Thematic Bible: Joab


Thematic Bible



Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have shamed all your soldiers-those who rescued your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, your wives, and your concubines. You love your enemies and hate those who love you! Today you have made it clear that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. In fact, today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would be fine with you!


Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Look here, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he's getting away. You know that Abner son of Ner came to deceive you and to find out about your activities and everything you're doing." Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah, but David was unaware of it. read more.
When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside to the middle of the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died in revenge for the death of Asahel, Joab's brother.

“You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet.

Joab asked Amasa, "Are you well, my brother?" Then with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab's hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his intestines out on the ground. Joab did not stab him again for Amasa was dead. Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.


The king said to him, "Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father's house the blood that Joab shed without just cause. The Lord will bring back his own blood on his own head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, without my father David's knowledge. With his sword, Joab murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. Their blood will come back on Joab's head and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne, there will be peace from the Lord forever." read more.
Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and put him to death. He was buried at his house in the wilderness.


Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was court historian;

Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was court historian;

Joab commanded the whole army of Israel; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites;

David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.” Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.

After Ahithophel came Jehoiada son of Benaiah, then Abiathar. Joab was the commander of the king’s army.


In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.

Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress. Then Joab sent messengers to David to say, "I have fought against Rabbah and have also captured the water supply. Now therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will be the one to capture the city, and it will be named after me. read more.
So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; he fought against it and captured it.

In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies. When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best [enemy] soldiers were. Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David's soldiers fell [in battle]; Uriah the Hittite also died. read more.
Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. He commanded the messenger, "When you've finished telling the king all the details of the battle- if the king's anger gets stirred up and he asks you, 'Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth?Didn't a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died? Why did you get so close to the wall?'-then say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.' " Then the messenger left. When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him [to tell]. The messenger reported to David, "The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the gate. However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king's soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead." David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: 'Don't let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.' Encourage him."

In the spring when kings march out [to war], Joab led the army and destroyed the Ammonites' land. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and demolished it. Then David took the crown from the head of their king, and it was [placed] on David's head. He discovered the crown weighed 75 pounds of gold, and there was a precious stone in it. In addition, David took away a large quantity of plunder from the city.


David didn't count the men aged 20 or under, for the Lord had said He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of heaven. Joab son of Zeruiah began to count them, but he didn't complete it. There was wrath against Israel because of this [census], and the number was not entered in the Historical Record of King David.

Yet the king's order prevailed over Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the king's presence to register the troops of Israel. They crossed the Jordan and camped in Aroer, south of the town in the middle of the valley, and then [proceeded] toward Gad and Jazer. They went to Gilead and to the land of the Hittites and continued on to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. read more.
They went to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Afterwards, they went to the Negev of Judah at Beer-sheba. When they had gone through the whole land, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and 20 days. Joab gave the king the total of the registration of the troops. There were 800,000 fighting men from Israel and 500,000 men from Judah.

Yet the king's order prevailed over Joab. So Joab left and traveled throughout Israel and then returned to Jerusalem. Joab gave David the total of the registration of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 swordsmen and in Judah itself 470,000 swordsmen.


“You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet.

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside to the middle of the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died in revenge for the death of Asahel, Joab’s brother.

So Joab son of Zeruiah and David's soldiers marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. The two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool. Then Abner said to Joab, "Let's have the young men get up and compete in front of us." "Let them get up," Joab replied. So they got up and were counted off-12 for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and 12 from David's soldiers. read more.
Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and [thrust] his sword into his opponent's side so that they all died together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is named Field of Blades. The battle that day was extremely fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David's soldiers. The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the wild gazelles. He chased Abner and did not turn to the right or the left in his pursuit of him. Abner glanced back and said, "Is that you, Asahel?" "Yes it is," Asahel replied. Abner said to him, "Turn to your right or left, seize one of the young soldiers, and take whatever you can get from him." But Asahel would not stop chasing him. Once again, Abner warned Asahel, "Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I ever look your brother Joab in the face?" But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the end of his spear. The spear went through his body, and he fell and died right there. When all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, they stopped, but Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah, which is opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. The Benjaminites rallied to Abner; they formed a single unit and took their stand on top of a hill. Then Abner called out to Joab: "Must the sword devour forever? Don't you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?" "As God lives," Joab replied, "if you had not spoken up, the troops wouldn't have stopped pursuing their brothers until morning." Then Joab blew the ram's horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight. So Abner and his men marched through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning, and arrived at Mahanaim. When Joab had turned back from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, 19 of David's soldiers were missing, but they had killed 360 of the Benjaminites and Abner's men. Afterwards, they carried Asahel to his father's tomb in Bethlehem and buried him. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at dawn.


