Scripture Daily

Context No. 969 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

Context · Reflection

2 Samuel 18:11-17: in context

11Joab said to the man who told him, “Behold, you saw it, and why didn’t you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a sash.” 12The man said to Joab, “Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I still wouldn’t stretch out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware that no one touch the young man Absalom.’ 13Otherwise, if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hidden from the king), then you yourself would have set yourself against me.” 14Then Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this with you.” He took three darts in his hand and thrust them through Absalom’s heart while he was still alive in the middle of the oak. 15Ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded and struck Absalom, and killed him. 16Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; for Joab held the people back. 17They took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, each to his own tent.

Absalom, David's rebel son, has been caught, his head tangled in the branches of an oak, hanging helpless while his mule runs off. A soldier reports it to Joab, David's ruthless commander, who is furious the man did not kill Absalom on the spot and offers a reward. But the soldier refuses: even for a thousand pieces of silver I would not lift my hand against the king's son, because we all heard the king command you and the others, protect the young man Absalom. Joab has no patience for it. He takes three darts and thrusts them into Absalom's heart while he still hangs alive, his armor-bearers finish the job, and Joab blows the trumpet to stop the pursuit.

The contrast between the two men is the whole scene. The nameless soldier had Absalom at his mercy and would not touch him, because the king had given a clear command, spare the young man, and the soldier feared to disobey it even for a fortune and even against the king's enemy. He held the king's word above his own advantage and above the obvious military logic. Joab is the opposite. He hears the king's command reported to his face and kills Absalom anyway, coldly, three darts to the heart of a defenseless man, because Joab has decided he knows better than David what needs doing. Joab is effective, decisive, and entirely willing to override his king when he disagrees, and this is not the first or last time. The soldier's reverence and Joab's ruthlessness are two ways of serving a king: one that obeys even when obedience costs and makes no sense, and one that serves the king's interests as it defines them, command or no command.

When I think I know better than what my Lord has plainly commanded, am I more like the soldier who obeyed against his own advantage, or like Joab who did what he judged best regardless?

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