And the report came to Joab (for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he had not turned after Absalom); and Joab fled to the tent of Jehovah, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
Solomon has executed Adonijah and banished Abiathar, so Joab runs to the tent of the LORD and grips the horns of the altar. Why did this hardened soldier turn religious, and why did the altar do nothing for him when it had spared Adonijah a chapter earlier?
The verse pauses to note that Joab had supported Adonijah but not Absalom. One writer traces the difference back to Joab's own interests.
Joab had not supported Absalom. David was then a strong, active king, and Joab knew that deserting him would not serve his own best interests. But now David was dying, and Joab's natural thoughts drew him to follow Adonijah, David's oldest living son.
Another writer sets Joab's case inside a wider pattern. His earlier loyalty only makes the charge worse.
So the reign of righteousness starts with judgment. It falls on those who had God's grace and patience but never used it to bring their hearts and actions into line with that rule... Scripture says plainly that Joab had not turned after Absalom (v. 28), whatever his feelings in that matter may have been. But turning away from the reign of righteousness at its very start was far more serious. It showed no fear at all before the one destined to sit as glorious king on his throne.
The altar was not a random hiding place. Its horns carried a meaning. That meaning explains why a guilty man would grab them, and why they could still fail him.
The horn is a symbol of strength. So when the blood was sprinkled on the horns, the whole strength of the altar now works for the sinner instead of against him. And that strength is displayed in full. The horns of the altar became a place of refuge, a sanctuary no one could violate. They sheltered everyone who had a right to their protection on the ground of the sprinkled blood. Joab sought this protection when he fled from Solomon (1 Kings 2:28). But he had no claim on it, for he was a murderer, and so he was killed.
Solomon was not improvising. The law already covered this exact case, and it named the altar.
Joab flees to the tabernacle and takes hold of the horns of the altar. That cannot save him. The Word of God is against him: "But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die" (Ex. 21:14). Solomon remembers this. Once Solomon has settled the judgment, it is too late for the altar to shelter him.
Adonijah had made the same move and lived. Joab made it and died. One writer puts the difference in the man, not in the altar.
We also read of Adonijah, who for fear of judgment went and caught hold of the horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50) and was spared at the time. Later Joab attempted the same thing, but having proved himself treacherous, he was killed. For it was not faith that moved him, but fear.
One writer turns the scene toward the reader.
This is like the sinner who, in desperation, would gladly claim the benefits of the death of Christ to escape the judgment. Yet his heart is still far from Him. But wherever there is trust in the value of the sacrifice offered to God on the altar, no power on earth or in hell can touch that soul. It rests under the shelter and protection of that sacrifice.
This was not just tidying up old scores. The blood Joab had spilled stood in the way of Solomon's reign.
Solomon's kingdom could not be established until the innocent blood of Abner and Amasa was avenged on Joab. Joab had shed that blood without David's knowledge (vv. 32-33)... His execution pictures how the coming thousand-year kingdom of the Lord Jesus will be established: in righteousness, which brings peace.
One writer points to the timing. Joab grabbed an altar at a moment when what he needed most did not yet exist.
Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar. But there was no perfect sacrifice then, and no risen and glorified Saviour on the throne of God. So "Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and killed him."... And the kingdom was established — yes, established for a time, but not forever! Just judgment prevailed temporarily.
- Grip — Joab grabbed the horns of the altar, Israel's place of refuge, and it did not save him.
- Claim — The horns sheltered only those covered by the sprinkled blood. Joab was a murderer, so he had no claim on them.
- Command — The law had already said a man who kills by cunning is to be taken from the altar and put to death.
- Motive — Fear drove him to the altar, not faith. Only trust in the sacrifice shelters a soul, and then no power on earth or in hell can touch it.
- Contrast — He reached for an altar when there was as yet "no perfect sacrifice... and no risen and glorified Saviour upon the throne of God."
And it was told king Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of Jehovah; and behold, he is by the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.
The report reaching Solomon is short and strange: Joab is at God's altar, holding on to it. The king's reply is shorter still, and it raises the hardest question here: why does the place of mercy give this man no mercy?
One writer traces the scene from Joab's fear to the moment Benaiah acts:
When news came to Joab of Adonijah's execution and of Abiathar's banishment, Joab knew he could not escape punishment, since he had sided with Adonijah. He went to the tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar as Adonijah had done at first. This was the desperate act of a man clinging to religious ritual, but having no knowledge of God. Solomon sent Benaiah to execute Joab. Benaiah was reluctant to do this while Joab was clinging to the horns of the altar. But at Solomon's word, since Joab would not leave the altar, Benaiah carried out this unpleasant task.
He came empty. That is the difference between his grip on the altar and true refuge:
He thought he had reached a safe place of refuge. But he did not come with sacrifice and blood. So the altar was against him, and he died.
