Poole on 2 Samuel 20:4-10: Joab's Murder of Amasa

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Verse 4:[1]  Then said the king to Amasa, (2 Sam. 19:13) Assemble (Heb. call[2]) me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.

[The king said to Amasa:  Assemble, etc.]  1.  So that he might make him the new general of the army, as he had promised in 2 Samuel 19:13 (Menochius, Martyr).  2.  So that he might suppress the rebellion of Sheba (Menochius).  He chose Amasa, both because he was of that tribe; and because he served as the captain of the military for Absalom, and so was able win the hearts of the seditious (Sanchez).

Assemble me the men of Judah, and march in the head of them as their general, as I have promised thee, 2 Samuel 19:13.  Within three days; which he supposed Amasa, having been their late general, could easily do; and the business required haste.

[And be thou present (similarly Munster, Tigurinus, Syriac)]  Hebrew:  and thou here stand[3] (Montanus, Jonathan), or to stand.  An Infinitive in the place of the Imperative (Malvenda).  Present thyself here, understanding, on the same day (Junius).

Be thou here present within that time to receive orders and instructions from me.

Verse 5:[4]  So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah:  but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

[And he tarried, etc., ‎וַיּ֕וֹחֶר מִן־הַמּוֹעֵ֖ד אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְעָדֽוֹ׃]  [The Qere is ‎וַיּוֹחֶר .[5]]  And he tarried (or he allowed them to delay [Junius and Tremellius, Malvenda], or he caused them to delay [Malvenda]) beyond the time (or after the time appointed [Montanus]) that he (understanding, the king [Piscator]) had determined, or fixed, for him (Pagnine, Syriac, Jonathan, Piscator, Tigurinus), or, because it was appointed to him (Junius and Tremellius).  Now, he delayed, either, 1.  because various impediments cropped up, as it happens (Menochius); that task had more difficulty in it that at first appeared (Sanchez).  Or, 2.  because Judah loved Joab so much, they were not readily giving their allegiance to a new general.  Amasa did not signify this to the king, lest his authority be diminished (Martyr).

He tarried, etc.:  Either because the people, being wearied out by the late civil war, were not forward to engage in another; or because the soldiers had more affection to Joab than to their new general, to whose ill conduct possibly they might impute their unsuccessfulness in the last battle; or because Amasa for his own interest might seek delays, to render himself more necessary and useful to the king, and to keep up his honourable and profitable employment, which is the common policy of such men.

Verse 6:[6]  And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did Absalom:  take thou (2 Sam. 11:11; 1 Kings 1:33) thy lord’s servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us (Heb. deliver himself from our eyes[7]).

[David says to Abishai]  He was unwilling to make use of the service of Joab, because he had determined to depose him (Martyr); and so that Amasa might not fear that Joab was to be restored to his command (Menochius).  David does not make Abishai the general of the whole army, but he appears to make use of his service temporarily (Martyr).

David said to Abishai; not to Joab, lest by this means he should recover his place, and Amasa be discontented, and David’s fidelity in making good his promise to Amasa be questioned.

[Take thou the servants of thy Lord]  That is, 1.  of David; he speaks of himself in the third person (Menochius).  Or, 2.  the soldiers of Joab, the captain of my military (Vatablus out of Munster).  Or, 3.  the soldiers of Amasa, under whom thou servest.  Thus Uriah calls Joab his lord, 2 Samuel 11:11 (Piscator).

Thy lord’s servants, that is, my guards that attend upon my person, and the other soldiers who are now present with me.  He speaks of himself in the third person, as is very frequent.  For it is not probable he would now call Joab his lord, whom he had lately deposed; nor Amasa, who had not yet taken actual possession of his place, nor had the command over the king’s guards.

[Let perchance he come upon fortified cities]  That is, lest he occupy cities, etc. (Vatablus).  Haste is to be made before the yet weak conspiracy of a few increases, Tacitus’ Histories 1 (Grotius).  I myself saw in Belgium twenty-two rebellions of royal soldiers on account of late wages, some of which, with a delay allowed, so increased that they, occupying and fortifying some city, were made unassailable, and more harmful to those enemies (Lapide).

