Discovery Box1 Kings 2:26-35 
Context2:26 The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property 1 in Anathoth. You deserve to die, 2 but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.” 3 2:27 Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, 4 fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. 5
2:28 When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported 6 Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he 7 ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. 8 2:29 When King Solomon heard 9 that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, 10 “Go, strike him down.” 2:30 When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply. 11 2:31 The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family 12 the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds. 13 2:32 May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; 14 behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he 15 – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. 2:33 May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, 16 and his dynasty.” 17 2:34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; 18 he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 2:35 The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of 19 the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place. 20
1 tn Or “field.”
2 tn Heb “you are a man of death.”
3 tn Heb “and because you suffered through all which my father suffered.”
4 tn Heb “Solomon drove out Abiathar from being a priest to the
5 tn Heb “fulfilling the word of the
6 tn Heb “turned after” (also later in this verse).
7 tn Heb “Joab.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 sn Grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. The “horns” of the altar were the horn-shaped projections on the four corners of the altar (see Exod 27:2). By going to the holy place and grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, Joab was seeking asylum from Solomon.
9 tn Heb “and it was related to King Solomon.”
10 tn Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.”
11 tn Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.”
12 tn Heb “house.”
13 tn Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”
14 tn Heb “The
15 tn Heb “because he struck down two men more innocent and better than he and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know.”
16 tn Heb “house.”
17 tn Heb “his throne.”
18 tn Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Heb “over.”
20 tc The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.
