“Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.” 2 Samuel 3:30
Many people struggle withthe apparent contradiction they see in the Bible: that on the one hand, God commanded the children of Israel ‘Do not kill’ (Ex. 20:13, Deut. 5:17), then on the other He instituted capital punishment and also instructed the Israelites to kill every man, woman and child of the Canaanite tribes who were occupying the Promised Land. They also raise the question, what about killing other people in battle?
There are several Hebrew words used for ‘kill’, and they are distinguished based on the intent behind the killing. In today’s verse we have two of them. Joab and Abishai murdered (harag: to smite with deadly intent) Abner, because Abner had killed (muth: cause to die, put to death, kill, slay) Asahel in battle.
The word used in the Ten Commandments is ratsach: to dash in pieces, murder.
Thus in scale of intensity, we have ratsach, then harag, then muth. This progresses from killing with violence and murderous intent, through to impassively putting to death (muth is used quite frequently of God putting someone to death, e.g. Deut. 32:39, also of capital punishment being carried out: Deut. 17:7 etc.).
Here is the situation between Joab and Abishai, Abner and Asahel: Abner had killed Asahel in battle (2 Sam. 2:22-23). It was not punishable by death. However, Joab and Abishai went to Abner in the city, as if to talk with them. But it was a deception; instead, Joab stabbed Abner (2 Sam. 3:27). Their act was cold-blooded murder, and it was wrong.
Very good explanation of the issue. As a soldier I really struggled with this issue until someone explained that intent of the act was part of the part of the definition. Yoday I teach it from this very same perspective. Context and translation will always be a major part of Bible study thank you for taking the time to touch on this subject.
ReplyDelete