Useful Bible Studies > 2 Samuel Commentary > chapter 19

David chooses Amasa to be the new commander of his army

2 Samuel 19:13

Joab became the chief army commander in Israel when he won the battle for Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 11:6). However, even before that, he was already leading David’s army in Judah (2 Samuel chapter 2). He remained David’s chief army commander through almost the whole 40 years of David’s rule.

However, David did not approve of Joab. He considered Joab to be an evil man. This became especially clear to David when Joab murdered Abner, the chief commander of Israel’s army (3:22-39).

So, David had for a very long time wanted to find someone who could replace Joab. However, Joab was extremely powerful and David considered himself too weak to act against him.

The battle against Absalom gave David even more reasons why David wanted to replace Joab. In the battle, Joab had refused to obey David’s order to save Absalom’s life. In addition, another man, Amasa, had shown that he had the power to gather a large army. That was one of the most important tasks for the chief army commander. Amasa was leading Absalom’s army, which lost the battle. Still, David now wanted Amasa to become his new chief commander, instead of Joab.

David could see important political advantages in this decision. With Amasa in charge of David’s army, the men who supported Absalom would now support David. Also, Amasa came from Judah, and David wanted the support of Judah’s leaders. Amasa was, like Joab, one of David’s relatives. Amasa was the son of David’s sister, Abigail (17:25).

Next part: Judah's men bring David back to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 19:14-15)

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