1 Kings 2:32-34 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Lord shall return his blood The guilt of the blood which he hath shed. Upon his own head Shall make him alone bear the punishment of his iniquity. Who fell upon two men more righteous than he Of more ingenuous and generous tempers, abhorring such treacherous practices; and both of them devoted to, and employed in my father's service. Prejudice, however, and anger seem here too much to have dictated Solomon's expressions; for, it is certain, Joab had always been a firm friend to David, and had done him considerable service at a time when both Abner and Amasa had acted against him. Upon the head of his seed for ever Either as long as he shall have a posterity, or for a long time, as that phrase is frequently used. So that Solomon here pronounces that Joab's own death should not expiate his guilt; but that his posterity should suffer for it in future generations, according to what David had said, 2 Samuel 3:28-29. If Solomon spoke by inspiration of God when he uttered these words, no doubt the prediction was fulfilled, and God visited the sins of the father upon the children, as he often does, when the children tread in their progenitors' sinful steps. But whether, or how far, this was the case, the Scriptures give us no information. But upon David and upon his seed shall there be peace In and by this execution of justice upon Joab and such malefactors, my throne shall be established, and God will bless me and mine with peace and prosperity, He was buried in his own house That is, in some ground belonging and adjoining to his house, and accounted a part of the mansion. In the wilderness So they called those parts of the country which were but thinly inhabited.