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2 Samuel 4 · a question people ask

Joab had just killed Abner. Why did David punish Rechab and Baanah, and not Joab?

In the text

The book gives David's words about Joab, and they are different words. After Joab killed Abner at Hebron (3:27), David said, "I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner" (3:28). He also said, "I am weak today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me. May the LORD reward the evildoer according to his wickedness" (3:39). When he was old he told Solomon, "you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed" (1 Kings 2:5), and "don’t let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace" (1 Kings 2:6). With Rechab and Baanah, David gave the command himself (4:12). The book doesn't set the two side by side or explain the difference, and this answer doesn't go past David's own words.

The verses

“When Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the body, so that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother. Afterward, when David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.”
2 Samuel 3:27-28 · World English Bible
“I am weak today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me. May the LORD reward the evildoer according to his wickedness.””
2 Samuel 3:39 · World English Bible
““Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was around his waist and in his sandals that were on his feet. Do therefore according to your wisdom, and don’t let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.”
1 Kings 2:5-6 · World English Bible
“How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand, and rid the earth of you?” David commanded his young men, and they killed them, cut off their hands and their feet, and hanged them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in Abner’s grave in Hebron.”
2 Samuel 4:11-12 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Samuel 4

2 Samuel 4: Who has redeemed my soul

When Ishbosheth's killers said, "The LORD has avenged my lord the king" (4:8), David answered with the LORD "who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity" (4:9), and when he was old he swore by those same words again (1 Kings 1:29).

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Last reviewed September 26, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions