Commentary - 2 Samuel 20:4-13

Bird's-eye view

This passage unfolds in the grim aftermath of one rebellion and the chaotic beginning of another. David, in a politically shrewd but ultimately foolish move, has replaced his ruthlessly effective general, Joab, with his traitorous nephew, Amasa. The kingdom is fragile, and when a worthless man named Sheba starts a new revolt, David needs it crushed immediately. But the new man, Amasa, is not up to the task. This sets the stage for a brutal collision of ambition, loyalty, and cold-blooded pragmatism. Joab, sidelined but not neutralized, sees his opportunity. The result is one of the most graphic assassinations in Scripture, a raw display of treachery that is both shocking and, in the bloody logic of that world, grimly effective. The scene is a microcosm of the entire era: a kingdom struggling for stability, led by a king whose authority is compromised by past sins, and held together by men of violence whose loyalty is a complicated and dangerous thing. God's purposes advance, not because of the pristine righteousness of His instruments, but straight through the middle of their bloody messes.

At the center of this is Joab, a man who is utterly indispensable to David and simultaneously a constant thorn in his side. He is the consummate pragmatist, the man who will do what needs to be done to secure the kingdom, even if it means defying the king's explicit orders or committing murder in broad daylight. This passage forces us to wrestle with the nature of loyalty, the cost of sin, and the inscrutable providence of God that works through such flawed and dangerous men to achieve His ends.

Outline

Context In 2 Samuel

This chapter follows directly on the heels of Absalom's rebellion. David has been restored to his throne, but the kingdom is fractured. The northern tribes feel slighted by Judah's enthusiastic welcome of David, creating the fertile ground for Sheba's revolt (2 Sam 20:1-2). In the midst of this, David has made a fateful decision. To placate the men of Judah who had followed Absalom, he has pardoned their commander, Amasa (who was also his nephew), and promoted him to be the new commander of his army, replacing Joab (2 Sam 19:13). This was a terrible move. He was rewarding treason and sidelining the man, Joab, who, for all his faults, had just secured David's kingdom by killing Absalom. David is trying to be a conciliatory politician, but he is dealing with hard men in a hard world. This chapter shows the immediate and bloody consequences of that decision. It is part of the long, painful unraveling of David's house that resulted from his sin with Bathsheba, a story of consequences that God is weaving into His larger story of redemption.

Key Issues

A Kingdom Secured by Blood

We are in the middle of some very rough business here. This is not a Sunday School flannelgraph story. This is raw, violent, political maneuvering, and it is recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture because God is not afraid of the muck of human history. He is the Lord of it. David's kingdom, which is a type of the kingdom of Christ, is being established. But unlike Christ's perfect kingdom, David's is being cobbled together by sinful men who employ sinful means. The central character in this section is Joab, and he is a difficult man to assess. He is loyal to David's throne, but not always to David's person or his commands. He is a man of blood, and he lives by a simple, brutal code: eliminate any threat to the stability of the kingdom. He sees Amasa, the newly appointed general, as just such a threat, not just to his own position, but to the kingdom itself. Amasa's incompetence in the face of a new rebellion proves Joab's point. And so Joab does what Joab does. He eliminates the problem with a sword, a smile, and no hesitation whatever. This is the hard reality of a fallen world, where even the establishment of God's purposes can be drenched in blood.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Call out the men of Judah for me within three days, and you yourself stand here.”

David is facing a new insurrection from Sheba, and he needs to act fast. He learned from Absalom's rebellion that speed is everything. He gives the order to his new commander, Amasa. The command is clear and the timeline is tight: three days. This is Amasa's first test. David has placed him in this position of authority, and now the kingdom's security depends on his ability to execute a simple command. David is trying to make his political appointment work, giving Amasa the chance to prove his loyalty and competence.

5 So Amasa went to call out the men of Judah, but he delayed longer than the set time which he had appointed him.

Amasa fails the test. The text is blunt: he delayed. We are not told why. Perhaps the men of Judah were reluctant to follow the man who had just led a rebellion against David. Perhaps Amasa was simply incompetent. Or, more ominously, perhaps his heart wasn't in it. Whatever the reason, in a time of national crisis, his failure is catastrophic. He proves that David's political gamble was a foolish one. You don't put a fox in charge of the henhouse, and you don't put a recently defeated rebel general in charge of your army when a new rebellion is brewing. Amasa's delay is all the justification Joab needs.

6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities and deliver himself from our sight.”

David recognizes the danger of the delay. He knows he cannot wait for Amasa. So he turns to Abishai, Joab's brother and a proven loyalist. It is significant that he does not turn to Joab directly. David is trying to keep Joab on the sidelines, but he cannot. By giving the command to Abishai, he is essentially activating Joab's power base, because Abishai and Joab are a package deal. "Your lord's servants" refers to David's elite personal troops, the Cherethites and Pelethites, along with the seasoned veterans loyal to Joab. David knows the rebellion must be crushed before Sheba can consolidate his power and hole up in a fortified city.

7 So Joab’s men pursued him, along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

Notice the subtle shift in the text. David gave the command to Abishai, but the narrative says Joab's men went out. Though officially deposed, Joab is still the de facto commander. The men are loyal to him. He has led them in battle for years. He is the one they trust. Abishai may have the formal commission, but everyone knows who is really in charge. Joab is back in the saddle, and trouble is coming.

8 They were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, and Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was dressed in his military attire, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened at his waist; and as he came out, it fell out.

Amasa, having finally gathered some men, meets up with the main force at Gibeon. The scene is set for a confrontation. The detail about Joab's sword is crucial. It is not in its normal position. He has rigged his gear. The sword "falling out" was no accident. It was a deliberate move to have the weapon in his hand, ready for use, without raising immediate suspicion. This is premeditated murder, planned with a soldier's eye for detail.

9 Then Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

This is the ancient equivalent of Judas's kiss in the garden. The greeting is warm and familial. He calls him "my brother," which was technically true as they were cousins. Taking him by the beard to kiss him was a sign of respect and affection. Amasa is completely disarmed by this gesture. He sees a greeting, not a threat. Joab uses the customs of peace and friendship as a cloak for an act of war. His words are smooth as butter, but war is in his heart.

10 But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab’s hand so he struck him in the belly with it and poured out his inward parts on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

While Amasa is focused on the kiss, Joab, with the sword now in his left hand, guts him. The description is brutally graphic. This was not a clean, swift death. It was a visceral, bloody execution. The phrase "did not strike him again" emphasizes the deadly efficiency of the blow. Joab was a professional killer. And with the obstacle of Amasa removed, he and Abishai simply continue the mission. There is no remorse, no hesitation. A problem has been solved. The pursuit of Sheba can now proceed without the hindrance of an incompetent or disloyal commander.

11 Now there stood by him one of Joab’s young men, and said, “Whoever delights in Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.”

This is a brilliant piece of battlefield propaganda. One of Joab's men immediately frames the murder as an act of loyalty. The choice is made stark for the soldiers standing around: Are you for Joab and for David? Then follow us. Notice the order: Joab first, then David. This was likely not lost on anyone. Joab has just reasserted his command in the most brutal way possible, and his man is now rallying the troops to this new reality. Loyalty to David now means loyalty to Joab.

12 But Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the highway. And the man saw that all the people stood still. So he removed Amasa from the highway into the field and threw a garment over him when he saw that everyone who came by him stood still.

The brutal reality of the murder has a paralyzing effect. A man disemboweled and writhing in his own blood in the middle of the road is not a pretty sight. It was stopping the army in its tracks. The sight was so horrific that the soldiers were simply stopping and staring, their pursuit of Sheba forgotten. The propagandist, seeing his rally cry failing, takes pragmatic action. He drags the body off the road and covers it up. Out of sight, out of mind. The mission is more important than the mess.

13 As soon as he was removed from the highway, all the men passed on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.

The grisly distraction is gone, and the army moves on. Joab is now in undisputed command. He has eliminated his rival, consolidated his power, and put the army back on its primary mission. It was a coup, executed with ruthless efficiency in the middle of a military campaign. The kingdom is once again dependent on this bloody, difficult, but effective man.

Application

This is a raw and bloody chapter, and we should not be quick to pretty it up. It reminds us that the world is a dangerous place, and that political power is often seized and maintained through brutal means. David's attempt at a soft, political solution failed because he was not dealing with soft men. He tried to paper over treason with a promotion, and it blew up in his face.

The character of Joab is a profound challenge. He is, in many ways, a monster. He is a treacherous murderer. And yet, his actions, in the tangled providence of God, served to preserve David's kingdom. God is not the author of Joab's sin, but He is the sovereign Lord over it. He can and does use the wicked and ruthless actions of men to accomplish His good purposes. This should not lead us to excuse sin, but it should lead us to marvel at the power and wisdom of a God who can draw a straight line with a crooked stick.

For us, the lesson is not to be more like Joab. The lesson is to be more wary of the Joab in our own hearts. We all have the capacity for treachery, for using words of peace to conceal intentions of war. We are all tempted to justify sinful means if we think they will achieve a righteous end. The gospel tells us that this kind of self-serving pragmatism is what nailed Jesus to the cross. Caiaphas was a Joab of sorts when he said it was "expedient" for one man to die for the nation. But unlike Joab, who killed to secure his own power, Christ died to surrender all power. He met the treacherous kiss of Judas not with a hidden sword, but with a love that absorbs betrayal and triumphs through suffering. Our security is not in a kingdom maintained by the bloody hands of men like Joab, but in a kingdom established by the pierced hands of Jesus Christ.