[And he flee us, ‎וְהִצִּ֥יל עֵינֵֽנוּ׃]  [The Qere is ‎עֵינֵינוּ.]  And he flee, or escape, from our eyes (Pagnine, Munster, Junius and Tremellius, Castalio, similarly Tigurinus, Vatablus, Montanus), in such a way that we might not know where he went (Vatablus, similarly Mariana).  And he shall cover (and he pluck out [Syriac, Arabic]) our eyes (Septuagint).  And he not make an opportunity to fight, so that we might have need to storm him with protracted sieges (Osiander).

Verse 7:[8]  And there went out after him Joab’s men, and the (2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Kings 1:38) Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men:  and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.

[The men of Joab]  Who had previously served under Joab, then under Amasa.  See 2 Samuel 19:13 (Piscator).

Joab’s men; the remainders of Joab’s army who were there present, with whom also Joab might go as a reformade, watching an opportunity to do what he designed. Of the Cherethites and the Pelethites, see on 2 Samuel 8:18.

Verse 8:[9]  When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them.  And Joab’s garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.

[Near the great stone, which is in Gibeon]  That is, near that stony hill, on which was an altar, and which was called the high place of Gibeon[10] (Sanchez).

[Amasa, coming, met them]  When he had summoned the men of Judah (Sanchez), and had fixed for them a certain day and place; but, that they did not depart at the same time with Amasa, is true, because otherwise the followers of Amasa would have turned their arms against Joab (Sanchez on verse 9).

Amasa went before them; having gathered some forces, and given due orders for the rest to follow him, he returned to Jerusalem, and by the king’s command went after those mentioned, verse 7; and being come up to them at the place where they waited for him, he put himself into the head of Joab’s men, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and such as he had brought along with him, and marched before them as their chief and general.

[Moreover, Joab]  Although not called, he comes, but of his own accord, and with ill will, so that he might kill Amasa, whom he was envying the chief command, as previously Abner[11] (Martyr).

[He was dressed in a tunic close to the length of his habit, וְיוֹאָ֞ב חָג֣וּר׀ מִדּ֣וֹ לְבֻשׁ֗וּ]  Joab was girded with a tunic (cloak [Montanus], his mantle [Junius and Tremellius], just mantle rather; for the ו in מִדּוֹ is paragogic [Piscator]) of his clothing (Pagnine, Vatablus, Montanus, Junius and Tremellius, Piscator); that is, in a cloak, of which he was wont to make use in military expeditions (Vatablus, similarly the Dutch).  Or with the girdle of his robes (Jonathan); girded with a tunic wherewith he was clothed (Tigurinus); girded with his tunic (Munster).  He had bound his garment with a belt (Strigelius).  Joab’s garment that he had put on was girded unto him (English); clothed with a short cloak, his garment (Septuagint); he was girded with the equipment of his arms (Syriac, similarly the Arabic).  לְבוּשׁ is a general term for clothing, and מַד is a specific (Munster).

Girded unto him, after the manner of travellers and soldiers.

