When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar.
Parallel translations
- WEB This news came to Joab; for Joab had followed Adonijah, although he didn’t follow Absalom. Joab fled to Yahweh’s Tent, and held onto the horns of the altar.
- KJV Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
- NKJV Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold of the horns of the altar.
- NASB Now the news came to Joab because Joab had followed Adonijah, though he had not followed Absalom. So Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar.
- NLT Joab had not joined Absalom’s earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah’s rebellion. So when Joab heard about Adonijah’s death, he ran to the sacred tent of the Lord and grabbed on to the horns of the altar.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Hearing of these judgments, Joab flees to the tabernacle and grasps the horns of the altar for sanctuary. The guilty commander seeks refuge in the very place set apart for atonement.
Overview
Joab had backed Adonijah and bore old bloodguilt, so he flees to Yahweh's Tent and clings to the altar's horns, a traditional place of asylum. Yet the law granted no sanctuary to deliberate murderers (Exodus 21:14). His flight shows that mere proximity to holy things cannot shelter unrepentant guilt, pointing forward to the true and sufficient refuge found only in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Kgs 1:50But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar.
- 1 Kgs 1:7So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.
- 2 Sam 18:2He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.”
- Exod 27:2Make a horn on each of its four corners, so that the horns are of one piece, and overlay it with bronze.
- 2 Sam 18:14–15But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree.
- Deut 32:35Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
- 2 Sam 17:25Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.
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Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
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Original language
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