The Feast Day of King David from the Bible is celebrated on December 29. We will blog about King David versus Joab: A Christian Case for the Death Penalty.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David
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Statue of King David by Nicolas Cordier in
the Borghese Chapel of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
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Reign
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c. 1010
– 1002 BC (Judah)
c. 1002 – 970 BC (Israel) |
Born
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c. 1040
BC
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Birthplace
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Bethlehem,
Judah, Israel
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Died
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c. 970
BC
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Place
of death
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Jerusalem,
Judah, Israel
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Buried
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City of
David
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Predecessor
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Saul
Ish-bosheth |
Successor
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Solomon
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Consort
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Issue
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Royal
House
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Father
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Mother
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Feast
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December
29 - Roman Catholicism
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Attributes
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Psalms,
Harp, Head of Goliath
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David (/ˈdeɪvɪd/; Hebrew: דָּוִד,
דָּוִיד,
Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Arabic: داود Dāwūd)
according to the Hebrew Bible, was the second king of the United Kingdom of
Israel, and according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an
ancestor of Jesus. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his
reign over Judah c. 1010–1002 BC, and his reign over the United Kingdom of
Israel c. 1002–970 BC.
The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1
Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan
Stele (dated c. 850–835 BC) contains the phrase בית דוד (Beit David), read as "House of David", which
most scholars take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC
of a Judean royal dynasty called the House of David.
He is depicted as a righteous king,
although not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and
poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the
Book of Psalms.
David is central to Jewish, Christian,
and Islamic doctrine and culture. Biblical tradition maintains that a direct descendant
of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is considered a prophet.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joab
Joab (Hebrew יוֹאָב Modern Yo'av Tiberian Yôʼāḇ) the son of Zeruiah, was
the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew
Bible.
Name
The name Joab (יוֹאָב) is derived from Yahweh (יהוה), the name of the God of Israel, and the
Hebrew word 'av' (אָב), meaning 'father'. It therefore means
'Yahweh [is] father'. Apart from David's nephew, the name is given to two other
individuals in the Bible (see Ezra 2:6, 8:9). It is also a common name in
contemporary Israel.
The name Yoav (Joab) may also be
attributed to the district of Moav (Moab in Latin transcription),eastern bank
of the Jordan, from where Ruth the Moabitess came.
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Illustration from
the Morgan Bible of a story in 2 Samuel 20 of Joab
pursuing Sheba as far as Abel-beth-maachah and Sheba's head being thrown
down to him.
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Biblical narrative
Joab was
the son of Zeruiah, a sister of king David, who made him captain of his army (2
Samuel 8:16; 20:23; 1 Chronicles 11:6; 18:15; 27:34). He had two
brothers, Abishai and Asahel. Asahel was killed by Abner,
for which Joab took revenge by murdering Abner against David's wishes (2 Samuel
2:13-32; 3:27).
After
leading the assault on the fortress of Mount Zion, he was promoted to
the rank of General (1 Chronicles 27:34). He led the army against Syria,
Ammon, Moab and Edom. He also took part in David's murder
of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14-25).
Joab played
a pivotal role as the commander of David's forces during Absalom's
rebellion. Absalom, one of David's sons, rallied much of Israel in
rebellion against David, who was forced to flee with only his most trusted men.
However, David could not bring himself to harm his son, and ordered that none
of his men should kill Absalom during the ensuing battle. However, when a man
reported that Absalom had been found, alive, caught in a tree, Joab and his men
killed him (2 Samuel 18:1-33).
Hearing of
David's grief over the reported death of Absalom, Joab confronted and
admonished David. The king followed Joab's advice to make a public appearance
to encourage his troops (2 Samuel 19:1-8).
David later
replaced him as commander of the army with his nephew, Amasa (2 Samuel
17:25; 19:13). Joab later killed Amasa (2 Samuel 20:8-13; 1 Kings 2:5).
Joab and
other commanders began questioning David's judgment (2 Samuel 24:2-4). As David
neared the end of his reign, Joab offered his allegiance to David's eldest son,
Adonijah rather than to the promised king, Solomon (1 Kings 1:1-27).
On the
brink of death, David told Solomon to have Joab killed citing Joab's
past betrayals and the blood that he was guilty of, and for this Solomon
ordered his death by the hand of Benaiah (1 Kings
2:29-34), who then replaced him as commander of the army. Joab was buried in
'the wilderness' (1 Kings 2:34). It is interesting to note that Joab fled to
the Tent of the Tabernacle (where Adonijah has previously sought successful
refuge (1 Kings 1:50-53)) and told Benaiah that he will die there. Benaiah,
as ordered by King Solomon, kills Joab in the House of Yahweh.
Josephus
According to Josephus, Joab did not
kill Abner out of revenge, because he had forgiven him for the death of his
brother, Asahel, the reason being that Abner had slain Asahel honorably in
combat after he had twice warned Asahel and had no other choice but to kill him
out of self-defense. If this was the case, the reason Joab killed Abner may
have been that he became a threat to his rank of general, since Abner had
switched to the side of David and granted him control over the tribe of
Benjamin. Yet the narrative explicitly states that Joab killed Abner "to
avenge the blood of his brother Asahel" (2 Samuel 3:27).
MY
THOUGHTS:
Many
Christians oppose to the death penalty have the habit of saying, “Only God has
the right to take life.”
If
they read the case of how the dying King David told his son, Solomon to have
Joab executed because he was a murderer. Was David playing God? No. He was
obeying God in putting murderers to death. David was in authority and he had
the right to take life. Please see The Catechism of Trent on THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: "Thou shalt not
kill" on the section: Execution of Criminals
“Another kind of lawful slaying belongs to the civil authorities, to whom is entrusted power of life and death, by the legal and judicious exercise of which they punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The just use of this power, far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this Commandment which prohibits murder. The end of the Commandment is the preservation and security of human life. Now the punishments inflicted by the civil authority, which is the legitimate avenger of crime, naturally tend to this end, since they give security to life by repressing outrage and violence. Hence these words of David in Psalms 101 verse 8: In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.”
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