Joab

(yo-av)

At least three persons by this name appear in the Old Testament, of which 'Joab son of Zeruiah' is the most important. The meaning of the name is uncertain.

1) David's nephew and one of his most trusted commanders.

Probably because his father died early, Joab is always identified by his mother's name, 'Joab son of Zeruiah' (Zeruiah (ze-ru-yah) was David's sister). He made his first appearance soon after David became king was proclaimed king over Judah at Hebron (2 Sam 2:13). It is not known whether he was already part of David's retinue of men when the latter was still hounded by Saul in the wilderness.

Joab proved to be one of David's most trusted, capable and loyal commanders, and was unafraid to voice his opinions or to act contrary to David's wishes when he felt it necessary to protect David. When Absalom raised an army and revolted against his father, David still cared about his son that he gave instructions that Absalom was not to be harmed. When the battle became a route and Absalom got himself caught by his hair in an oak tree, it was Absalom who saw the necessity of Absalom's death if there was to be peace for the nation. Without compunction he killed the usurper-prince. When David heard the news, he fell into a deep depression mourning for his son, so that despite their victory all of David's men—and they had left home and hearth to follow him into the exile in Gilead—felt blamed and dejected. Then,

Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don't go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come upon you from your youth till now." (2 Sam 18:5-7)

Joab remained David's faithful servant his entire reign, but made a terrible miscalculation when, in David's old age, he sided with Adonijah when the latter proclaimed himself king in his father's stead. Solomon forgave him that mistake. But when Adonijah made a move—asking for the hand of Abishag in marriage—that Solomon interpreted to be another attempt at the throne, Joab fled to seek refuge hanging onto the altar in the tent of the Lord. Solomon commanded his much older cousin and faithful servant to his father killed anyway. Assuming he entered David's service when he was a young man of 20, he would have been more than 60 years old when he died.

2) A returnee from the Babylonian exile named in Ezra 8:9. Another returnee by the same name is mentioned in Ezra 2:6 and Neh 7:11 as the head of clan with 2,818 descendants. Whether the two refer to the same person or not is uncertain.

3) A certain 'Atroth Beth Joab' is mentioned in 1 Chron 2:54 as a descendent of the tribe of Judah, but nothing else is known about him.

4) A master craftsman from the tribe of Judah who so excelled in his trade he was called "the father of Ge Harashim" (lit., 'valley of craftsmen'); "It was called this because its people were craftsmen." (1 Chron 4:14).