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Allusions in rabbinic literature to the Biblical character Joab, the nephew of King David and commander of his army, contain various expansions, elaborations and inferences beyond what is presented in the text of the Bible itself. ==Introduction== Joab appears in the Mishnah as the ideal general (Talmud makkot 11b).〔(JewishEncyclopedia.com - JOAB )〕 He and David supplemented each other; he would not have succeeded in his wars without David's continuous study of the Torah, and David would not have been able to apply himself to his ideal pursuits without such a reliable general as Joab (Talmud Sanhedrin 49a).〔 His generosity is indicated by the words "his house in the wilderness" (I Kings ii. 34), which are taken to mean that his house was as free as the wilderness; that it was open to everybody; that everybody could find there food of all kinds; that, like a wilderness, it was free from robbery (Sanh. 49a).〔 Rabbi Johanan even declared that Joab was not guilty of Abner's death, but that he brought him before the Sanhedrin, which, in the gate of the city (comp. Deut. xvi. 18 et al.), condemned Abner for killing Asahel (Sanhedrin 49a).〔 When Joab had smitten the male children of Edom, David inquired why he had done so; Joab answered, "It is written, 'Thou shalt blot out the males (''zachar'') of Amalek'" (Deut. xxv. 19).〔 David retorted, "But it is ''zecher'' ("remembrance"), not ''zachar''!" Joab replied that his teacher had made him read ''zachar'' (Bava Batra 21a, b).〔 Joab struggled hard but vainly to dissuade David from numbering the people.〔 Joab made two numberings, a complete and an incomplete one.〔 He intended to render the incomplete numbering; if David became angry, he would give him the complete one (Pesiḳ. R. 11 (Friedmann, p. 43b )).〔 After Joab had fled to the Tabernacle, he was brought before the judges for trial.〔 Declared not guilty of the murder of Abner, as he had only avenged the blood of his brother Asahel, he was condemned for the murder of Amasa; to Joab's defense that Amasa was a traitor because he had failed to execute David's order (comp. II Samuel xx. 4-5), the judges objected that Amasa, being occupied with the study of the Law, was not bound to execute the king's order (Sanh. 49a).〔 When Benaiah went to execute Joab the latter said: "Let not Solomon condemn me to a double punishment; let him either kill me and take on himself the curses which his father uttered against me (Sam. iii. 29 ) or let me live and suffer from the curses only."〔 Solomon took on himself the curses, all of which were fulfilled in his descendants (Sanh. 48b).〔 The Talmudists do not agree as to whether Joab left a son or not, as some identify the Joab of Ezra viii. 9 (see Joab, No. 3) with the general of David (B. B. 116a).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Joab in rabbinic literature」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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