2 Samuel 18:14

I may not tarry thus with thee - He had nothing to say in vindication of the purpose he had formed.

Thrust them through the heart of Absalom - He was determined to make sure work, and therefore he pierced his heart.

Joab should have obeyed the king's commandment: and yet the safety of the state required the sacrifice of Absalom. But independently of this, his life was quadruply forfeited to the law: -

1. In having murdered his brother Amnon.

In having excited an insurrection in the state.

In having taken up arms against his own father, Deuteronomy 21:18 , Deuteronomy 21:21 .

In having lain with his father's concubines, Leviticus 18:29 .

Long ago he should have died by the hand of justice; and now all his crimes are visited on him in his last act of rebellion. Yet, in the present circumstances, Joab's act was base and disloyal, and a cowardly murder.