1 Kings 2:5

5. Thou knowest… what Joab… did For the facts, see marginal references. This charge concerning Joab is but a particular application of the more general charge in 1 Kings 2:3. A strict regard for the honour of Jehovah, and for his statutes, laws, judgments, and testimonies, required that the crimes of the bloody Joab should receive their merited penalty; but David seems to have felt that his own hands were too full of blood, and his own heart had been too deeply stained with “blood-guiltiness,” (Psalms 51:14) to allow him to be the instrument of Joab’s punishment. His own unworthiness made him feel that the son of Zeruiah was too strong for him, and hence this charge to Solomon. It was not “a dark legacy of long-cherished vengeance,” as Stanley avers, though personal feelings were no doubt involved, but a solemn responsibility resting on the king of Israel as the guardian of Jehovah’s honour. He that “keeps the charge of Jehovah” must, if he regard the safety of the kingdom and the honour of its laws, show that “he beareth not the sword in vain.” See Romans 13:4. “David does not mention, among Joab’s sins, that one which caused him personally the most poignant grief the murder of Absalom. Not for sins committed against David as a father, but for sins committed against the law and majesty of God, does David advise Solomon the king, as the keeper of God’s law and the guardian of God’s honour, to punish the guilty offender.” Wordsworth.

Shed the blood of war in peace Shed in time of peace, blood which should have been shed only in warfare. As in the case of Abner, with whom David had made a treaty of peace, but whom Joab treacherously slew at the gate of Hebron. 2 Samuel 3:12-30.

Put the blood of war upon his girdle… and in his shoes That is, he stained his garments with innocent blood, the blood of those whom he could have lawfully slain only in battle. The words are to be taken literally, and with special reference to the case of Amasa. See 2 Samuel 20:8-10. When Joab, after the murder of Amasa, returned his sword to its girdle he doubtless stained the girdle, and probably his feet also, with the blood of the slain captain. Or we suppose that the one fearful thrust that disembowelled Amasa caused the blood to spurt out, and spatter Joab from his girdle to his feet.