Joab

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Joab is the military leader and nephew of King David in the Old Testament .

Joab with his mother, her husband and his two brothers in the Isais family tree ( Schedelsche Weltchronik , Nuremberg 1493)

etymology

The Hebrew name Joab is in MT mainly יוֹאָב jô'āv written (with the variant יֹאָב jo'āv in 1 Kings 1.19  EU ). It is a confessional name in the form of a nominal sentence, consisting of subject and predicate. The subject (and at the same time theophoric element) is a form of " YHWH " ( יוֹ jô orיֹ jo ), predicate is the nounאָב 'āv , German ' father ' . The name therefore means "YHWH is father". The Septuagint gives the name as Ιωαβ Iōab , the Vulgate as Ioab .

Biblical narration

He is recorded in the Bible in the books of 1 Samuel 26 to 1 Kings 2 and 1 Chronicles 11-21.

In the biblical story it says about him, among other things: Joab, the son of David's older sister Zeruja , had two brothers, Abishai and Asaël . Joab and his brothers are always referred to as the sons of Zeruja; their father is never mentioned. Hence, it is believed that Zeruja was unmarried. Joab became David's general when he captured the city of the Jebusites ( Jerusalem ). Joab and his brothers were among the most powerful men in David's kingdom and never completely submitted to David's will. Abner , the general of King Saul , killed Joab's brother Asahel in the war. When King David later made peace with Abner, Joab betrayed his king and murdered Abner. David had to refrain from punishment as it was not enforceable because of Joab's power; David publicly mourned Abner to distance himself from Joab's act.

Joab later on the orders of David the Hittites -Söldner Uriah in the fight in the front line of battle in the most dangerous position, so that it had to fall so that the pregnant wife of David Uriah, Bathsheba , would be free.

Despite orders to the contrary, Joab killed David's favorite son, Absalom , who had sparked a rebellion against his father. As a result, David appointed Amasa as the new Commander-in-Chief in place of Joab. During the uprising of Sheba, however, Amasa proved incapable and was replaced by Abishai and thus Joab. Together they could put down the uprising. Previously, Joab had maliciously murdered Amasa.

Joab explicitly warned David not to count the people of war. This was evil in the sight of God ( YHWH ) and he sent the plague for three days and 70,000 men fell. However, he later fell out of favor because he sided with Adonijas against Solomon , and was finally killed by Benaja in the sanctuary on behalf of Solomon , although he trusted the asylum. In addition, as his first royal act, Solomon fulfilled David's last will not to let Joab die in peace. With Joab's death, the unpunished and insidious murders of Abner and Amasa (Absalom was not mentioned in this context) were avenged.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Rechenmacher : Old Hebrew names , Münster 2012, p. 112.