{"id":60964,"date":"2019-08-11T15:38:43","date_gmt":"2019-08-11T12:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60964"},"modified":"2023-03-05T13:03:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T11:03:39","slug":"david-and-joab-an-irreparable-rift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-and-joab-an-irreparable-rift\/","title":{"rendered":"David And Joab: An Irreparable Rift?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/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":[459,900,895],"acf":{"old_id":"60964","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34891,"related_cahpter":"282","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Joab may have saved David\u2019s kingdom by killing Absalom, but David will not forgive him for it","content":"

Joab <\/span>put himself on the line<\/span><\/a> to save David from his son, and himself. Now he has to save the kingdom from David\u2019s grief.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This time, he doesn\u2019t try the soft persuasion that may have<\/span> worked in other cases<\/span><\/a> (but<\/span> not always<\/span><\/a>), but rather speaks directly and forcefully. \u201cToday you have humiliated all your followers, who this day saved your life, and the lives of your sons and daughters, and the lives of your wives and concubines.\u201d Joab killed Absalom for the good of the kingship and the nation it represents, not the king personally. He now opens his admonishment to David by mentioning the many people who follow and depend on him, as if to say: \u201csnap out of it.\u00a0 Ordinary people can grieve the death of even a rebellious son, but you have a public role that must come before personal feelings.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this message, Joab seems to have come full circle from<\/span> the first time<\/span><\/a> he killed a potential threat to David: Abner. Then, any politically or nationally reasonable justification (e.g., Abner was a potential fifth column) were secondary to Joab\u2019s personal motive: revenge for Abner killing Joab\u2019s brother. Now, Joab risks the king\u2019s ire to make sure he does what is best for the good of the nation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, it is David who seems to have mixed personal\/political motives. David does as Joab says, but does not speak directly to Joab for the rest of the chapter. When David offers the generalship to Amasa, Absalom\u2019s former general (and kinsman of David, Absalom, and the sons of Zeruiah), \u201cin place of Joab,\u201d it is on one level a shrewd political move. The men Joab has been commanding are already loyal to David. To solidify his hold over the others, David needs to bring someone from their side into a leadership position.\u00a0 But David\u2019s offer may also be a way to sideline Joab over Absalom\u2019s death. It\u2019s true that a king should be able to expect that his general will obey orders, which Joab did not. But if this were David\u2019s true motive for deposing Joab we can assume he would not seek to replace Joab, who violated one order, with Amasa, who joined an attempted coup.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, When Joab\u2019s surviving brother Abishai suggests that David have Shimei ben Gera killed (Shimei cursed David when it looked like Absalom was ascendant, but now comes groveling back), David shoots back: \u201cWhat has this to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should cross me today? Should a single Israelite be put to death today? Don\u2019t I know that today I am again king over Israel?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

David\u2019s reference to \u201csons of Zeruiah,\u201d plural, tells us that Joab is<\/span> lurking in the background<\/span><\/a> of David\u2019s interaction with Abishai. He berates Abishai for seeking the death of David\u2019s rival, Shimei, as a proxy for berating Joab for killing David\u2019s rival, Absalom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joab may have saved David\u2019s kingdom by killing Absalom, but David will not forgive him for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Joab, Asahel, Abishai – The Sons of Zeruiah, James Tissot \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":60986,"id":60986,"title":"2sam19-sons of zeruiah","filename":"2sam19-sons-of-zeruiah-1.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-sons-of-zeruiah-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-and-joab-an-irreparable-rift\/2sam19-sons-of-zeruiah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam19-sons-of-zeruiah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":60964,"date":"2019-08-11 13:36:37","modified":"2019-08-11 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