1 Kings 2:30

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28 Then news came to Joab, for Joab ^ahad defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and ^btook hold of the horns of the altar.

29 And King Solomon was told, “Joab has fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, ^astrike him down.”

30 So Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the king, ^a‘Come out!’ ” And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

31 Then the king said to him, ^a“Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, ^bthat you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed.

32 So the Lord ^awill return his blood on his head, because he struck down two men more righteous ^band better than he, and killed them with the sword—^cAbner the son of Ner, the commander of the army of Israel, and ^dAmasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of Judah—though my father David did not know it.

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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1 Kings 2:30

Nay ; but I will die here - The altars were so sacred among all the people, that, in general, even the vilest wretch found safety, if he once reached the altar. This led to many abuses, and the perversion of public justice; and at last it became a maxim that the guilty should be punished, should they even have taken refuge at the altars. God decreed that the presumptuous murderer who had taken refuge at the altar should be dragged thence, and put to death; see Exodus 21:14. The heathens had the same kind of ordinance; hence Euripides: -

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Euripid. Frag. 42. Edit. Musg.

\ri720 "If an unrighteous man, availing himself of the law, should claim the protection of the altar, I would drag him to justice, nor fear the wrath of the gods; for it is necessary that every wicked man should suffer for his crimes."

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