Adonijah had grabbed those same horns and lived. So the altar was not powerless. God's law had already ruled Joab's case out:
Adonijah found refuge at the horns of the altar. His act seems to say, "instead of a substitute, I present myself." In his case that unconditional surrender was accepted, and he was pardoned. Joab did the same, and it was not accepted. He had deliberately killed two men by cunning, and God had appointed that such a man should be allowed no mercy: "you shall take him from my altar that he may die." So he was put to death.
In the sacrifices, blood went on those horns. That blood changed the altar's strength from being against a guilty person to being for him:
The horn is a symbol of strength. The strength of the altar had been against the sinner. When the blood was sprinkled on the horns, that whole strength, displayed in all its completeness, now works for him. So the horns of the altar became a place of refuge, a sanctuary no one could violate. They sheltered everyone who had a right to their protection on the ground of the sprinkled blood. Joab sought this protection when he fled from Solomon; but since he had no claim on it, for he was a murderer, he was slain. This is like the sinner in desperation. He would gladly claim the benefits of the death of Christ to escape the judgment, while his heart is still far from Him. But where there is trust in the value of the sacrifice offered to God on the altar, the soul rests under its shelter and protection. No power on earth or in hell can touch it.
Joab had kept his place for years by being careful. That caution now fails him:
In this situation Joab, long held back by caution during David's lifetime, shows himself as he is. But in the end man's caution fails before the judgment of God. God arranges events in such a way that, sooner or later, the most careful men are shown in their true light.
Solomon's order is not revenge. It clears a throne:
Joab flees to the tabernacle and takes hold of the horns of the altar. That cannot save him. The Word of God is against him... When Joab's judgment is settled it is too late for the altar to shelter him. The sentence must fall on him, so that "for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore." Without it, blood would have remained on the house of David. Judgment was necessary for his glory.
Kelly looks past Solomon to the King he pictures:
Solomon was not the man of blood that David was, and he was not the conquering king of Israel. Yet he was a picture of the Lord Jesus when He goes out as a man of war, which He surely will, and when He carries out vengeance on His adversaries... indeed, the reality is much greater than the picture.
- Blood first. Blood from the sacrifice on the horns was what made the altar a shelter. Joab came with other men's blood on his hands and none of the sacrifice.
- Fear is not faith. He clung to the altar as religious ritual, without knowing God — a grip of terror, not trust.
- Two men, one altar. Adonijah surrendered there and was pardoned. Joab was not, because God had already ruled that a man who kills by cunning must be taken from the altar and put to death.
- Nothing stays hidden. Caution kept Joab in place for years under David. God arranged events to show him as he was.
- Peace costs judgment. The sentence was not spite. Unavenged blood would have clung to David's house. Only judgment left that throne in lasting peace — a small picture of a far greater King still to act.
And Benaiah came to the tent of Jehovah and said to him, Thus saith the king Come forth. And he said, No; for I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
Joab has run from Solomon's judgment to the tent of the LORD and taken hold of the altar. The king's officer arrives with a one-word order, and Joab will not move. His refusal raises the question: can the place of sacrifice shield a man from crimes he never dealt with?
Joab would rather die at the altar than leave it. One writer points to the command Solomon had in view:
Joab flees to the tent and takes hold of the horns of the altar. That cannot save him. The Word of God is against him: "But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die" (Ex. 21:14). Solomon remembers this. Once Joab's judgment is settled, it is too late for the altar to shelter him.
Joab comes to the altar empty-handed. He grips the horns, but brings nothing that the altar is for. So the place he clutches stands against him:
Joab feared what would happen after his treachery to King Solomon. He fled to the tent of the LORD and "caught hold of the horns of the altar" (1 Kings 2:28). He thought he had reached a safe refuge. But he did not come with sacrifice and blood. The altar was against him, and he died.
Another writer traces both Joab's grip on the altar and the officer's pause before striking there:
This was the desperate act of a man clinging to religious ritual, but having no knowledge of God. Solomon sent Benaiah to execute Joab. Benaiah was hesitant to do this while Joab was clinging to the horns of the altar. But at Solomon's word, since Joab would not leave the altar, Benaiah carried out this unpleasant task.
Adonijah had held the same horns and walked away alive. One writer reads the act as a surrender, and shows why it did not save Joab:
Adonijah found refuge at the horns of the altar (1 Kings 1:50). The act seems to mean, "instead of a substitute, I present myself." His unconditional surrender was accepted, and he was pardoned. Joab did the same (1 Kings 2:28), but his surrender was not accepted. He had deliberately killed two men by cunning. God had ruled in Ex. 21:14 that such a man should be shown no mercy: "you shall take him from my altar, that he may die." So he was put to death.
The murders behind Solomon's order were years old. One summary of Joab's life notes where the account came due:
Joab refused to leave the altar when he was summoned, so he was put to death there. The punishment for his murders was long delayed, but it fell on him now in righteous judgement.
