The Pragmatism of Blood: Joab's Justice Text: 2 Samuel 3:22-30
Introduction: Two Kinds of Kingdoms
As we watch the kingdom of David begin to coalesce, we must constantly remind ourselves that there are two ways to build a kingdom. There is God's way, and there is man's way. God's way is the way of promise, patience, covenant faithfulness, and waiting on Him to bring about His purposes in His time. This is the path David, for the most part, has walked. He was anointed king years before he was crowned, and he refused to seize the throne by force. He respected the Lord's anointed, even when that anointed man was trying to kill him. David was learning to build a kingdom on the foundation of God's Word.
But there is another way, the way of the world. This is the way of pragmatism, of raw power, of "necessary evils," and of taking matters into your own hands. It is the way of the flesh. It is efficient, it is often effective in the short term, and it is entirely godless. The chief architect of this second approach in David's kingdom is his nephew and commander, Joab. Joab is a hard man, a shrewd political operator, and a man who understands violence. He is loyal to David, but his loyalty is to the political entity of David's throne, not necessarily to David's God. He is a man of this world, and he consistently chooses the tools of this world to solve his problems.
In our text today, we see these two approaches to kingdom-building collide in a bloody mess at the gates of Hebron. David, operating in faith, has just made a peace treaty with Abner, the commander of Israel's armies. This was a massive step toward unifying the nation under God's chosen king, accomplished through diplomacy and peace. But Joab, operating by the world's rules of vengeance and suspicion, sees this as a catastrophic blunder. And so, he takes matters into his own blood-stained hands. What unfolds is a stark lesson in the difference between private vengeance and public justice, and a demonstration of how the sins of leaders can plague a kingdom for generations.
The Text
And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. Now Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, and they told Joab, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.” Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why then have you sent him away and he is already gone? You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you and to know of your going out and your coming in and to know all that you are doing.”
Then Joab came out from David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but David did not know it. So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother. Afterward David heard it, so he said, “I and my kingdom are innocent before Yahweh forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. May it whirl on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house; and may one who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who takes hold of a spindle, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread not be cut off from the house of Joab.” So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.
(2 Samuel 3:22-30 LSB)
The Return of the Pragmatist (vv. 22-25)
We begin with Joab's return and immediate confrontation with David.
"And behold, the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and brought much spoil with them; but Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace... Then Joab came to the king and said, 'What have you done?... You know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive you...'" (2 Samuel 3:22-25)
Joab and his men return from a successful raid, flushed with victory and laden with spoil. They are men of war, living by the sword. The first thing they hear is not praise for their victory, but news that the enemy commander-in-chief, Abner, has been welcomed, feasted, and sent away in peace. To the military mind of Joab, this is not diplomacy; it is treasonous naivete.
He immediately storms in to confront the king. Notice his tone. "What have you done?" This is not the question of a subordinate seeking to understand his commander's strategy. This is an accusation. Joab is David's nephew, but he does not approach him with the deference due to a king. He speaks to him as a political equal, or perhaps even as a handler speaking to a talented but foolish asset. This reveals the central problem with Joab. He sees himself as the true guardian of the kingdom's interests, the one who must protect David from his own pious idealism.
Joab's accusation is rooted in worldly cynicism. He cannot conceive that Abner's change of heart is genuine. He projects his own deceitful nature onto Abner, assuming it must be a trick. "He came to deceive you and to know of your going out and your coming in." Joab is a materialist. He only sees the world in terms of power, leverage, and deception. The possibility of genuine repentance, of a man recognizing God's anointed and submitting to him, is not a category that exists in his worldview. He trusts in his own shrewdness, not in God's providence. David had assessed the situation and, trusting God, made a covenant. Joab assesses the same situation and, trusting only his own cynical judgment, decides to break that covenant.
Vengeance Under the Color of Law (vv. 26-27)
Having failed to persuade David, Joab takes matters into his own hands, orchestrating a deceptive and brutal murder.
"Then Joab came out from David and sent messengers after Abner... but David did not know it. So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother." (2 Samuel 3:26-27 LSB)
Joab's actions here are a masterpiece of calculated treachery. First, he acts behind the king's back. "David did not know it." This is insubordination of the highest order. Joab is running a shadow government, countermanding the king's own treaty. He uses messengers, likely giving them the impression the summons is from David, to lure Abner back. This is deception built on deception.
The murder itself is strategically located. Hebron was a city of refuge. The gate of a city was the place where legal matters were adjudicated, where elders sat in judgment. Joab takes Abner "into the middle of the gate," the very place of public justice, to commit a private murder. He draws him aside "to speak with him privately," a pretense of friendship and confidentiality, and then guts him. This is a profound perversion of justice. He uses the symbols of law and order to carry out a personal vendetta.
