I Googled an image for the word killer and this is what came up first out of 20.8 million images. Hmmm, seemingly innocent but a ruthless killer. Pretty apt description of Joab. "Run away!"
"David replied, 'What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? This day you have become my adversaries!" 2 Sam. 19:22
Has David finally figured out than aligning himself with the Zeruiah boys - Joab and Abishai - might not be in his best interest? You think? Joab has already killed Abner and Absalom when David had asked in both cases that they live. In this reading, Joab will kill Amasa. Maybe he's working his way through the alphabet? It doesn't seem to matter to Joab that he's related to Amasa. He even uses a bit of treachery to kill him. He greets him as a friend and then, when Amasa's guard is down, Joab stabs him in the stomach with a dagger. This after David has forgiven Amasa for being in league with Absalom. Joab is a killer. And hard to replace as commander of the Army since he has this nasty habit of killing any potential replacement.
Why does David tolerate this? Does Joab hold the Uriah thing over his head? Is David afraid of him? In the beginning, maybe David felt like he needed this ruthless instrument of death - the Zeruiah boys. But its hard to wield such a violent weapon. Their response to any question is simply: "kill."
No comments:
Post a Comment