1 Kings 2:5

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹As the time drew near for David to die, he charged his son Solomon, ²"I am about to go the way of all of the earth. So be strong and prove yourself a man. ³And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn, ⁴and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: 'If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.' ⁵Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me and what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.⁶So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. ⁷But show loving devotion to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom. ⁸Keep an eye on Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite with you from Bahurim who called down bitter curses against me on the day I went to Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the LORD: 'I will never kill you with the sword.' ⁹Now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You know what you ought to do to him to bring his gray head down to Sheol in blood." ¹⁰Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Joab: 1 Kings 1:7, 1 Kings 1:18, 1 Kings 1:19, 2 Samuel 3:39, 2 Samuel 18:5, 2 Samuel 18:12, 2 Samuel 18:14, 2 Samuel 19:5-7

Abner: 2 Samuel 3:27

Amasa: 2 Samuel 20:10

Jether: 2 Samuel 17:25, Ithra

shed: Heb. put

put: Jeremiah 2:34, Jeremiah 6:15, Ezekiel 24:7, Ezekiel 24:8

Reciprocal: Genesis 9:6 - by Numbers 35:20 - if he thrust Deuteronomy 19:12 - General 2 Samuel 11:16 - he assigned 2 Samuel 14:19 - of Joab 2 Samuel 16:10 - What have 1 Kings 2:31 - which 1 Kings 2:32 - Jether 1 Chronicles 2:17 - Amasa Psalms 55:23 - bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days Ecclesiastes 8:12 - a sinner Isaiah 5:27 - neither Hosea 6:8 - polluted with blood Matthew 5:21 - and

Cross-References

Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Genesis 2:12
And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.

Genesis 3:23
Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 4:2
Later she gave birth to Cain's brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.

Genesis 4:12
When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."

Job 5:10
He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.

Psalms 104:14
He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:

Psalms 135:7
He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses.

Jeremiah 14:22
Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did unto me,.... In slaying Absalom, contrary to his orders, and in behaving insolently towards him on account of his mourning for him, and at other times; but as these things might not be personally known to Solomon, only by hearsay, this may respect his disloyalty towards him, in joining with Adonijah, who set himself up for king in his lifetime, and without his knowledge and consent; or it may respect the instances next mentioned, in which he did injury to the interest, honour, and character of David:

[and], or "even",

what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew; to Abner who was under Ishbosheth, and Amasa under David, who had not only the promise of the post, but was actually in it when Joab slew him; and indeed out of envy to him for it:

and shed the blood of war in peace; when they were at peace with him, as if they had been in open war; and even under a pretence of friendship to them, asking of their peace and welfare, as if he meant nothing less than to behave peaceably towards them; hence the Targum is,

"whom he slew in craftiness:''

and put the blood of war upon the girdle that [was] about his loins,

and in his shoes that [were] in his feet; which particularly respects the affair of Amasa, whose blood he shed with his sword, that dropped out of its scabbard, girded upon his loins, and into which he put it again, all over bloody, and wore it girded upon his loins; and which he also stooped for when it fell, as if he was going to unloose or buckle his shoes, and into which the blood ran down when he stabbed him; and after this barbarous action marched on without any shame or remorse, with his bloody sword on his loins, and the blood of the murdered in his shoes.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In his directions with respect to certain important persons, David, anxious for the security of his young successor’s kingdom, allows old animosities to revive, and is willing to avenge himself indirectly and by deputy, though he had been withheld by certain scruples from taking vengeance in his own person. We must not expect Gospel morality from the saints of the Old Testament. They were only the best men of their several ages and nations. The maxim of “them of old time,” whether Jews or Gentiles, was “Love your friends and hate your enemies” (see Matthew 5:43); and David perhaps was not in this respect in advance of his age. Joab’s chief offence against David, besides his two murders, was no doubt his killing Absalom 2 Samuel 18:14. Another serious crime was his support of the treasonable attempt of Adonijah 1 Kings 1:7. But besides these flagrant misdemeanours, he seems to have offended David by a number of little acts. He was a constant thorn in his side. He treated him with scant respect, taking important steps without his orders 2 Samuel 3:26, remonstrating with him roughly and rudely 2 Samuel 2:24-25, almost betraying his secrets 2 Samuel 11:19-21, and, where he disliked the orders given him, disobeying them 1 Chronicles 21:6. David allowed his ascendancy, but he chafed against it, finding this “son of Zeruiah,” in particular “too hard” for him (margin reference).

Put the blood of war upon his girdle ... - Meaning “The blood of Amasa spirited all over the girdle to which the sword of Joab was attached; and the sandals on his feet were reddened with the stains left by the falling corpse.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 2:5. Thou knowest - what Joab - did to me — He did every thing bad and dishonourable in itself, in the murder of Abner and Amasa, and indeed in the death of the profligate Absalom.

Shed the blood of war - upon his girdle - and in his shoes — He stabbed them while he pretended to embrace them, so that their blood gushed out on his girdle, and fell into his shoes! This was a most abominable aggravation of his crimes.