When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. And Joab was girded with his coat, his dress, and upon it was the girdle of the sword which was fastened on his loins in its sheath; and as he went forth it fell out.
Verse 8 reads like a plain list of details: a meeting place, a man's clothing, a belt, a sword that slips from its sheath. Every detail matters, because the next two verses turn the scene into a murder. The question is whether the falling sword was an accident or a rehearsal.
David feared what Sheba son of Bichri might do. He sent Abishai to hunt him down. But Amasa, David's new commander, had the job first, and he was slow. One commentator defends Amasa and turns the question back on David:
David has decided to dismiss Joab. He tries to keep the promise he made to his nephew Amasa by making him head of the army. He orders him to gather the men of Judah and pursue the son of Bichri. Amasa is slow to carry out his mission. Perhaps David was impatient, for Amasa was not a traitor. He had already come to Gibeon, not far from Jerusalem, when the company led by Abishai and the mighty men left the capital. The fact is that David feared the harm Sheba might do, and so he falls into Joab's hands once again, this time through Abishai.
The place where they met has its own history with Joab:
Near "the great stone" in Gibeon, Joab killed Amasa by treachery. Later, as retribution, he fled to that same city and took hold of the horns of the altar for protection. But that is where he was put to death.
David's orders named Abishai. Verse 7 shows who actually marched:
But verse 7 tells us it was Joab's men, with the Cherethites and the Pelethites (David's bodyguard) who went with him. Joab himself was not going to be left out, whatever David's orders were.
Joab's reason was personal. He kept a long list of grudges:
Joab, as we shall see, never forgives anything. It may be a stain on his family, or someone taking his position, or the danger of competition for the place of supreme command.
The verse lingers on what Joab was wearing. Amasa had every reason to be on guard, and was not:
Amasa suspected nothing. He ought to have remembered Joab's murder of Abner. He should have known that Joab would bitterly resent his promotion above him to the rank of commander of David's armies. Joab was dressed in battle armour and had a sword in his left hand. Amasa did not even notice it, all the more so because Joab spoke to him in friendly terms: "Is it well with you, my brother?" Then he came close to kiss him. But "the kisses of an enemy are deceitful", and Joab plunged his sword into Amasa's chest.
The dropped sword handed Joab something most planned murders lack: a cover story.
Joab picked up the sword, but Amasa did not see it in his hand. Then he struck Amasa on purpose, so that he died. He might have talked his way out of the accusation of murder by saying that Amasa fell onto the sword and it was an accident. But 1 Kings 2:32 records the reckoning that came on unscrupulous Joab for the innocent blood he had shed.
Ambition explains everything Joab does:
Joab is an ambitious man. He seeks to advance in the world and to win the first place in the kingdom… He can tell right from wrong. But he only opposes what is wrong when it crosses his own plans. And when something right runs against his interests, he crushes it. Nothing stops him. He has no scruples in satisfying his ambition. Someone has said of him: "We find Joab wherever there is evil to do or much to gain."
Joab may have told himself he was serving his king. One commentator answers that:
Perhaps this bloody man thought he was serving his king all the while he was serving his own self-interests. Impossible! What a man does in his own interest, he does against God. In a time of peace, the blood of war had stained Joab's "belt and shoes" — his service and his walk. This was a defilement. War must overtake him in turn. He must learn that there could be no peace for him. Peace is kept for those who make peace.
- Place. Joab killed Amasa at the great stone in Gibeon. Gibeon is also where Joab himself later died. The crime scene became the place of sentence.
- Motive. Joab came uninvited. The mission was Abishai's, but Amasa held the command Joab wanted back.
- Method. The armour, belt and loose sword are not scenery. They are the cover for a greeting, a kiss and a fatal blow.
- Cover. A sword that "fell out" leaves room to plead accident — ambition plans its alibi along with its crime.
- Reckoning. Blood on the belt and shoes marked Joab's service and his walk. Peace is for those who make peace, so war overtook him in the end.
And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou well, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
Joab greets Amasa as a brother and leans in to kiss him. Amasa had taken Joab's command, yet he suspects nothing. How did a sign of affection become the cover for murder, and what does it show about the man who used it?
Amasa had every reason to be on his guard: Joab had already murdered a rival commander, Abner. The verse says Joab's right hand took Amasa by the beard. One writer explains what the other hand held.
Amasa suspected nothing. Yet he should have remembered Joab's murder of Abner (2 Samuel 3:26-27). He should also have known that Joab would deeply resent his promotion above him to commander of David's armies. Joab wore battle armour and held a sword in his left hand. Amasa did not even notice it, since Joab spoke to him as a friend: "Is it well with you, my brother?" Then Joab came close to kiss him. But "the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Prov. 27:6), and Joab plunged his sword into Amasa's chest at the same time, making sure he killed him with one stroke.
(Proverbs 27:6 reads in the ESV: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.")
Amasa and Joab were cousins, so the word "brother" was not empty flattery. One writer sets out what Joab never forgave.
Amasa replaces Joab at the head of the army of David's rebellious son. He was a cousin to Joab — a cousin through his mother, but also through his mother's dishonour. Joab never forgives anything — a stain on his family, the taking of his position, or the threat of a rival for the supreme command.
Another writer draws out the contrast in that proverb.
A friend's wounds, on the contrary, are faithful, for in them God's will is done, even though it is misunderstood and resented for a while. An enemy betrays himself by the very profuseness of his kisses.
One writer turns the scene into a warning about our own love. He sets Joab beside Judas, who also used a kiss.