David heard about it and sent Joab and all the fighting men. The Ammonites marched out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance to the city gate while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were in the field by themselves. When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some men out of all the elite troops of Israel and lined up in battle formation to engage the Arameans. read more.
He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai who lined up in battle formation to engage the Ammonites. "If the Arameans are too strong for me," Joab said, "then you will be my help. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I'll come to help you. Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord's will be done." Joab and his troops advanced to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him. When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab withdrew from the attack against the Ammonites and went to Jerusalem.

When the Ammonites realized they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 38 tons of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah. They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonites also gathered from their cities and came for the battle. David heard about this and sent Joab and the entire army of warriors. read more.
The Ammonites marched out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance of the city while the kings who had come were in the field by themselves. When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some men out of all the elite troops of Israel and lined up in battle formation to engage the Arameans. He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai, and they lined up in battle formation to engage the Ammonites. "If the Arameans are too strong for me," Joab said, "then you'll be my help. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I'll help you. Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord's will be done." Joab and the people with him approached the Arameans for battle, and they fled before him. When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they likewise fled before Joab's brother Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab went to Jerusalem.


Obadiah son of Jehiel
from Joab’s descendants,
and 218 men with him;

Pahath-moab’s descendants: Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants 2,812

Pahath-moab’s descendants: Jeshua’s and Joab’s descendants 2,818


“You also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in a time of peace to avenge blood shed in war. He spilled that blood on his own waistband and on the sandals of his feet.

They were at the great stone in Gibeon when Amasa joined them. Joab was wearing his uniform and over it was a belt around his waist with a sword in its sheath. As he approached, [the sword] fell out. Joab asked Amasa, "Are you well, my brother?" Then with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab's hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his intestines out on the ground. Joab did not stab him again for Amasa was dead. Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri. read more.
One of Joab's young men had stood over Amasa saying, "Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!" Now Amasa was writhing in his blood in the middle of the highway, and the man had seen that all the people stopped. So he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him because he realized that all those who encountered Amasa were stopping. When he was removed from the highway, all the men passed by and followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.


Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops 100 times more than they are—while my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king want to do this?”

Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”


Now Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite; Ithra had married Abigail daughter of Nahash. Abigail was a sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

And tell Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me and do so severely if you don’t become commander of the army from now on instead of Joab!’”


He conspired with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. They supported Adonijah,

The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the Lord’s tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.


Then Absalom sent for Joab in order to send him to the king, but Joab was unwilling to come. So he sent again, a second time, but he still wouldn't come. Then Absalom said to his servants, "See, Joab has a field right next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set fire to it!" So Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab came to Absalom's house and demanded, "Why did your servants set my field on fire?" read more.
"Look," Absalom explained to Joab, "I sent for you and said, 'Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? I'd be better off if I were still there.' So now, let me see the king. If I am guilty, let him kill me." Joab went to the king and told him. So David summoned Absalom, who came to the king and bowed down with his face to the ground before the king. Then the king kissed Absalom.


a wise woman called out from the city, "Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here and let me speak with him." When he had come near her, the woman asked, "Are you Joab?" "I am," he replied. "Listen to the words of your servant," she said to him. He answered, "I'm listening." She said, "In the past they used to say, 'Seek counsel in Abel,' and that's how they settled [disputes]. read more.
I am a peaceful person, one of the faithful in Israel, but you're trying to destroy a city that is like a mother in Israel. Why would you devour the Lord's inheritance?" Joab protested: "Never! I do not want to destroy! That is not [my] intention. There is a man named Sheba son of Bichri, from the hill country of Ephraim, who has rebelled against King David. Deliver this one man, and I will withdraw from the city." The woman replied to Joab, "All right. His head will be thrown over the wall to you." The woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram's horn, and they dispersed from the city, each to his own tent. Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.


