Joab, the warrior, was a contrast to Ahithophel in every essential. He
was David's right hand. It was said, if Joab had not been there to
conduct his wars, David would not have had leisure to devote himself to
the study of the Torah. He was the model of a true Jewish hero,
distinguished at the same time for his learning, piety, and goodness.
His house stood wide open for all comers, and the campaigns which he
undertook redounded invariably to the benefit of the people. They were
indebted to him for luxuries even, (75) and more than that, he took
thought for the welfare of scholars, he himself being the president of
the Sanhedrin. (76)
It interested Joab to analyze the character of men and their opinions.
When he heard King David's words: "Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him," he expressed his
astonishment that the comparison should be made with the love of a
father for a child, and not with the love of a mother; mother love as a
rule is considered the stronger and the more self-sacrificing. He made
up his mind to keep his eyes open, and observe whether David's idea was
borne out by facts. On one of his journeys he happened into the house
of a poor old man who had twelve children, all of whom the father
supported, however meagrely, with the toil of his own hands. Joab
proposed that he sell him one of the twelve children; he would thus be
relieved of the care of one, and the selling-price could be applied to
the better support of the rest. The good father rejected the
proposition brusquely. Then Joab approached the mother, offering her a
hundred gold denarii for one of the children. At first she resisted the
temptation, but finally she yielded. When the father returned in the
evening, he cut the bread, as was his wont, into fourteen pieces, for
himself, his wife, and his twelve children. In allotting the portions
he missed a child, and insisted upon being told its fate. The mother
confessed what had happened during his absence. He neither ate nor
drank, and next morning he set out, firmly resolved to return the money
to Joab and to slay him if he should refuse to surrender the child.
After much parleying, and after the father had threatened him with
death, Joab yielded the child to the old man, with the exclamation:
"Yes, David was right when he compared God's love for men to a father's
love for his child. This poor fellow who has twelve children to support
was prepared to fight me to the death for one of them, which the
mother, who calmly stayed at home, had sold to me for a price."
Among all the heroic achievements of Joab, the most remarkable is the
taking of the Amalekite capital. For six months the flower of the
Israelitish army, twelve thousand in number, under the leadership of
Joab, had been besieging the capital city of the Amalekites without
result. The soldiers made representations to their general, that it
would be well for them to return home to their wives and children. Joab
urged that this not only would earn for them contempt and derision, but
also would invite new danger. The heathen would be encouraged to unite
against the Israelites. He proposed that they hurl him into the city by
means of a sling, and then wait forty days. If at the end of this
period they saw blood flow from the gates of the fortress, it should be
a sign to them that he was still alive.
His plan was executed. Joab took with him one thousand pieces of money
and his sword. When he was cast from the sling, he fell into the
courtyard of a widow, whose daughter caught him up. In a little while
he regained consciousness. He pretended to be an Amalekite taken
prisoner by the Israelites, and thrown into the city by his captors,
who thus wished to inflict death. As he was provided with money, which
he dispensed lavishly among his entertainers, he was received kindly,
and was given the Amalekite garb. So apparelled, he ventured, after ten
days, on a tour of inspection through the city, which he found to be of
enormous size.
His first errand was to an armorer, to have him mend his sword, which
had been broken by his fall. When the artisan scanned Joab's weapon, he
started back—he had never seen a sword like it. He forged a new one,
which snapped in two almost at once when Joab grasped it firmly. So it
happened with a second sword, and with a third. Finally he succeeded in
fashioning one that was acceptable. Joab asked the smith whom he would
like him to slay with the sword, and the reply was, "Joab, the general
of the Israelitish king." "I am he," said Joab, and when the smith in
astonishment turned to look at him, Joab ran him through so skillfully
that the victim had no realization of what was happening. Thereupon he
hewed down five hundred Amalekite warriors whom he met on his way, and
not one escaped to betray him. The rumor arose that Asmodeus, the king
of demons, was raging among the inhabitants of the city, and slaying
them in large numbers.
After another period of ten days, which he spent in retirement with his
hosts, Joab sallied forth a second time, and caused such bloodshed
among the Amalekites that his gory weapon clave to his hand, and his
right hand lost all power of independent motion, it could be made to
move only in a piece with his arm. He hastened to his lodging place to
apply hot water to his hand and free it from the sword. On his way
thither the woman who had caught him up when he fell into the city
called to him: "Thou eatest and drinkest with us, yet thou slayest our
warriors." Seeing himself betrayed, he could not but kill the woman.
Scarcely had his sword touched her, when it was separated from his
hand, and his hand could move freely, for the dead woman had been with
child, and the blood of the unborn babe loosed the sword.
After Joab had slain thousands, the Israelites without, at the very
moment when they were beginning to mourn their general as dead, saw
blood issue from the city, and joyfully they cried out with one accord:
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Joab mounted a
high tower, and in stentorian tones shouted: "The Lord will not forsake
his people." Inspired with high and daring courage, the Israelites
demanded permission to assault the city and capture it. As Joab turned
to descend from the tower, he noticed that six verses of a Psalm were
inscribed on his foot, the first verse running thus: "The Lord answers
thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob is thy
defense." Later David added three verses and completed the Psalm.
Thereupon the Israelites took the Amalekite capital, destroyed the
heathen temples in the city, and slew all its inhabitants, except the
king, whom, with his crown of pure gold on his head, they brought
before David. (77)