2 Samuel 3:29

29 and come it on the head of Joab, and upon all the house of his father; and fail there not from the house of Joab a man suffering flowing of seed, and a leprous man, (and a man) holding a spindle, and a man falling by sword, and (a man) having need to bread. (yea, let it come upon Joab's head, and upon all his father's family; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab a man suffering the flowing out of his seed, or a leprous man, or a man holding a spindle, or a man falling by the sword, or a man having need of bread.)

2 Samuel 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 Samuel 3:29 In-Context

27 And when Abner had come again into Hebron, Joab led him asides half to the middle of the gate, (as if) that he should speak to him in guile; and he smote Abner there in the share-bone, and he was dead, into vengeance of the blood of his brother Asahel (and Joab struck, or stabbed, Abner in the belly, and he died there, in revenge for killing Joab's brother Asahel).

28 That when David had heard this thing done, he said, I am clean, and my realm, with God into without end from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner; (And when David had heard that this thing was done, he said, I and my kingdom, be clean with God forevermore, of the blood, or of the murder, of Abner, the son of Ner;)

29 and come it on the head of Joab, and upon all the house of his father; and fail there not from the house of Joab a man suffering flowing of seed, and a leprous man, (and a man) holding a spindle, and a man falling by sword, and (a man) having need to bread. (yea, let it come upon Joab's head, and upon all his father's family; and let there never fail to be in the house of Joab a man suffering the flowing out of his seed, or a leprous man, or a man holding a spindle, or a man falling by the sword, or a man having need of bread.)

30 Therefore Joab, and Abishai, his brother, killed Abner, for he had slain Asahel, their brother (for he had killed their brother Asahel), in Gibeon, in battle.

31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that was with him, Rend ye your clothes, and be ye gird with sackcloths, and bewail ye before the hearses, either dirge, of Abner. Forsooth king David followed the bier. (And David said to Joab, and to all the people who were with him, Tear ye your clothes, and be ye gird with sackcloths, and bewail ye the dirge for Abner. And King David himself followed the bier.)