2 Samuël 3:29

29 Het blijve op het hoofd van Joab, en op het ganse huis zijns vaders; en er worde van het huis van Joab niet afgesneden, die een vloed hebbe, en melaats zij, en zich aan den stok houde, en door het zwaard valle, en broodsgebrek hebbe!

2 Samuël 3:29 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 3:29

Let it rest on the head of Joab
That is, the blood of Abner, who was the shedder of it; let the guilt of it be charged to him, and let punishment for it be inflicted on him:

and on all his father's house;
on Abishai his brother, and other relations that might be privy to the death of Abner, and advising to it, and ready to assist in it if necessary:

and let there not fail from the house of Joab;
let there be always in his family, and of his seed, one or other of the persons described as follows:

one that hath an issue;
a gonorrhoea, which was reckoned infamous, and very impure, according to the Jewish law, and rendered persons unfit for society; see ( Leviticus 15:1-33 ) ;

or that is a leper;
whose disease was very loathsome and infectious, and shut him out of the company of men; see ( Leviticus 13:1-59 ) ;

or that leaneth on a staff;
being blind, as Aquila renders the word; or through weakness of body, not being able to walk without one; or through some disease of the feet, as the Jewish writers generally understand it; and R. Isaiah interprets it of the gout particularly: the word for "staff" is rendered "spindle", ( Proverbs 31:19 ) ; and to this sense it is rendered here in, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; and then the meaning is, let his posterity, or some of them, be so poor, that they shall be obliged to get their livelihood in so mean a way as by spinning; or let them be of such an effeminate disposition, as be more fit to handle the spindle, and do the, work of women, than to use the sword:

or that falleth on the sword;
not by it honourably in the field of battle, but cowardly destroying themselves with it:

or that lacketh bread;
and is obliged to beg it: all which David might say, not by a spirit of prophecy, but in a passion; and to show with what horror he resented the action, and how detestable it was to him, and how far it was for him to have any concern in it: but though it was a very wicked action in Joab to murder Abner in this manner, and for the reasons he did; yet it was a just vengeance from the Lord on Abner for fighting against God, and acting against the dictates of his own conscience; for his rebellion against David, and perfidy to Ishbosheth, and for having been the cause of much bloodshed in Israel.

2 Samuël 3:29 In-Context

27 Als nu Abner weder te Hebron kwam, zo leidde Joab hem ter zijde af in het midden der poort, om in de stilte met hem te spreken; en hij sloeg hem aldaar aan de vijfde, dat hij stierf, om des bloeds wil van zijn broeder Asahel.

28 Als David dat daarna hoorde, zo zeide hij: Ik ben onschuldig, en mijn koninkrijk, bij den HEERE, tot in eeuwigheid, van het bloed van Abner, den zoon van Ner.

29 Het blijve op het hoofd van Joab, en op het ganse huis zijns vaders; en er worde van het huis van Joab niet afgesneden, die een vloed hebbe, en melaats zij, en zich aan den stok houde, en door het zwaard valle, en broodsgebrek hebbe!

30 Alzo hebben Joab en zijn broeder Abisai Abner doodgeslagen, omdat hij hun broeder Asahel te Gibeon in den strijd gedood had.

31 David dan zeide tot Joab en tot al het volk, dat bij hem was: Scheurt uw klederen, en gordt zakken aan, en weeklaagt voor Abner henen; en de koning David ging achter de baar.