יוֹאָב
Joab
BDB lists 4 entries for ‘Joab’ fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
Every verse where H3097 appears in the Book of 1 Kings — 13 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
1 Kings
- 1 Kings 1:7 יוֹאָ֣ב n Proper He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.
- 1 Kings 1:19 וּ/לְ/יֹאָ֖ב conj + prep + n Proper and he has slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host; but he hasn't called Solomon your servant.
- 1 Kings 1:41 יוֹאָב֙ n Proper Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Why is this noise of the city being in an uproar?
- 1 Kings 2:5 יוֹאָ֣ב n Proper Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, even what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, to Abner the son of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his sash that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
- 1 Kings 2:22 וּ/לְ/יוֹאָ֖ב conj + prep + n Proper King Solomon answered his mother, Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
- 1 Kings 2:28 יוֹאָ֔ב יוֹאָ֗ב יוֹאָב֙ n Proper n Proper n Proper The news came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he didn't turn after Absalom. Joab fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.
- 1 Kings 2:29 יוֹאָב֙ n Proper It was told king Solomon, Joab is fled to the Tent of Yahweh, and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall on him.
- 1 Kings 2:30 יוֹאָ֖ב n Proper Benaiah came to the Tent of Yahweh, and said to him, Thus says the king, Come forth. He said, No; but I will die here. Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.
- 1 Kings 2:31 יוֹאָ֔ב n Proper The king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house.
- 1 Kings 2:33 יוֹאָ֔ב n Proper So shall their blood return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his seed forever: but to David, and to his seed, and to his house, and to his throne, shall there be peace for ever from Yahweh.
- 1 Kings 11:15 יוֹאָב֙ n Proper For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom
- 1 Kings 11:16 יוֹאָ֖ב n Proper (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom);
- 1 Kings 11:21 יוֹאָ֣ב n Proper When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
יואב (Yôwʼâb) is a Hebrew name most often rendered “Joab.” It clusters heavily in 2 Samuel, which alone accounts for 68% of its uses. It turns up in 124 verses across 7 books, a common footprint. It first appears in 1 Samuel 26:6. For the data behind this summary, explore 124-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3097 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 124
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 124 distinct verses.
- 7 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 7 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #309
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 309 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 124 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- 2 Samuel 84 verses 68%
- 1 Chronicles 22 verses 18%
- 1 Kings 13 verses 10%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 124 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 98 verses · 79%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 26 verses · 21%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Joab 120×, Joab's 7×, Against joab 2×
- American Standard Version: Joab 117×, Now joab 3×, Against joab 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Joab 123×, Joab’s 6×, Now joab 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Joab 140×, Now joab 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3097 across 145 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3097 across 144 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 18 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3097 across 139 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 7 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 6 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3097 across 144 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 3 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. David’s sister’s son & captain of his host (𝔊 Ἰωαβ) 1 S 26:6; 2 S 2:13 + 100 times 2 S (also 2 S 20:6 for MT אֲבִישַׁי cf. 𝔖 We Dr); 1 K 1:7 + 14 times 1 K.; 1 Ch 2:16 + 22 times 1 Ch; ψ 60:2. e.g. 1 Samuel 26:6
- 2. a descendant of Judah 1 Ch 4:14 (but 𝔊B 𝔊L Ἰωβαβ). e.g. 1 Chronicles 4:14
- 3. a familyname after the exile Ezr 2:6 = Ne 7:11 (𝔊 Ἰωβαβ, Ἰωαβ) Ezr 8:9 (𝔊 Ἰωαβ). e.g. Ezra 2:6
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.pr.m. (י׳ is father; cf. אֲבִיָּהוּ, אֱלִיאָב, אֲבִיאֵל & reff.)—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from יהוה (Yᵉhôvâh) (H3068) — LORD.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
יוֹאָב
- (b. h.) pr. n. m. Joab, general of king David. B. Bath. 116ᵃ. Snh. 48ᵇ; a. fr.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 30 distinct written forms H3097 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| יוֹאָ֔ב | Noun, Proper | Ezra 8:9 | 27 |
| יוֹאָב֙ | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 4:14 | 21 |
| יוֹאָ֗ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 11:20 | 15 |
| יוֹאָ֖ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 19:15 | 13 |
| יוֹאָ֛ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 20:1 | 9 |
| יוֹאָ֣ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Kings 1:7 | 7 |
| יוֹאָ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Ezra 2:6 | 6 |
| יוֹאָֽב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 21:6 | 6 |
| יוֹאָ֜ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 19:14 | 5 |
| יוֹאָ֥ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 11:6 | 5 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֥ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 2:16 | 3 |
| וְ/יוֹאָב֙ | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 3:22 | 3 |
| יוֹאָ֡ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 3:29 | 3 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֕ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 11:8 | 2 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֛ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 3:23 | 2 |