It is easy to pretend love, and to hide malice by professing to act in love. Joab can kiss the man he is about to murder (2 Sam. 20:9-10), and Judas can kiss His Master to betray Him... Unfeigned love is an unselfish love that thinks of the good of others.
On paper Joab had served David's kingdom well. One writer asks what he was really zealous for.
From a practical viewpoint Joab had done well for David's kingdom, but it was the prosperity of the kingdom he was zealous for, not the honour of God. David had refused to have Saul killed by his men, but Joab had not hesitated to kill Abner, Absalom and Amasa.
Years of loyal service had concealed what this one moment revealed.
Sooner or later the flesh, however clever it may be, must uncover itself and show its true character. For a long time Joab could keep company with David, the Lord's Anointed, and hide the motives that drove and controlled his heart. But an occasion always arises when the natural heart shows itself hostile and rebellious.
David let the murder pass. One source traces that weakness back to David's own past sin.
This roused Joab's jealousy, and he craftily killed Amasa and took back his place at the head of the army. 2 Sam. 20:4-10. David had said before this, "These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me." But his own sin in the matter of Uriah left him weak in the face of Joab's murder of Amasa.
- Motive. Joab had lost his command to Amasa. By one account he forgave nothing: not a stain on his family, not a rival, not the loss of the top post.
- Mask. The greeting and the kiss were the weapon's cover; the very lavishness of an enemy's kisses is what gives him away.
- Moment. Long service beside the king hid Joab's true motives. But the flesh must uncover itself in the end, and one occasion exposed the whole man.
- Measure. Joab served the kingdom's success, not God's honour. Good results are no proof of a right heart.
- Mirror. The scene tests our own love. Love that is not pretended is unselfish and seeks another's good — the opposite of a kiss with a sword behind it.
And Amasa had taken no notice of the sword that was in Joab's hand so he smote him with it in the belly and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. And Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.
On the road at Gibeon, Joab greets Amasa as a brother and kills him with one thrust. Why did the head of David's army murder a fellow commander, why did David do nothing, and what does God make of a servant whose loyalty is self-interest?
Amasa had every reason to be on guard, and he was not.
Amasa suspected nothing. Yet he should have remembered Joab's murder of Abner, and he should have known that Joab would resent Amasa's promotion above him to commander of David's armies. Joab was dressed in battle armor and held a sword in his left hand. Amasa did not even notice it, especially since Joab spoke to him in friendly terms, "Are you in health, my brother?" and came close to kiss him. But "the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Prov. 27:6), and Joab plunged his sword into Amasa at the same time, making sure he killed him with one stroke.
Joab's sword fell from its sheath, and he picked it up. That detail could have given him an excuse.
Joab wore a sword at his waist in its sheath, and the sword fell out. He picked it up, but Amasa did not see the sword in his hand. Then he struck Amasa on purpose, so that he died. He could have lied his way out of the charge of murder. He could have said that Amasa fell on the sword by accident. But 1 Kings 2:32 gives the reckoning with unscrupulous Joab for the innocent blood he had shed.
One writer sets Joab's kiss beside another famous one.
It is easy to feign love, and hide malice by professing to act in love. Joab can kiss the man he is about to murder, and Judas can kiss his Master to betray Him. The flesh can act like Israel long ago. Scripture says of them, "With their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their covetousness" (Ezek. 33:31). Unfeigned love is an unselfish love that thinks of the good of others.
Amasa now held Joab's command, and Joab wanted it back.
Joab is ambitious and has no scruples. For him, every act that advances his personal interests is legitimate. To regain his position, he becomes a murderer for the third time.
Joab had killed like this before and paid no price. David did nothing this time either.
He treacherously killed Abner in cold blood, claiming that Abner had killed his brother Asahel; but Asahel had died in battle. He was also the unscrupulous instrument of David's sin in the killing of Uriah. Amasa was made captain of the army in Joab's place. This roused the jealousy of Joab, and he killed Amasa by a trick and resumed his place at the head of the army. David had said before this, "These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me." But his own sin over Uriah left him weak when Joab murdered Amasa.
Joab's crime worked. The revolt collapsed and the kingdom held together.
Amasa proved inefficient in his first commission. Then Joab murdered Amasa in cold blood. Without David's instruction, Joab took up Amasa's commission and carried it out fast and well. That freed David from the threat of a broken kingdom. In practical terms Joab had done well for David's kingdom. But he was zealous for the prosperity of the kingdom, not for the honour of God.
Joab won his position back. One writer weighs what that success was worth before God.
Perhaps this bloody man thought he was serving his king all the while he was serving his own self-interests. Impossible! What a man does in his self-interest, he is doing against God. In time of peace Joab's "belt and shoes," his service and his walk, had been stained with the blood of war. This was a defilement. War must overtake him in turn. He must learn that there could be no peace for him, since peace belongs to those who make peace (James 3:18).
- Peace spoken. Joab greeted Amasa as a brother and reached for his beard as if to kiss him. The warmest words in the chapter covered the coldest act.
- Peace broken. One stroke was enough. Joab wore armour and held a ready sword. The falling sword gave him an excuse he never even had to use.
- Peace purchased. Joab murdered his way back to the command he had lost, and the kingdom did benefit. But he was zealous for the kingdom, not for the honour of God.
- Peace unpunished — for a while. David, weakened by his own sin over Uriah, could not touch him; delay is not acquittal.
- Peace denied. He shed the blood of war in a time of peace, and peace belongs to peacemakers. His belt and his shoes — his service and his walk — carried that defilement.