Solomon Gets His Hands Dirty

(21) And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Have intercourse with your father’s concubines, whom he left to mind the palace; and when all Israel hears that you have dared the wrath of your father, all who support you will be encouraged.” (22) So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom lay with his father’s concubines with the full knowledge of all Israel.—

While Israel stayed in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine; and Israel found out. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve in number.

Assemble and hearken, O sons of Jacob; Hearken to Israel your father: Reuben, you are my first-born, My might and first fruit of my vigor, Exceeding in rank And exceeding in honor. Unstable as water, you shall excel no longer; For when you mounted your father’s bed, You brought disgrace—my couch he mounted!

(25) And Solomon instructed Benaiah son of Jehoiada, who struck Adonijah down; and so he died. (26) To the priest Abiathar, the king said, “Go to your estate at Anathoth! You deserve to die, but I shall not put you to death at this time, because you carried the Ark of my Lord GOD before my father David and because you shared all the hardships that my father endured.” (27) So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his office of priest of the LORD—thus fulfilling what the LORD had spoken at Shiloh regarding the house of Eli.

(17) And the king commanded the guards standing by, “Turn about and kill the priests of the LORD, for they are in league with David; they knew he was running away and they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants would not raise a hand to strike down the priests of the LORD. (18) Thereupon the king said to Doeg, “You, Doeg, go and strike down the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite went and struck down the priests himself; that day, he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. (19) He put Nob, the town of the priests, to the sword: men and women, children and infants, oxen, asses, and sheep—[all] to the sword. (20) But one son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped—his name was Abiathar—and he fled to David. (21) When Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD, (22) David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would tell Saul. I am to blame for all the deaths in your father’s house. (23) Stay with me; do not be afraid; for whoever seeks your life must seek my life also. It will be my care to guard you.”

(28) When the news reached Joab, he fled to the Tent of the LORD and grasped the horns of the altar—for Joab had sided with Adonijah, though he had not sided with Absalom. (29) King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the Tent of the LORD and that he was there by the altar; so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go and strike him down.” (30) Benaiah went to the Tent of the LORD and said to him, “Thus said the king: Come out!” “No!” he replied; “I will die here.” Benaiah reported back to the king that Joab had answered thus and thus, (31) and the king said, “Do just as he said; strike him down and bury him, and remove guilt from me and my father’s house for the blood of the innocent that Joab has shed. (32) Thus the LORD will bring his blood guilt down upon his own head, because, unbeknown to my father, he struck down with the sword two men more righteous and honorable than he—Abner son of Ner, the army commander of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, the army commander of Judah. (33) May the guilt for their blood come down upon the head of Joab and his descendants forever, and may good fortune from the LORD be granted forever to David and his descendants, his house and his throne.” (34) So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck him down. And he was buried at his home in the wilderness.

(14) When a man schemes against another and kills him treacherously, you shall take him from My very altar to be put to death.

