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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 1:50And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
- 1 Kgs 1:7And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.
- 2 Sam 18:2And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.
- Exod 27:2And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
- 2 Sam 18:14–15Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
- Deut 32:35To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
- 2 Sam 17:25And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man’s son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab’s mother.
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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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