[And girded with a sword hanging down unto his loins,‎וְעָלָ֞יו חֲג֥וֹר חֶ֙רֶב֙ מְצֻמֶּ֤דֶת עַל־מָתְנָיו֙]  And upon that (namely, his cloak), or it (namely, his garment), the belt of a sword cleaving to his loins (Pagnine), or upon his loins (Mariana), or joined above his loins (Montanus); a girdle with a sword fastened to his loins (English); he had a belt to which a sword was bound above his loins (Dutch); over it he was girded with a sword, which was joined with his loins (Munster); over which was a band with a sword (Hebrew:  a band of a sword [Junius]) bound to his loins (Junius and Tremellius).  A belt of a sword cleaving, etc., that is, that it was drawn tight with a belt, from which the sword was hanging (Vatablus).  Over his garments, contrary to custom he was bearing a sword, for greater readiness of use, 1 Kings 2:5 (Mariana).  The sword was raised to the loins, lest it, swaying during travel, and dashing against his leges, be an impediment to him while walking, as the German infantrymen are wont to do (Junius).  He snatched the sword from his side, raised it, and was bringing it down to his breast, etc.:  Tacitus’ Annals 1.  Rightly from the side, for it was ancient custom that the sword hang from the shoulder, and descend to the side, Homer’s Iliad β, —Ἀμφὶ δι᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὤμοισιν βάλετο ξίφος, he slung his silver-studded sword about his shoulders.  Not just in the age of heroes, but afterwards, Claudian:  and ancestral swords worn on shoulders beaming.[12]  The sword hung from the side, the dagger or knife from the thigh, and so παραμήριον/dagger[13] to the Greeks:  Lipsius on Tacitus (Gataker).

[In the sheath, ‎בְּתַעְרָהּ]  In its sheath (Montanus, Pagnine, etc), or the sheath of it (Mariana).

[Made in such a manner as to be able to come out with the least motion, and to strike, ‎וְה֥וּא יָצָ֖א וַתִּפֹּֽל׃]  And he went forth and fell (Montanus, Malvenda).  [Some refer both to the sword:]  He was girded with a sword, which was hanging in a sheath in a continuous manner to the loins; in such a way that it might go forth and cut down (Tigurinus); and with no difficulty it was about to be drawn out and to be put away (Strigelius).  So also the Septuagint:  καὶ ἡ μάχαιρα ἐξῆλθεν·  καὶ αὐτῆ ἐξῆλθεν καὶ ἔπεσεν, and the sword went forth, and it [namely, the sword] went forth and fell.  Some refer יָצָא, he went forth, to the sword, but the masculine gender hinders (Munster), since ‎חֶרֶב/sword is feminine (Mariana).  [Others refer both to Joab:]  And he himself, going about, collided (Jonathan); and his hand fell upon his sword (Syriac); and when he had gone forth, he extended his hand to his sword (Arabic).  [Others, and indeed most, refer the former to Joab, the latter to the sword:]  And when Joab had gone forth (went forth [English], proceeded, that is, separating from his rank, or from the place where he had refreshed himself, to greet Amasa [Dutch]), then it, understanding, his sword (Pagnine, Vatablus, Mariana, Munster, English, Dutch), fell (slipped away [Munster], fell out [Dutch, English]); so that, with him going his sword fell (Junius and Tremellius); and while he was advancing, his sword was falling out (Piscator).  And while Joab went forth to meet Amasa coming in the way, his sword fell, etc. (Vatablus).  The sword was hanging in its sheath in such a manner that it fell out of the sheath easily; which also happened with Joab subtly assisting; in such a way that Amasa might believe that the sword fallen to the ground is taken up by him, so that he might put it back in its sheath (Grotius).  In this verse is describe the habit of Joab; he was not covered with armor, but was having only a cloak and a sword (Mariana).  The sword is here said to hang down to the loins, because Hebrew soldiers were wont to be girded about higher, namely, under the armpit, either above the breast, as some today do; or at least, as other now commonly do, above the thigh, as in Psalm 45:3, gird thy sword upon thy thigh; and in Song of Solomon 3:8, his sword upon his thigh.  If Joab had had his sword upon his thigh, he, embracing Amasa, could not have conveniently removed it from its sheath (Sanchez).

As he went forth to meet and salute Amasa, who was coming towards him to do him honour.  It fell out; things having (it is likely) been so contrived by Joab, that upon the least motion of his body his sword should drop out, and he might take it up without raising Amasa’s suspicion.

Verse 9:[14]  And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother?  (Matt. 26:49; Luke 22:47) And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

[Greetings, my brother]  That is, my colleague.  Joab was not able to bear a rival (Grotius).

