like David &#8211; that Absalom must die for the conflict to end. But he also knows that bringing about Absalom\u2019s death in contradiction of David\u2019s edict is a grave personal risk. He almost dares Joab to take that risk upon himself rather than leave it to a subordinate. So Joab does.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is at stake is, on one side, the stability of David\u2019s monarchy, and perhaps David\u2019s life.\u00a0 On the other side is Joab\u2019s own life and his relationship with David. Joab chooses the high road, risking himself for the good of the kingdom (even if the king doesn\u2019t realize it).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While such a calculus may seem like it should be made by the king, not his general, Joab can sense (as the events of the next chapter make clear) that David is so compromised by his personal feelings that he cannot make the decision dispassionately or responsibly. Joab serves the kingdom, not the king, and is willing to risk himself to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":60860,"id":60860,"title":"2sam18-chess","filename":"2sam18-chess.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-chess.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/joabs-choice\/2sam18-chess\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam18-chess","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":60859,"date":"2019-08-08 20:27:34","modified":"2019-08-08 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