(Numb. 35:11:) “Where a killer may flee who has taken a life by mistake.” “By mistake,” and not on purpose. If someone goes and kills on purpose, then says, “It was by mistake that I killed,” and flees to [one of the] cities of refuge, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, “Even if he comes in and flees to My altar, kill him, according to what is stated (in Exod. 21:14), ‘[But when someone plots against his companion and kills him treacherously], you shall take him away [even] from My altar [for execution].’” Who was this person who fled to the altar and was killed? This was Joab, of whom it is stated (in I Kings 2:28), “When the news came to Joab,… [Joab fled unto the tent of the Lord and seized the horns of the altar].” You find that Joab was a great sage and the head of the Sanhedrin,³³Gk.: Synehedrion. as stated (in II Sam. 23:8), “one who sits in the seat of wisdom.”³⁴These words are commonly understood as the proper name, JOSHEB-BASSHEBETH, A TAHCHEMONITE, but this and other citations of the verse in rabbinic literature tend to understand the verse as translated here. See Tanh. (Buber), Gen. 4:12, and the note there; also below, Tanh. (Buber), Deut. 1:3. Cf. MQ 26b, for an interpretation that identifies this sage with David himself. [So] when he went and seized the horns of the altar, did he not know what is written in the Torah (in Exod. 21:14), “But when someone plots against his companion [and kills him treacherously, you shall take him away (even) from my altar for execution]?”³⁵yMakk. 2:7 [6] (31d); Sanh. 48b; see Makk. 12b. It is simply that [Joab] had said, “Those killed by a court of law are not buried in the graves of their ancestors but by themselves. It is better to die here, so that I may be buried with my ancestors.” (I Kings 2:30–31:) “Then Benaiah brought back word unto the king.... So the king said to him, ‘Do as he has spoken, strike him down and bury him.’” Why was he killed? Because his (Solomon's) father, David, had ordered him [to do] so (in I Kings 2:5), “Moreover, you also know what Joab ben Zeruiah did to me.” What did he do to him? You find that, when David wrote to Joab (in II Sam. 11:15), “Set Uriah in the front line [where the fighting is the fiercest]...,” he did so, and he was killed. All the army leaders assembled against Joab, as [Uriah] was the head of the warriors, as stated of him (in II Sam. 23:39), “Uriah the Hittite, [was one of all] thirty-seven [leaders].” He showed them the document. It is therefore stated (in I Kings 2:5), “What Joab ben Zeruiah] did to me.” (I Kings 2:5, cont.:) “And what he did to the two commanders of Israel's forces, to Abner ben Ner and to Amasa ben Jether, he killed them.” All of Israel had been of the opinion that David had ordered him to kill [Abner] because Abner was Saul's cousin. And for that reason David arose and cursed Joab, when he said (in II Sam. 3:29), “may the house of Joab never lack [one with a discharge, a leper, one who grasps the crutch,³⁶Modern translations commonly understand these words to mean, A MALE WHO HANDLES THE SPINDLE, but the midrash understands them in the sense given here. one who falls by the sword, and one lacking bread].” Then all Israel was appeased,³⁷Rt.: PYS. Cf. Gk.: peisai (“to have persuaded”). when they knew that there was no [authorization] from David. So David ordered his son, Solomon, to kill him, because Joab was the son of David's sister, and he sought to approach him to the world to come.³⁸If he received punishment in this world, his deed would no longer bar him from doing so. When Solomon sought to kill him, Joab said to Benaiah, “Go and tell Solomon, ‘Do not sentence me with two judgments. If you are killing me, take off from me the curses with which your father, David, cursed me; and if not, leave me with his curses.’” Immediately (in I Kings 2:31), “So the king said to him, ‘Do as he has spoken, strike him down and bury him.” R. Judah has said, “All curses with which David cursed Joab were all fulfilled in David's seed.”³⁹yQid. 1:7 (61a); cf. above, Gen. 7:7; ‘Arakh. 16a. One with a discharge [was fulfilled in] Rehoboam ben Solomon (according to I Kings 12:18 = II Chron. 10:18), “then King Rehoboam succeeded in mounting his chariot (merkavah).” It also says concerning one with a discharge (in Lev. 15:9), “And any saddle (merkav) on which the one with a discharge rides [shall be unclean].” A leper [was fulfilled in] Uzziah, of whom it is stated (in II Kings 15:5), “and he was a leper until the day of his death.” One who grasps the crutch [was fulfilled in] Asa, of whom it is written (in I Kings 15:23), “however in his old age he became diseased in his feet,” where (he became like a woman, as) gout⁴⁰Gk.: podagra; Lat.: podagra. had seized him. One who falls by the sword [was fulfilled in] Josiah, of whom it is written (in II Chron. 35:23), “Then the archers shot King Josiah.” Moreover, Rav Judah has said that his whole body was like a sieve. And Rav said, “They thrust iron lances⁴¹Gk.: longchai. into him, until they had perforated him like a sieve.” And one lacking bread [was fulfilled in] Jehoiachin, of whom it is stated (in II Kings 25:30 = Jer. 52:34), “And for his food allowance a regular food allowance was given to him from the king, from the table of Evil-Merodach.” You also find that as long as Jehoiada lived, Joash did the will of his Creator, as stated (in II Kings 12:3 // II Chron. 24:2), “And Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days as the priest Jehoiada instructed him.” (II Chron. 24:17:) “Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and bowed low to the king, and the king hearkened unto them,” in that he took it upon himself to make an idol. Therefore (according to vs. 24), “they inflicted judgments on Joash.” Now for what was Abner punished? It was because he had made light and an amusement (rt.: shq), the blood of the young men, as stated (in II Sam. 2:14), “Then Abner said unto Joab, ‘Please let the young men arise and play (rt.: shq) before us.’”⁴²The result of their “playing” was that they all killed each other. And there are also those who say it was because he put his name before the name of David, as stated (in II Sam. 3:12), “Then Abner sent messengers unto David where he was, saying, ‘To whom does the land belong?’” But the sages say, “It was because he did not let Saul be reconciled with David.” And our masters say, “He had the power to protest [the massacre] at Nob, the city of priests, and did not protest.”

(7) David said to Solomon, “My son, I wanted to build a House for the name of the LORD my God. (8) But the word of the LORD came to me, saying,‘You have shed much blood and fought great battles; you shall not build a House for My name for you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight. (9) But you will have a son who will be a man at rest, for I will give him rest from all his enemies on all sides; Solomon will be his name and I shall confer peace and quiet on Israel in his time. (10) He will build a House for My name; he shall be a son to Me and I to him a father, and I will establish his throne of kingship over Israel forever.’

(35) In his place, the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army, and in place of Abiathar, the king appointed the priest Zadok. (36) Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and stay there—do not ever go out from there anywhere else. (37) On the very day that you go out and cross the Wadi Kidron, you can be sure that you will die; your blood shall be on your own head.” (38) “That is fair,” said Shimei to the king, “your servant will do just as my lord the king has spoken.” And for a long time, Shimei remained in Jerusalem. (39) Three years later, two slaves of Shimei ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Your slaves are in Gath.” (40) Shimei thereupon saddled his ass and went to Achish in Gath to claim his slaves; and Shimei returned from Gath with his slaves. (41) Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and back, (42) and the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not adjure you by the LORD and warn you, ‘On the very day that you leave and go anywhere else, you can be sure that you will die,’ and did you not say to me, ‘It is fair; I accept’? (43) Why did you not abide by the oath before the LORD and by the orders which I gave you?” (44) The king said further to Shimei, “You know all the wrong, which you remember very well, that you did to my father David. Now the LORD brings down your wrongdoing upon your own head. (45) But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.” (46) The king gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada and he went out and struck Shimei down; and so he died. Thus the kingdom was secured in Solomon’s hands.