[He held the chin, ‎בִּזְקַן]  Verbatim:  on the beard (Malvenda).  That formerly was characteristic of urbanity and office (Tirinus).  For, this was the manner of kissing (Menochius).  This was customary among the Hebrews and the Greeks (Tirinus out of Sanchez).  It was the custom among the ancient Greeks to touch the beard in supplication:  Pliny’s Natural History 45.  Thus Thetis,[15] in Iliad ί, being about to supplicate Jove, took hold of his knees and beard (Menochius out of Sanchez).  Thus they were touching the knees of Queens, as Euripides testifies in Hecuba,[16] who addresses Ulysses in this way, ἥψω, etc., thou, supplicating, hast touched this old woman’s knee (Sanchez).

Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand, etc.:  As the manner of ancient times was, when they kissed and saluted one another.

Verse 10:[17]  But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand:  so (1 Kings 2:5) he smote him therewith (2 Sam. 2:23) in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again (Heb. doubled not his stroke[18]); and he died.  So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.

[He did not heed the sword, ‎לֹֽא־נִשְׁמַ֜ר בַּחֶ֣רֶב׀]  He was not on his guard against the sword (Pagnine [similarly all interpreters]).

[Which Joab had]  Hebrew:  which was in the hand of Joab[19] (Malvenda), more specifically, the left, wherewith he had recovered the sword that had fallen out (Piscator).

The sword that was in Joab’s hand; which falling out, as it seemed, casually, he supposed that Joab intended only to put it into its scabbard, and therefore took no care to defend himself against the stroke.

[He smote him in the side, ‎אֶל־הַחֹמֶשׁ]  In the fifth (Pagnine, Vatablus), understanding, rib (Piscator).  Others:  in the groin.  Chaldean:  in the side of his thigh (Vatablus).  See 2 Samuel 2:23[20] (Piscator).

In the fifth rib:  see on 2 Samuel 2:23.

[Neither a second wound did he add, and he died, ‎וְלֹא־שָׁ֥נָה ל֖וֹ וַיָּמֹ֑ת]  And he did not a second time to him, and he died (Pagnine, Montanus, Vatablus).  He did not inflict upon him another wound (Vatablus).  So that, without the stroke repeated upon him, he died (Junius and Tremellius).  It is strange, that Amasa did not take precautions against that bloody man, whom he knew to have killed Abner for the same reason.[21]  But what is human prudence able to do against the purpose of God?  God withdraws wisdom from men, etc. (Martyr).

Struck him not again; he despatched him at one stroke, or gave him his death’s wound at the first blow, and needed not to smite him again.

[Joab and Abishai pursued, etc.]  Joab, of his own will, resumed his place; he did not wait to be restored by David.  All began to go after him.  Hence the favor of the soldiers towards their general appears (Martyr).  Joab, seeing all things to yield to him without punishment, dares more.  The treachery here is heinous (Grotius).

Joab now boldly resumed his former place, and marched in the head of the army.  It is not strange that Amasa’s soldiers did not fight to revenge his death; partly because not many of them were yet come up, but came by degrees, as the following verses show; and partly because Joab’s interest and authority with the military men was very great, especially with David’s guards, who were here present, and who had no kindness for Amasa, as having been the general of the rebellious army; and, as they might think, was not fit to be put into a place of so great power and trust.

[1] Hebrew:  ‎וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֶל־עֲמָשָׂ֔א הַזְעֶק־לִ֥י אֶת־אִישׁ־יְהוּדָ֖ה שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וְאַתָּ֖ה פֹּ֥ה עֲמֹֽד׃

[2] Hebrew:  ‎הַזְעֶק.

[3] Hebrew:  ‎וְאַתָּ֖ה פֹּ֥ה עֲמֹֽד׃.

[4] Hebrew:  ‎וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ עֲמָשָׂ֖א לְהַזְעִ֣יק אֶת־יְהוּדָ֑ה וַיֵּ֕יחַר מִן־הַמּוֹעֵ֖ד אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְעָדֽוֹ׃ ס

[5] In the Hiphil.  The Kethib is ‎וַיֵּיחַר, in the Qal.

