Joab Murders Abner
August 11, 2020
Commentary
All this time, Joab had not forgotten that Abner had killed his brother Asahel. Joab took matters into his own hands by sending for Abner and bringing him back to Hebron (3:26). Pretending to speak privately with him, Joab took Abner aside and stabbed him to death. Hebron was a city of refuge, a place where someone accused of killing another person was protected from revenge. Inside that city, Joab could not touch him, so they stepped outside the gate. This act was done in revenge for Asahel’s death (3:27). Although Abner had killed Asahel in self-defense during battle, Joab now murdered Abner, driven by revenge and likely by fear of losing his position as military leader.
When David heard what Joab had done, he was deeply shocked and grieved. He publicly declared that neither he nor his kingdom was guilty of Abner’s blood. David pronounced a curse on Joab and his family, calling for lasting sickness, poverty, and suffering upon his household (3:28–30). The king wanted all Israel to know that this murder did not represent his heart. David understood that justice mattered deeply to God, even when the guilty person was someone close to him.
David ordered public mourning for Abner, including Joab himself. The king followed Abner’s coffin and wept openly at the grave. David composed a lament, declaring that Abner had died a death unworthy of him, not in battle and not as a criminal (3:31–34). David refused to eat until evening, and the people were pleased by his sincere grief. They clearly recognized that David had no part in Abner’s murder. David called Abner “a prince and a great man” in Israel and entrusted final justice to God, asking Him to repay the evil that had been done in His time (3:35–39).
Application
When someone wrongs me, do I seek revenge or trust God with justice? When anger rises in my heart, do I act quickly or wait on the LORD? Today I will ask God to guard my heart from bitterness. Will I choose patience, honesty, and peace, even when others act unfairly? Like David, I want to leave judgment with God and walk with Him.
2 Samuel 3:26–39 (NET)
26 Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. (But David was not aware of it.) 27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel.
28 When David later heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the shed blood of Abner son of Ner. 29 May his blood whirl over the head of Joab and the entire house of his father! May the males of Joab’s house never cease to have someone with a running sore or a skin disease or one who works at the spindle or one who falls by the sword or one who lacks food!”
30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel in Gibeon during the battle.
31 David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes. Put on sackcloth. Lament before Abner!” Now King David followed behind the funeral pallet. 32 So they buried Abner in Hebron. The king cried loudly over Abner’s grave, and all the people wept too. 33 The king chanted the following lament for Abner: “Should Abner have died like a fool?
34 Your hands were not bound, and your feet were not put into irons. You fell the way one falls before criminals.”
35 Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, “God will punish me severely if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!”
36 All the people noticed this and it pleased them. In fact, everything the king did pleased all the people. 37 All the people and all Israel realized on that day that the killing of Abner son of Ner was not done at the king’s instigation.
38 Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great leader has fallen this day in Israel? 39 Today I am weak, even though I am anointed as king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too much for me to bear! May the Lord punish appropriately the one who has done this evil thing!”
Vengeance is a Passion to Get Even
“Vengeance is a passion to get even. It is a hot desire to give back as much pain as someone gives you. The problem with revenge is that it never gets what it wants; it never evens the score. Fairness never comes. The chain reaction set off … Continue