The text gives us Joab's motive, or at least his public justification: "on account of the blood of Asahel his brother." Now, the law did provide for a "kinsman redeemer" or an "avenger of blood" to execute a murderer (Numbers 35). Joab is cloaking his actions in the garb of legal piety. But this is a sham. First, Abner killed Asahel in the heat of battle, in self-defense, after repeatedly warning him to turn aside. This was an act of war, not murder. Second, even if it were murder, the avenger of blood was to act within the confines of the law, which involved the city of refuge and a trial. Joab bypasses all of this. His true motive was not justice for Asahel, but the elimination of a political rival. Abner was a far greater and more respected commander than Joab. With Abner at David's right hand, Joab's own influence would be severely diminished. So, under the guise of family honor, Joab secures his own political power. This is how the world works: you wrap your selfish ambition in the flag of a noble cause.
The King's Curse (vv. 28-30)
David's reaction is one of horror, and he publicly and formally separates himself and his kingdom from Joab's bloody deed.
"Afterward David heard it, so he said, 'I and my kingdom are innocent before Yahweh forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner. May it whirl on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house...'" (2 Samuel 3:28-29 LSB)
David understands the doctrine of bloodguilt. The shedding of innocent blood pollutes the land, and the guilt falls upon the leadership if it is not properly addressed. David's first act is to declare his and his kingdom's innocence before God. He knows this act of treachery threatens the legitimacy and blessing of his entire reign. He is the king, and this happened on his watch, in his capital city. He must publicly disavow it in the strongest possible terms.
He then pronounces a terrifying curse on Joab and his entire family line. This is not a fit of pique. This is a formal, prophetic declaration of divine judgment. He calls for Joab's house to be afflicted with sickness ("one who has a discharge, or who is a leper"), with effeminacy or uselessness ("who takes hold of a spindle"), with violence ("who falls by the sword"), and with poverty ("who lacks bread"). This is covenantal judgment. The sin of the father will visit the children. And we should note that this curse came to pass. Joab himself would later be cut down at the altar by Solomon's command, falling by the sword.
Verse 30 makes it clear that Joab's brother, Abishai, was also complicit. "So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner." Abishai was just as hot-headed and vengeful as his brother. This was a family conspiracy, a clan-based act of vengeance that stood in stark opposition to the national, covenantal unity David was trying to build. They were thinking tribally, not covenantally.
But here we must ask the hard question. If David was so outraged, why didn't he execute Joab on the spot? The law was clear: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed" (Genesis 9:6). David himself gives the answer later, saying, "these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me" (2 Sam. 3:39). This is a candid admission of political weakness. Joab had the loyalty of the army. He was ruthless, efficient, and necessary for David's military security. To move against Joab at this fragile moment could have sparked a civil war within his own camp. David was not yet strong enough to enforce God's perfect justice. He curses the sin, but he cannot, at this point, punish the sinner. This is a tragic reality in a fallen world. But David does not forget. On his deathbed, he will charge Solomon to finally bring Joab to justice, ensuring that his "gray head" does not go down to the grave in peace.
Conclusion: The Justice of Another King
This sordid affair highlights the profound difficulty of establishing true justice in a world of sinful men. David, the man after God's own heart, is hampered by the hard-headed pragmatism and violent ambition of his own subordinates. He desires a kingdom of peace and righteousness, but he has to build it with flawed, bloody men like Joab.
Joab's sin was to seize for himself a prerogative that belongs to God alone. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Justice is a divine institution, to be administered by God's appointed authorities according to His law, not carried out in a dark alley by a man with a private grudge and a political ambition. When we take vengeance into our own hands, we are playing God. We are asserting that our timetable, our judgment, and our methods are superior to His. This is the essence of rebellion.
The bloodguilt that David feared is a real thing. Our world is soaked in it. Every act of injustice, every private vendetta, every murder cries out from the ground. David's kingdom, for all its glory, was stained with this blood from the beginning. His own hands were not entirely clean, and the hands of his chief men were filthy. This is why David's kingdom could never be the final kingdom. It pointed forward to a greater King, a truer Son of David.
Jesus Christ came to establish a kingdom of perfect justice. And how did He do it? Not by the methods of Joab. He did not come with a sword in hand to cut down His rivals. He came to absorb the curse of bloodguilt into Himself. The innocent blood of Abner cried out for vengeance. But the innocent blood of Jesus Christ, shed at the gate of Jerusalem, cries out for mercy. It speaks a better word than the blood of Abel, or Abner, or anyone else. It speaks forgiveness.
David was innocent of Abner's blood, but he was powerless to execute full justice on the guilty. God the Father is perfectly just, and He is not powerless. He poured out the full measure of His justice for our sin, for all our worldly pragmatism and bloody-minded rebellion, upon His own Son. Therefore, we are called to leave all vengeance to Him. We are to trust our King, who has already settled the ultimate injustice at the cross, and who will one day return to judge the living and the dead. In His kingdom, and only in His kingdom, will justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.