Mishpatim: A Tale of Two Perspectives
Murder and Peace
“If a man should act against his fellow to kill him with guile, from my altar shall you take him to die”. Why does the Torah speak of taking the murderer from the altar? The altar is known as an instrument of peace but if a murderer seeks protection at the altar he will not find it there. His act of murder has disturbed the peace and only his execution can restore it.
Yoav’s Intentions
In the second chapter of the first book of Kings we read that Yoav, general of King David’s army, was convicted for the deliberate but cunning murder of two innocent men. When word of his conviction reached him he ran to the altar and clung to it.
Our sages asked why Yoav, a learned man, sought refuge at the altar knowing that it couldn’t protect him? Yoav knew that if he resisted he would be executed right beside the altar and that was precisely how he preferred to die.
Dying at the altar might in some way have ennobled Yoav. The Talmud spoke of Yoav in glowing terms. He was a gifted Torah scholar, he was extremely charitable to the poor, he fought many loyal and successful battles for King David; he was not a common criminal. The two men he murdered were thought to have rebelled against King David. By dying at the Altar he would have proclaimed his innocent intentions.
He knew that he deserved to die but he may have sought to control the circumstances of his death in order to inform the masses that his actions were nobly intended.
King David’s Curse
Perhaps this was Solomon’s way of paying homage to the man who had fought to establish the Davidic line of kingdom to which Solomon was heir. Though he was to be punished for his excesses he was to be commended for his heroism and contribution.
Tags: fairness, justice
