1 Kings 2:29

29 It was reported to King Solomon: "Joab has fled to the Lord's tabernacle and is now beside the altar." Then Solomon sent^[a] Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told [him], "Go and strike him down!"

1 Kings 2:29 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 2:29

And it was told King Solomon that Joab was fled unto the
tabernacle of the Lord
This account was brought him very probably by some of his courtiers:

and, behold, [he is] by the altar;
to which he betook himself for refuge, laying hold on the horns of it:

then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, go, fall upon
him;
slay him; Josephus ^F7 says, the orders were to cut off his head; but perhaps it might be only to lay hold on him, and take him thence, and bring him to Solomon to have judgment passed upon him; for the Targum is,

``exercise your power over him,''

take him into custody; and certain it is that the first orders were not to slay him, at least upon the spot where he was.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Antiqu. l. 8. c. 1. sect. 4.

1 Kings 2:29 In-Context

27 So Solomon banished Abiathar from being the Lord's priest, and it fulfilled the Lord's prophecy He had spoken at Shiloh against Eli's family.

28 The news reached Joab. Since he had supported Adonijah but not Absalom, Joab fled to the Lord's tabernacle and took hold of the horns of the altar.

29 It was reported to King Solomon: "Joab has fled to the Lord's tabernacle and is now beside the altar." Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada and told [him], "Go and strike him down!"

30 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle and said to Joab, "This is what the king says: 'Come out!' " But Joab said, "No, for I will die here." So Benaiah took a message back to the king, "This is what Joab said, and this is how he answered me."

31 The king said to him, "Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father's house the blood that Joab shed without just cause.

Footnotes

• [a] LXX adds Joab a message: "What is the matter with you, that you have fled to the altar?" And Joab replied, "Because I feared you, I have fled to the Lord." And Solomon the king sent