Joab (JOH-ab) is remembered in Scripture through choices and relationships that still deserve careful reading.
Birth year: Unknown.
Death year: Unknown.
Active during: The reign of David, around the tenth century BC.
Home region: Jerusalem and the campaigns of David’s kingdom.
Main passages: 2 Samuel 2–3; 10–11; 14; 18–20; 1 Kings 1–2.
Story and role
Joab, son of Zeruiah, was David’s nephew and army commander. He was courageous, capable, and fiercely loyal, yet repeatedly used violence beyond what David publicly authorized.
What the record preserves
The biblical passages show the choices, relationships, and consequences that made Joab part of the larger story. They should be read in context rather than reduced to a single label.
Limits of the evidence
Joab appears across many episodes, and motives sometimes must be inferred cautiously. The portrait is imagined.
Explore the places connected with Joab on a modern reference map.
Read further
2 Samuel 2–3; 10–11; 14; 18–20; 1 Kings 1–2, NIV; BiblicalTraining reference library.