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JOAB

(Heb. yôʾāḇ)

The son of David’s sister Zeruiah; commander-in-chief of David’s army from the time David took Jerusalem (1 Chr. 11:4-9), and the dominant figure in David’s regime, to whom more than any other David owed the success of his reign. Although an earlier line of thought ascribed to Joab command of the levies only, he always appears in command of David’s professional troops (cf. 2 Sam. 10:9-14). Joab and Zeruiah’s other sons, Abishai and Asahel, collectively termed “the sons of Zeruiah,” provide a foil of arrogant and violent ruthlessness for David’s humility and self-censure (2 Sam. 16:9-14). This is portrayed in two vignettes, when Joab slays Abner for the death of Asahel, and when he slays Amasa, with whom David has replaced Joab.

When David was pressured by his men to relinquish his field command during the Philistine wars (2 Sam. 21:15-17), a dramatic power shift in the monarchy took place. Since much of an ancient Near Eastern king’s effective power rested on his military stature, David’s absence from command led to a corresponding increase in Joab’s power and prestige. Joab’s warning to David, that he had better come up to the final assault on Rabbat-ammon lest Joab’s name and not David’s “be called over it” (2 Sam. 12:26-28), is a tacit admission that such a shift was taking place. Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s personal retainers, actually calls Joab “my lord” in the presence of his king, David (2 Sam. 11:11). Joab’s increasing stature is shown by the fact that he went from a single armor-bearer, Naharai of Beeroth, one of David’s šĕlōšîm, to ten (2 Sam. 18:15).

David’s attempts to replace Joab with field commanders of lesser stature, starting with Abner, indicate that David from an early date was concerned with curtailing Joab’s power. Yet he was unsuccessful, since Joab appears to have been the field commander par excellence, and was willing to do whatever necessary to preserve his own position.

Indeed, Joab, though loyal to David’s throne, appears to have been politically shrewder and more forceful than David, and he turned his position as commander-in-chief into an independent power base within the kingdom, from which he could defy royal policy. No account conveys this more clearly than that of Absalom’s revolt, where Joab not only takes responsibility for killing David’s rebellious son himself — against direct royal orders (2 Sam. 18:9-15), but where he also threatens the grieving David with the desertion of the entire army if he does not come out and acknowledge their victory (19:1-8).

Joab’s slaying of Absalom seems to have created a permanent rift between David and his nephew. Thus David, only partly to reconcile the defeated Israelites after Absalom’s revolt, replaced Joab with Amasa, Absalom’s field commander, who was also kin to David (2 Sam. 19:13). But Amasa failed in his first assignment — calling out the levies to face the revolt of Sheba, so Joab slew him and regained his command. This apparently ended David’s efforts to replace Joab, but David made further attempts to circumscribe Joab’s power base. By assigning command of the bodyguard to Benaiah (2 Sam. 23:23) David put at least one military unit beyond Joab’s control. Joab’s position may also have been weakened by the unrecorded death of his brother Abishai, of whom we hear nothing after the revolt of Sheba.

David’s personal bitterness towards Joab culminates when David instructs Solomon to use his wisdom (i.e., cunning, treachery) to bring about Joab’s death (1 Kgs. 2:5-9). Solomon finds his opportunity when Joab supports the bid of his older brother Adonijah for the throne. Taking refuge at the altar, Joab forces his enemies to come in and slay him where he is, refusing to let them kill him without desecrating the sanctuary. His executioner is Benaiah, who receives Joab’s command as a reward for killing him (1 Kgs. 2:35).

Despite his inglorious end, Joab represents the strength and virtue of David’s old loyalists: while loyal to their king, they were not slavishly obedient as too often expected of other ancient Near Eastern courts, and as enjoined in the Wisdom tradition (cf. Prov. 16:10, 12-15). Joab also sets a model of integrity second to few in the OT. He takes responsibility for killing Absalom himself (2 Sam. 18:14) and upbraids David for not thanking his men for their victory (18:33–19:8[MT 19:1-9].

Bibliography. D. G. Schley, “Joab and David: Ties of Blood and Power,” in History and Interpretation, ed. M. P. Graham, W. P. Brown, and J. K. Kuan (Sheffield, 1993), 90-105.

Donald G. Schley

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

JOAB

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)