The execution was not private revenge. Joab's guilt stood in the way of the new reign:
Solomon's kingdom could not be established unless the innocent blood of Abner and Amasa was avenged on Joab — blood Joab had shed without David's knowledge (vv. 32-33)... Joab's execution is a picture of the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus: it will be established in righteousness, and righteousness brings peace.
The altar itself was not powerless. Its horns were a real sanctuary — for the right people, on the right ground:
The horns of the altar became a place of refuge. It was a sanctuary no one could break, for all who were rightly under its protection on the ground of the sprinkled blood. Joab sought this protection when he fled from Solomon (1 Kings 2:28). He had no claim on it, for he was a murderer, so he was killed. This is like the sinner who, when pressed hard, would gladly claim the benefits of the death of Christ to escape the judgment. Yet his heart is still far from Him. But where there is trust in the value of the sacrifice offered to God on the altar, no power on earth or in hell can touch that soul. It rests under the altar's shelter and protection.
- Refuge. The horns of the altar were a real sanctuary for anyone sheltering there on the ground of sprinkled blood.
- Claim. Joab had none. He came with fear instead of faith, and with no sacrifice. So the altar he gripped stood against him.
- Contrast. Adonijah held the same horns and was pardoned. Joab held them and died, because God's written word gave no mercy to a man who kills by cunning.
- Delay. Abner's and Amasa's blood was years old and unavenged. Long postponement is not cancellation; the account came due at the altar.
- Result. Solomon had to answer that blood before David's throne could rest in peace — a picture of a kingdom built on righteousness, and righteousness brings peace.
And the king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall upon him, and bury him; and take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me and from the house of my father.
Solomon tells Benaiah to strike Joab down at the altar he is clinging to, and to bury him. That death also settles an older account: blood Joab had shed without cause. Two questions follow. Why does the altar not protect Joab? And why must a king remove blood-guilt before his reign can stand?
The words "without cause" reach back years, to a murder David refused to own. One writer shows how David took no part in Joab's killing of Abner and called down God's judgment on him.
How David recovers the precious features of his character in these difficult circumstances! Refusing any share in this evil, he proves himself "innocent in the matter" (2 Cor. 7:11). He calls God's judgment down on Joab: "May it [the blood of Abner the son of Ner] fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house" (v. 29). And again: "The LORD repay the evildoer according to his wickedness!" (v. 39). Later this judgment of God, spoken by David, comes to pass (1 Kings 2:31-34).
What David asked of God, Solomon now carries out. The blood was Joab's, but the stain lay on the royal house.
Joab had run to the tabernacle and grabbed the horns of the altar. The horns stood for the altar's strength, and a guilty man could lay hold of them — but not every guilty man. One writer sets Joab beside Adonijah, who took hold of the same altar and lived.
Adonijah sought safety there and found it (1 Kings 1:50). Joab, at the same refuge, met the just repayment of his sins (1 Kings 2:28-34). The reason is this: "if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die" (Ex. 21:14).
Solomon's command in verse 31 is not a king overriding the sanctuary. It is a king obeying a written law that had already named this exact case.
Joab's grasp on the horns looked like faith. One writer names it for what it was.
This was the desperate act of a man clinging to religious ritual, but having no knowledge of God. Solomon sent Benaiah to execute Joab. Benaiah was hesitant to do it while Joab clung to the horns of the altar. But at Solomon's word, since Joab would not leave the altar, Benaiah carried out this unpleasant task.
Verse 31 gives a reason for the execution: to take the guilt away from Solomon and from his father's house. The removal was not optional if the promise of verse 33 was to stand.
Joab flees to the tabernacle and takes hold of the horns of the altar. That cannot save him... When Joab's judgment is settled, it is too late for the altar to shelter him. Vengeance must be carried out so that "for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore" (v. 33). Without that vengeance, blood would have stayed on the house of David. Judgment was necessary for his glory.
Solomon later wrote as a proverb what he did here with a sword.
Solomon's own thinking can be learned from his Book of Proverbs. "A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes" (Prov. 20:8). "Take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness" (Prov. 25:5). When Solomon had carried out judgment on Joab and others, the Holy Spirit says, "So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon" (1 Kings 2:46).
This kind of judgment points past Solomon to another king.
Righteous judgment carried out on the earth is the first character attached to the king reigning in glory. There is no escaping the vigilance of this judgment.
One writer applies the same altar to the sinner.
The horns of the altar became a place of refuge. They were a sanctuary no one could violate, for all who had a right to that protection on the ground of the sprinkled blood. Joab sought this protection when he fled from Solomon (1 Kings 2:28). But he had no claim on it, for he was a murderer, and so he was killed. This is like the sinner who is desperate and would gladly claim the benefits of the death of Christ to escape the judgment. Yet his heart is still far from Him. But where there is trust in the value of the sacrifice offered to God on the altar, no power on earth or in hell can touch the soul sheltered there.