[6] Hebrew: ‎וַיֹּ֤אמֶר דָּוִד֙ אֶל־אֲבִישַׁ֔י עַתָּ֗ה יֵ֧רַֽע לָ֛נוּ שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִ֖י מִן־אַבְשָׁל֑וֹם אַ֠תָּה קַ֞ח אֶת־עַבְדֵ֤י אֲדֹנֶ֙יךָ֙ וּרְדֹ֣ף אַחֲרָ֔יו פֶּן־מָ֥צָא ל֛וֹ עָרִ֥ים בְּצֻר֖וֹת וְהִצִּ֥יל עֵינֵֽנוּ׃

[7] Hebrew:  וְהִצִּ֥יל עֵינֵֽנוּ׃.

[8] Hebrew:  ‎וַיֵּצְא֤וּ אַֽחֲרָיו֙ אַנְשֵׁ֣י יוֹאָ֔ב וְהַכְּרֵתִ֥י וְהַפְּלֵתִ֖י וְכָל־הַגִּבֹּרִ֑ים וַיֵּֽצְאוּ֙ מִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם לִרְדֹּ֕ף אַחֲרֵ֖י שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִֽי׃

[9] Hebrew: ‎הֵ֗ם עִם־הָאֶ֤בֶן הַגְּדוֹלָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּגִבְע֔וֹן וַעֲמָשָׂ֖א בָּ֣א לִפְנֵיהֶ֑ם וְיוֹאָ֞ב חָג֣וּר׀ מִדּ֣וֹ לְבֻשׁ֗וּ וְעָלָ֞ו חֲג֥וֹר חֶ֙רֶב֙ מְצֻמֶּ֤דֶת עַל־מָתְנָיו֙ בְּתַעְרָ֔הּ וְה֥וּא יָצָ֖א וַתִּפֹּֽל׃ ס

[10] See 1 Kings 3:4; 1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3; 1:13.

[11] See 2 Samuel 3.

[12] On Stilicho’s Consulship 2:22.

[13] Παραμήρια is the inside of the thighs.

[14] Hebrew:  ‎וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יוֹאָב֙ לַעֲמָשָׂ֔א הֲשָׁל֥וֹם אַתָּ֖ה אָחִ֑י וַתֹּ֜חֶז יַד־יְמִ֥ין יוֹאָ֛ב בִּזְקַ֥ן עֲמָשָׂ֖א לִנְשָׁק־לֽוֹ׃

[15] In Greek mythology, Thetis is a Nereid (sea nymph), one of the fifty daughters of Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, and the mother of Achilles.

[16] Hecuba was the wife of Priam, King of Troy, during the Trojan War.

[17] Hebrew: ‎וַעֲמָשָׂ֙א לֹֽא־נִשְׁמַ֜ר בַּחֶ֣רֶב׀ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּיַד־יוֹאָ֗ב וַיַּכֵּהוּ֩ בָ֙הּ אֶל־הַחֹ֜מֶשׁ וַיִּשְׁפֹּ֙ךְ מֵעָ֥יו אַ֛רְצָה וְלֹא־שָׁ֥נָה ל֖וֹ וַיָּמֹ֑ת ס וְיוֹאָב֙ וַאֲבִישַׁ֣י אָחִ֔יו רָדַ֕ף אַחֲרֵ֖י שֶׁ֥בַע בֶּן־בִּכְרִֽי׃

[18] Hebrew:  ‎וְלֹא־שָׁנָה.

[19] Hebrew:  ‎אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּיַד־יוֹאָ֗ב.

[20] 2 Samuel 2:23:  “Howbeit he refused to turn aside:  wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib (‎אֶל־הַחֹמֶשׁ), that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place:  and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.”

[21] See 2 Samuel 3.