{"id":61006,"date":"2019-08-12T16:36:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T13:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61006"},"modified":"2023-03-05T15:37:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T13:37:42","slug":"joab-straight-shooter-or-loose-cannon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/joab-straight-shooter-or-loose-cannon\/","title":{"rendered":"Joab: Straight Shooter or Loose Cannon?\u00a0"},"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":[834,900,895],"acf":{"old_id":"61006","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34891,"related_cahpter":"283","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"He believes he is defending the kingdom - but maybe he is protecting only himself?","content":"

The way Joab kills Amasa is an uncanny echo of the way he<\/span> killed Abner<\/span><\/a>. In both cases, David sought to bring in a new general from a rival camp as a sign of unity. In both, the general was potential or actual rival of Joab, and of dubious loyalty to David. In both, Joab brought his victim close under the guise of friendly conversation, then killed him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What drives Joab here? Unlike in chapter 3, there is no brother\u2019s murder to avenge, and the text does not spell out Joab\u2019s motive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps, after his experience in the war against Absalom, Joab is done listening to David on matters of military strategy. He has no interest in David\u2019s new general, or in anything but removing the current threat to David\u2019s throne, Sheba, son of Bichri. Joab knows that time is of the essence, as David (<\/span>still not speaking to Joab<\/span><\/a>) told Abishai, \u201cpursue him, before he finds fortified towns and eludes us.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Joab stands ready to ignore David\u2019s choice to depose him much as he stood ready to <\/span>ignore David\u2019s order<\/span><\/a> to save Absalom. Joab seems to still be thinking: David doesn\u2019t know what is good for him; what is good for him is me. Amasa, to Joab, is a distraction, and once he is removed (from life, then from the road) Joab can get on with the business of protecting the kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Has Joab gone too far?\u00a0 It is dangerous when a one-time exception to the chain of command becomes, instead, the rule.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if Joab acts in the service of the king (as Joab sees it), his refusal to be controlled naturally gives him agency and standing independent of the king. \u201cWhoever favors Joab, and whoever is on David\u2019s side\u201d are separate categories to the followers, even as Joab himself believes they are collapsed. Joab has thus, in a small way, replicated the very sort of split allegiance that he has been fighting so hard<\/span> the<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>entire<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>book<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Joab is back where we have seen him<\/span> before<\/span><\/a>: at once indispensable to David (he gets Sheba killed without a single battle) and in tension with him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

David\u2019s reaction to this situation is hidden for now, but will become clear at the end of his life (in I Kings 2). But first, Joab will have one more chance to prove his loyalty to David, even when David errs. We will pick up there, in II Sam. 24, for the penultimate post in this series.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61007,"id":61007,"title":"2sam20-cannon","filename":"2sam20-cannon.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/joab-straight-shooter-or-loose-cannon\/2sam20-cannon\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam20-cannon","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61006,"date":"2019-08-12 13:36:26","modified":"2019-08-12 13:36:37","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":728,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":728,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":728,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon-1200x683.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam20-cannon-738x420.png","home_baner-width":738,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Joab: Straight Shooter or Loose Cannon?\u00a0","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"He believes he is defending the kingdom - 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