Joab Treacherously Gains Blood Revenge For The Death of His Brother Asahel And At The Same Time Rids Himself Of A Dangerous Rival (2 Samuel 3:27-30).
We have to remember here that the desire and responsibility of relatives for blood revenge when a member of the family was killed was widespread throughout the Ancient Near East (it was the only policing system available). Indeed it was this responsibility and passionate desire to obtain revenge for the slaying of a relative that had caused God to set up Cities of Refuge where people who had slain another accidentally could take shelter in order to obtain a fair trial before the experienced Judges of the Cities of Refuge (Numbers 35:9-34). The manslayer (however innocently) who did not reach a City of Refuge in time could have no guarantee of his safety. We remember how Gideon slew his noted captives when he discovered that they had been responsible for the deaths of his brothers (Judges 8:18-21). And here Asahel had been deliberately slain by an identified person during a war between ‘brothers'. It is quite apparent from the story that Joab and Abishai, Asahel's brothers, actually considered it their duty to kill Abner.
The specific detailed rules concerning blood vengeance are not clear and would indeed have been seen differently by different people, so that while Abner probably considered that he had been perfectly justified in slaying a man whose sole intent had been to kill him after a battle, Joab clearly did not see it in that way. Furthermore the fact that Joab escaped punishment for slaying Abner suggests that most agreed with him. Indeed Abner himself had recognised that that might be so (2 Samuel 2:22), but was probably confident that his safe conduct protected him, especially as Hebron was a City of Refuge. Joab, on the other hand, no doubt argued that his responsibility as the brother of the person who had been killed overrode any safe conduct, because while the safe conduct provided protection politically, it did not provide protection in a matter of personal, family vengeance. It will also be noted that he slew Abner while he was ‘in the midst of the gate', that is, before he had entered the City of Refuge. It was no doubt because he had these reasons that he was able to escape direct punishment, however angry David was. No one living in that day could have denied the right of blood vengeance. It was too firmly rooted in society. That was why David put Joab's punishment in YHWH's hands.
Analysis.
a And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there in the body, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother (2 Samuel 3:27).
b And afterward, when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before YHWH for ever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner, let it fall on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house, and let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has an issue, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread” (2 Samuel 3:28-29).
a So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle (2 Samuel 3:30).
Note that in ‘a' Joab slew Abner in revenge for the blood of Asahel his brother, and in the parallel Joab and Abishai are described as having done it together because it was seen as a joint responsibility. In ‘b' and centrally we have David's declaration of his freedom from guilt in the eyes of YHWH and asks for the punishment to fall on Joab and his seed, demonstrating how angry he felt at what Joab had done..
‘ And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there in the body, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.'
When Abner returned to Hebron, believing that David wished to have further consultation, he was met outside the city by Joab who drew him into the area within the gate purportedly so as to speak to him privately. It is clear that he had no thought that Joab intended him harm. As Joab was well aware it was not until he was through the gate that he could have claimed that he was protected by it being a City of Refuge. Thus he slew him ‘in the midst of the gate'. Note the emphasis on the fact that it was blood vengeance. It was ‘for the blood of Asahel his brother'. Abner had been a marked man from the moment that he had done it.
‘ And afterward, when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before YHWH for ever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner, let it fall on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house, and let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has an issue, or who is skin-diseased, or who leans on a stout staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” '
But David was not at all pleased. While he no doubt recognised that Joab had had the right to blood revenge he clearly considered that he should have observed the safe conduct that he had given to Abner so as not to put him in a difficult position. He recognised that it could put him in a very bad light with the elders of Israel. So he openly declared his own freedom, and the freedom of his kingship, from guilt in the eyes of YHWH ‘for ever', and called for YHWH's judgment on Joab and his house.
It is this curse that definitely confirms David's innocence and genuine anger, and reveals how bitter he felt at Joab's betrayal. It was a curse on his own relations. ‘One who had an issue' would be permanently unclean (see Leviticus 15:2). It refers to a urinary disease. To be skin-diseased was also to be permanently unclean. In David's eyes nothing could have been worse. It prevented close contact with the worship of YHWH. One who leaned on a stout staff was permanently lame, which again prevented their entry into the main court of the Tabernacle ‘before YHWH'. To be slain by the sword would be direct revenge for what had happened to Abner, and was a common enough fate in those days. To lack bread would indicate total poverty, in itself often seen as a judgment of YHWH.
‘ So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.'
The writer then summarises the position and the reason for Abner's death (which clears David of any responsibility for it). The mention of Abishai probably indicates that he had been aware of Joab's plan and had agreed with it. How far they were justified is open to question. Both would probably have felt that a skilled warrior like Abner could have disarmed Asahel or just wounded him. And as it had been during a civil war it could reasonably be argued that it was simply murder during an illegal war which Abner had commenced. Besides, as we have already seen, slaying someone during warfare seemingly did not remove bloodguilt (Judges 8:18-21). So technically Joab would have been seen as in the right by many if not all of the people. This explains why he was allowed to ‘get away with it'. It was in fact a basic and ancient right that none could deny, and it was one that even David dared not question, even though his own view on the matter was slightly different (1 Kings 3:5). The fact is that it was too strongly embedded in the thinking of the day. Indeed his reaction against it was courageous, given the current thinking, and demonstrated his disapproval of what Joab had done, whether because he felt that Joab had been disloyal to him, or because he felt that Joab had had other motives, such as getting rid of his rival for the position of commander-in-chief. But to see David as lax in his treatment of Joab is to apply the ideas of our own day to his day which is not justifiable. He could not deny him the right to blood vengeance which all saw as self-evident.