1 Kings 2:31
ESV
The king replied to him, "Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and thus take away from me and from my father 's house the guilt for the blood that Joab shed without cause.
NIV
Then the king commanded Benaiah, "Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my whole family of the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed.
NASB
And the king said to him, 'Do just as he has spoken, and execute him and bury him, so that you may remove from me and from my father’s house the blood which Joab shed without justification.
CSB
The king said to him, "Do just as he says. Strike him down and bury him in order to remove from me and from my father’s family the blood that Joab shed without just cause.
NLT
Do as he said,' the king replied. 'Kill him there beside the altar and bury him. This will remove the guilt of Joab’s senseless murders from me and from my father’s family.
KJV
And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.
NKJV
Then the king said to him, “Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed.
What does 1 Kings 2:31 mean?
King Solomon sent Benaiah, the captain of the royal bodyguard, to execute the nation's highest-ranking general, Joab. Joab is within the tabernacle walls, holding on to the altar and refusing to leave. Benaiah has asked Solomon what he should do (1 Kings 2:28–30).The Israelites take bloodguilt very seriously (Genesis 9:5–6). Killing in battle is sanctioned, but murder brings a stigma that must be fully atoned for, usually by the death of the murderer himself. Joab had murdered both Abner (2 Samuel 3:27) and Amasa (2 Samuel 20:8–10) after the battles he fought with them were long over, covering him with the guilt of their blood.
David understood that the Lord might withhold his blessing from a person or a nation because of unsatisfied bloodguilt. After Joab murdered Abner, David declared, "I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house…" (2 Samuel 3:28–29).
Even so, David never gave Abner and Amasa justice; he never executed Joab. Instead, he told Solomon to (1 Kings 2:5–6). Solomon wants to remove any responsibility as Israel's king for allowing the killer of innocent men to remain unpunished.
