Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 2:34
So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
34. went up ] i.e. To the Tent of the Lord, which probably stood on a higher part of Mt. Zion than did Solomon’s own house.
buried in his own house ] i.e. In the ground around his home. He appears to have had a home far out in the open country.
in the wilderness ] Probably that district known as the wilderness of Judah. Wilderness, or desert, gives however an insufficient idea of the kind of country that is meant. It was land under no regular cultivation, but yet to which cattle might be driven for pasturage. So in the narrative of the feeding of the Five Thousand where St Matthew (1Ki 14:15) speaks of ‘a desert place,’ St John (1Ki 6:10) says ‘now there was much grass in the place.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Retribution overtook Joab on the very scene (Gibeon) of the most treacherous of his murders. It was at the great stone which is in Gibeon that Joab killed Amasa 2Sa 20:8-10.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 34. So Benaiah – went up – and slew him] It appears he slew him at the very altar. Joab must have been both old and infirm at this time, and now he bleeds for Abner, he bleeds for Amasa, and he bleeds for Uriah. The two former he murdered; of the blood of the latter he was not innocent; yet he had done the state much service, and they knew it. But he was a murderer, and vengeance would not suffer such to live.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Places which have but few houses and inhabitants are oft so called in Scripture, as Isa 42:11; Jer 25:24; Eze 34:25.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. Benaiah . . . went up, and fellupon himAccording to the terms of the statute (Ex21:14), and the practice in similar cases (2Ki11:15), the criminal was to be dragged from the altar and slainelsewhere. But the truth is, that the sanctity of the altar wasviolated as much by the violence used in forcing the criminal fromthe place as in shedding his blood there; the express command of Godauthorized the former and therefore by implication permitted thelatter.
was buried in his ownhouseor family vault, at his property in the wilderness ofJudah. His interment was included in the king’s order, as enjoined inthe divine law (De 21:23).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up,…. To Gibeon, which was a great high place, 1Ki 3:4;
and fell upon him, and slew him; at the altar; or, dragging him from it at some distance, drew his sword and slew him:
and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness; not in his dwelling house strictly taken, but in a garden or field adjoining to it, which house in the wilderness; not a waste place uninhabited; for, as Kimchi observes, this word sometimes signifies a place uninhabited, though not tilled, but left for pasture of cattle; and in such a place might Joab’s house be, at least his country house, where he might have a farm, and fields, and cattle, as it is plain he had, 2Sa 14:30.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
34. Buried in his own house in the wilderness The old soldier was laid to rest among his native hills near Bethlehem: probably in his father’s sepulchre, where his brother Asahel had been buried. 2Sa 2:32. This was in the wilderness of Judah. See note on Jos 15:61. He had been a mighty and valiant warrior, and Solomon allowed him an honourable burial.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 2:34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.
Ver. 34. And he was buried in his own house in the wilderness, ] i.e., In a forest, fit for pasturage, and but thinly inhabited. The Hebrews say that Joab’s house here mentioned was a hospital that he built in the way for the harbouring of poor passengers: and that for this good deed his soul was saved. But of this none can judge, saith Pet. Martyr, because the Scripture saith nothing of it. But this it saith, that when Joab was dead and buried, Hadad the Edomite hearing thereof, returned out of Egypt into his own country, and became an adversary to Solomon, when once he forgot his God. 1Ki 11:14 ; 1Ki 11:22
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Benaiah: 1Ki 2:25, 1Ki 2:31, 1Ki 2:46
and fell: It appears that he slew him at the very altar. The altar was so sacred among all the people, that, in general, even the vilest wretch found safety, if he once reached it. This led to many abuses, and the perversion of public justice; and God decreed – Exo 24:14 that the presumptuous murderer, who had taken refuge at his altar, should be dragged thence and put to death.
buried: 2Ki 21:18, 2Ch 33:20
in the: Jos 15:61, Mat 3:1
Reciprocal: Jdg 15:12 – fall 1Sa 25:1 – in his house 2Sa 1:15 – Go near 2Sa 3:39 – the Lord 2Sa 8:18 – Benaiah 1Ki 2:45 – the throne 1Ki 11:21 – Hadad 1Ch 11:22 – Benaiah 1Ch 18:17 – Benaiah Hos 12:14 – therefore