- Blood. Joab killed Abner "without cause." The guilt rested on David's house, not only on Joab's, until Solomon dealt with it.
- Altar. The horns were a real refuge. But Scripture had already ruled out the deliberate killer: take him from the altar to die.
- Grasp. Joab clung to the ritual without knowing God. Touching the altar is not the same as trusting the sacrifice.
- Peace. The judgment was the means, not the end. First the blood-guilt went, then God promised lasting peace to David's throne.
- Throne. With the wicked taken away, "the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon." Writers see in that righteous judgment a picture of the king who will reign in glory.
And Jehovah shall requite the blood which he shed upon his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, without my father David's knowledge Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
Solomon has just sent Benaiah to kill Joab at the altar for murdering two commanders, Abner and Amasa. Why did that blood go unavenged for so long, and why did the altar not shelter Joab?
These two men did not die in battle. Each murder had its own motive.
Joab was David's nephew (1 Chronicles 2:18) and commander of his forces. He showed great courage in war, but he was vengeful, and all through he seems never to have shared the king's mind. He treacherously assassinated Abner to avenge his brother Asahel, whom Abner had killed in self-defence (2 Sam. 2:23). He also killed Amasa, whom David had promoted to be commander-in-chief, out of jealousy at having a rival (2 Sam. 20:10). These, as Solomon says, were better men and more righteous than he. These killings, and his killing of Absalom with his own hand against the king's express command, brought David great sorrow.
Solomon is careful to say the killings happened behind his father's back. David's own reaction at the time bears that out.
How the precious features of David's character return in these hard circumstances! Refusing any part in this evil, he proves that he was "innocent in the matter" (2 Cor. 7:11). He calls down God's judgment on Joab, asking that Abner's blood fall on him: "May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house" (2 Sam. 3:29). And again: "The LORD repay the evildoer according to his wickedness!" (2 Sam. 3:39). Later this judgment of God, spoken by David, is carried out (1 Kings 2:31-34).
David knew what Joab had done. So why did Joab live on, unpunished, for years?
In the matter of righteousness David failed badly. He allowed Joab to murder both Abner and Amasa and go unpunished. David's own sons Amnon and Absalom were guilty of terrible sins, and they also went unpunished. About Joab, David said, "these men the sons of Zeruiah are more severe than I." He even said, "I was gentle today, though anointed king" (2 Sam. 3:39). Pitiful words from a man who had so often known God's sustaining power and grace. But Joab was a capable military commander, and so useful to the state. This is by no means the only time the sins of public men have been excused. But it is not righteousness.
(Fereday quoted an older translation reading "too hard for me" and "I am this day weak, though anointed king.")
Joab spent a lifetime looking like David's man. Was he serving the king, or himself?
Perhaps this bloody man thought he was serving his king the whole time he was serving his own interests. Impossible! What a man does for his own interest, he does against God. In a time of peace Joab's belt and sandals — his service and his walk — had been stained with the blood of war. This was defilement. War must overtake him in turn. He must learn there could be no peace for him. Peace is kept for those who make peace (James 3:18). Solomon's reign was a reign of peace and righteousness, and it could not tolerate such men.
Joab's last move was to grab the horns of the altar. The law had already ruled out that escape.
Joab flees to the tabernacle and takes hold of the horns of the altar. That cannot save him. The Word of God is against him: "But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die" (Ex. 21:14). Solomon remembers this. Once Solomon has determined the judgment, it is too late for the altar to shelter him. Vengeance had to fall on Joab, so that "for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore" (v. 33). Without it, blood would have stayed on the house of David. Judgment was necessary for his glory.
Joab's death closes more than an old account. It sets the pattern for how a kingdom of peace begins.
To establish Solomon's kingdom, the innocent blood of Abner and Amasa had to be avenged on Joab. Joab had shed that blood without David's knowledge (vs. 32-33). Joab had stood by David until he went over to Adonijah. That defection showed his true motive. It was not love for David but his own advantage. His motives in killing Abner and Amasa were selfish too. Joab's execution pictures how the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus will be established: in righteousness, which brings peace.
- Blood shed. Joab killed Abner out of revenge and Amasa out of jealousy. The verse calls both men better and more righteous than he was.
- Blood hidden. It was done without David's knowledge; David refused any part in it and asked God to lay it on Joab's head.
- Blood unpunished. David let it stand for years. Joab was useful, and David was weak. Commentators name it for what it is: not righteousness.
- Blood returned. The altar could not shelter a deliberate murderer; the law said to take such a man from the altar and put him to death.
- Blood cleared. Solomon settles the debt, the throne is clean, and God promises peace to David's house forever. Righteousness comes first, then peace.