1 Kings 11:15

15 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom.

1 Kings 11:15 in Other Translations

15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;

15 For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom

15 Years before, David had defeated Edom. Joab, his army commander, had stayed to bury some of the Israelite soldiers who had died in battle. While there, they killed every male in Edom.

15 Years earlier, when David devastated Edom, Joab, commander of the army, on his way to bury the dead, massacred all the men of Edom.

15 Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom.

1 Kings 11:15 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 11:15

For it came to pass, when David was in Edom
Fighting with the Edomites, and subduing them, and putting garrisons in the land, ( 2 Samuel 8:14 )

and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain:
the Israelites that fell in battle, or whom the Edomites afterwards, through stratagem and surprise, fell upon in their garrisons and destroyed, and which caused Joab to go thither to bury them, and take vengeance on the Edomites for it; or these were the Edomites slain by David and Joab; and it has been always reckoned a piece of humanity to bury the dead of an enemy, and is to the honour of the conqueror, see ( Ezekiel 39:12 Ezekiel 39:13 ) or to suffer the enemy to bury them themselves: it is said ^F15, that Hercules was the first that brought up this practice, and that before they were left on the field, to be devoured by dogs; so they were in the times of the Trojan war, as appears by the writings of Homer; but burying them, in later times, was used by the Romans ^F16 and Greeks; and Josephus ^F17 delivers it as a law of Moses to bury enemies, and not suffer any dead to lie without partaking of the earth, nor to pass by or overlook any unburied; but from whence he took it, or grounds it upon, is not very evident; this is the first mention of it; though the Targum is,

``to strip the slain:''

after he had smitten every male in Edom;
as he thought, intending to root out the name of them; being enraged at their falling upon the garrisons, if that was the case.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 27.
F16 Liv. Hist. l. 39. c. 21. Vid. Kirchman. Append. ad. lib. de Funer. Roman. c. 3, 4, & 5.
F17 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 24. contr. Apion. l. 2. c. 29.

1 Kings 11:15 In-Context

13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

14 Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.

15 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom.

16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom.

17 But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 20:13; 2 Samuel 8:14; 1 Chronicles 18:12