1 Kings 11:15

15 For when David was in Idumea, and Joab, the prince of his chivalry, had gone up to bury them that were slain, and he had slain each male kind in Idumea; (For when David was in Edom, Joab, the leader of his cavalry, or of his army, had gone to bury those who were killed, after that he had killed each 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.

---

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 neither I shall do away all the realm, but I shall give one lineage to thy son, for David, my servant, and for Jerusalem, which I chose. (nor shall I take away all the kingdom, but I shall give one tribe to thy son, for the sake of my servant David, and for Jerusalem, which I have chosen.)

14 Forsooth the Lord raised to Solomon an adversary, Hadad (the) Idumean, of the king's seed, that was in Edom. (And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, of the king's descendants, who was in Edom, or Idumea.)

15 For when David was in Idumea, and Joab, the prince of his chivalry, had gone up to bury them that were slain, and he had slain each male kind in Idumea; (For when David was in Edom, Joab, the leader of his cavalry, or of his army, had gone to bury those who were killed, after that he had killed each male in Edom;)

16 for Joab, and all Israel, dwelled there by six months, till they had killed each male kind in Idumea; (for Joab, and all Israel, stayed there for six months, until they had killed each male in Edom;)

17 Hadad himself fled, and (some) men of Idumea, of the servants of his father, with him, that he should enter into Egypt; soothly Hadad was a little child. (and Hadad himself had fled, with some Edomites, some of his father's servants, so that he could escape to Egypt; for Hadad was still a young boy.)