Joab son of Zeruiah observed that the king's mind was on Absalom. So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a clever woman from there. He told her, "Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don't put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. Go to the king and speak these words to him." Then Joab told her exactly what to say. read more.
When the woman from Tekoa came to the king, she fell with her face to the ground in homage and said, "Help me, my king!" "What's the matter?" the king asked her. "To tell the truth, I am a widow; my husband died," she said. "Your servant had two sons. They were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him. Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, 'Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will destroy the heir!' They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband's name or posterity on earth." The king told the woman, "Go home. I will issue a command on your behalf." Then the woman of Tekoa said to the king, "My lord the king, may any blame be on me and my father's house, and may the king and his throne be innocent." "Whoever speaks to you," the king said, "bring him to me. He will not trouble you again!" She replied, "Please, may the king invoke the Lord your God, so that the avenger of blood will not increase the loss, and they will not eliminate my son!" "As the Lord lives," he vowed, "not a hair of your son will fall to the ground." Then the woman said, "Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?" "Speak," he replied. The woman asked, "Why have you devised something similar against the people of God? When the king spoke as he did about this matter, he has pronounced his own guilt. The king has not brought back his own banished one. For we will certainly die and be like water poured out on the ground, which can't be recovered. But God would not take away a life; He would devise plans so that the one banished from Him does not remain banished. "Now therefore, I've come to present this matter to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid. Your servant thought: I must speak to the king. Perhaps the king will grant his servant's request. The king will surely listen in order to rescue his servant from the hand of this man who would eliminate both me and my son from God's inheritance. Your servant thought: May the word of my lord the king bring relief, for my lord the king is able to discern the good and the bad like the Angel of God. May the Lord your God be with you." Then the king answered the woman, "I'm going to ask you something; don't conceal it from me!" "Let my lord the king speak," the woman replied. The king asked, "Did Joab put you up to all this?" The woman answered. "As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or left from all my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave orders to me; he told your servant exactly what to say. Joab your servant has done this to address the issue indirectly, but my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the Angel of God, knowing everything on earth." Then the king said to Joab, "I hereby grant this request. Go, bring back the young man Absalom." Joab fell with his face to the ground in homage and praised the king. "Today," Joab said, "your servant knows I have found favor with you, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your servant." So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. However, the king added, "He may return to his house, but he may not see my face." So Absalom returned to his house, but he did not see the king.


It was reported to King Solomon: "Joab has fled to the Lord's tabernacle and is now beside the altar." Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told [him], "Go and strike him down!" So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, "This is what the king says: 'Come out!' " But Joab said, "No, for I will die here." So Benaiah took a message back to the king, "This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me." The king said to him, "Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father's house the blood that Joab shed without just cause. read more.
The Lord will bring back his own blood on his own head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, without my father David's knowledge. With his sword, Joab murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army. Their blood will come back on Joab's head and on the head of his descendants forever, but for David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne, there will be peace from the Lord forever." Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck down Joab, and put him to death. He was buried at his house in the wilderness.


It was reported to Joab, "The king is weeping. He's mourning over Absalom." That day's victory was turned into mourning for all the troops because on that day the troops heard, "The king is grieving over his son." So they returned to the city quietly that day like people come in when they are humiliated after fleeing in battle. read more.
But the king hid his face and cried out at the top of his voice, "My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!" Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have shamed all your soldiers-those who rescued your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, your wives, and your concubines. You love your enemies and hate those who love you! Today you have made it clear that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. In fact, today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would be fine with you! "Now get up! Go out and encourage your soldiers, for I swear by the Lord that if you don't go out, not a man will remain with you tonight. This will be worse for you than all the trouble that has come to you from your youth until now!" So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: "Look, the king is sitting in the gate." Then they all came into the king's presence. Meanwhile, each Israelite had fled to his tent.


All that Samuel the seer, Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah had dedicated, along with everything else that had been dedicated, were in the care of Shelomith and his brothers.


For Joab and all Israel had remained there six months, until he had killed every male in Edom.


David said, “Whoever is the first to kill a Jebusite will become chief commander.” Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, so he became the chief.


Meonothai fathered Ophrah,
and Seraiah fathered Joab, the ancestor of those in the Valley of Craftsmen, for they were craftsmen.


Salma’s sons: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites,


Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.




Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have shamed all your soldiers-those who rescued your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, your wives, and your concubines. You love your enemies and hate those who love you! Today you have made it clear that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. In fact, today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would be fine with you!


The king said to him, "Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father's house the blood that Joab shed without just cause. The Lord will bring back his own blood on his own head because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he, without my father David's knowledge. With his sword, Joab murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel's army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah's army.


Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”


Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply the number of His people a hundred times over! My lord the king, aren’t they all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”


When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside to the middle of the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died in revenge for the death of Asahel, Joab’s brother.


Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.