1 Kings 2:28

SOLOMON'S EXECUTION OF JOAB

"And the tidings came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the Tent of Jehovah, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told king Solomon, Joab is fled unto the Tent of Jehovah, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. Then Benaiah came to the Tent of Jehovah, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. And the king said unto him, Do as he said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the blood which Joab shed without cause, from me, and from my father's house. And Jehovah will return his blood upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew it not, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah. So shall their blood return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed forever; but unto David, and unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Jehovah. Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him; and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host; and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar."

Although Zadok is called merely "the priest" in this passage, it is clearly the office of the High Priest that was given to Zadok. "The Qumran community of the Dead Sea Scrolls claimed to be descendants of Zadok. The office of the High Priest was supposed to be hereditary, and not subject to political appointment; Solomon, therefore, here introduced a principle of grave (and evil) consequences."[14]

"Joab's flight to the Tent of Jehovah is almost certain evidence of his guilt."[15] Having heard of the death of Adonijah, he very accurately understood that he also was certain to be executed.

Solomon's accusation here that Joab's murder of Amasa was a crime against a man more righteous and better than himself was hardly accurate; because Amasa had led Absalom's army of more than forty thousand men against David with the avowed purpose of killing him; and none of Amasa's subsequent actions proved, in any sense, that he had indeed become loyal to David. It is by no means impossible that his delay in obeying David's orders to muster the army might have been due to his toying with the idea of supporting the rebellion of Sheba. At any rate, Solomon's charges against Joab were, in a large degree, fully deserved by that evil man.