| יוֹאָ֨ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 27:24 | 2 |
| יוֹאָב֩ | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 20:1 | 2 |
| לְ/יוֹאָ֑ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 18:10 | 2 |
| בְּ/יוֹאָ֛ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 20:11 | 1 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Nehemiah 7:11 | 1 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֖ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 26:28 | 1 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֗ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 2:30 | 1 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֞ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 20:8 | 1 |
| וְ/יוֹאָ֨ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 2:13 | 1 |
| וּ/לְ/יֹאָ֖ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Kings 1:19 | 1 |
| וּ/לְ/יוֹאָ֖ב | Noun, Proper | 1 Kings 2:22 | 1 |
| י֠וֹאָב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 18:5 | 1 |
| יוֹאָ֤ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 14:30 | 1 |
| לְ/יוֹאָ֖ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 18:21 | 1 |
| לְ/יוֹאָב֙ | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 3:23 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3097, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- הושמע Hôwshâmâʻ H1953 Hoshama
- יה Yâhh H3050 Jah
- יהוא Yêhûwʼ H3058 Jehu
- יהואחז Yᵉhôwʼâchâz H3059 Jehoahaz
- יהואש Yᵉhôwʼâsh H3060 Jehoash
- יהוה Yᵉhôvih H3069 LORD
- יהוה יראה Yᵉhôvâh yirʼeh H3070 Jehovah-jireh
- יהוה נסי Yᵉhôvâh niççîy H3071 Jehovah-nissi
- יהוה צדקנו Yᵉhôvâh tsidqênûw H3072 a sacred name symbolically applied to
- יהוה שלום Yᵉhôvâh shâlôwm H3073 Jehovah-shalom
- יהוה שמה Yᵉhôvâh shâmmâh H3074 Jehovahshammah
- יהוזבד Yᵉhôwzâbâd H3075 Jehozabad
- יהוחנן Yᵉhôwchânân H3076 Jehohanan
- יהוידע Yᵉhôwyâdâʻ H3077 Jehoiada
- יהויכין Yᵉhôwyâkîyn H3078 Jehoiachin
- יהויקים Yᵉhôwyâqîym H3079 Jehoiakim
- יהויריב Yᵉhôwyârîyb H3080 Jehoiarib
- יהונדב Yᵉhôwnâdâb H3082 Jehonadab
- יהונתן Yᵉhôwnâthân H3083 Jonathan
- יהועדה Yᵉhôwʻaddâh H3085 Jehoadah
- יהועדין Yᵉhôwʻaddîyn H3086 Jehoaddan
- יהוצדק Yᵉhôwtsâdâq H3087 Jehozadak
- יהורם Yᵉhôwrâm H3088 Jehoram
- יהושבע Yᵉhôwshebaʻ H3089 Jehosheba
+11 more proper names from this root (not shown).
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 37 — not the complete family. 36 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Bible dictionary
Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Joab). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.
Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897
Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David's sister, and "captain of the host" during the whole of David's reign (2 Sam. 2:13; 10:7; 11:1; 1 Kings 11:15). His father's name is nowhere mentioned, although his sepulchre at Bethlehem is mentioned (2 Sam. 2:32). His two brothers were Abishai and Asahel, the swift of foot, who was killed by Abner (2 Sam. 2:13-32), whom Joab afterwards treacherously murdered (3:22-27). He afterwards led the assault at the storming of the fortress on Mount Zion, and for this service was raised to the rank of "prince of the king's army" (2 Sam. 5:6-10; 1 Chr. 27:34). His chief military achievements were, (1) against the allied forces of Syria and Ammon; (2) against Edom (1 Kings 11:15, 16); and (3) against the Ammonites (2 Sam. 10:7-19; 11:1, 11). His character is deeply stained by the part he willingly took in the murder of Uriah (11:14-25). He acted apparently from a sense of duty in putting Absalom to death (18:1-14). David was unmindful of the many services Joab had rendered to him, and afterwards gave the command of the army to Amasa, Joab's cousin (2 Sam. 20:1-13; 19:13). When David was dying Joab espoused the cause of Adonijah in preference to that of Solomon. He was afterwards slain by Benaiah, by the command of Solomon, in accordance with his father's injunction (2 Sam. 3:29; 20:5-13), at the altar to which he had fled for refuge. Thus this hoary conspirator died without one to lift up a voice in his favour. He was buried in his own property in the "wilderness," probably in the north-east of Jerusalem (1 Kings 2:5, 28-34). Benaiah succeeded him as commander-in-chief of the army.
(2.) 1 Chr. 4:14.
(3.) Ezra 2:6.
Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863
(whose father is Jehovah), the most remarkable of the three nephews of David, the children of Zeruiah, David's sister. (B.C. 1053-1012.) Joab first appears after David's accession to the throne at Hebron. Abner slew in battle Asahel, the youngest brother of Joab; and when David afterward received Abner into favor, Joab treacherously murdered him. [Abner] There was now no rival left in the way of Joab's advancement, and at the siege of Jebus he was appointed for his prowess commander-in-chief--"captain of the host." In the wide range of wars which David undertook, Joab was the acting general. He was called by the almost regal title of "lord," (2 Samuel 11:11) "the prince of the king's army." (1 Chronicles 27:34) In the entangled relations which grew up in David's domestic life he bore an important part, successfully reinstating Absalom in David's favor after the murder of Amnon. (2 Samuel 14:1-20) When the relations between father and son were reversed by the revolt of Absalom, Joab remained true to the king, taking the rebel prince's dangerous life in spite of David's injunction to spare him, and when no one else had courage to act so decisive a part. (2 Samuel 18:2,11-15) (B.C. 1023). The king transferred the command to Amasa, which so enraged Joab that he adroitly assassinated Amasa when pretending to welcome him as a friend. (2 Samuel 20:10) Friendly relations between himself and David seem to have existed afterward, (2 Samuel 24:2) but at the close of his long life, his loyalty, so long unshaken, at last wavered. "Though he had not turned after Absalom, he turned after Adonijah." (1 Kings 2:28) This probably filled up the measure of the king's long-cherished resentment. The revival of the pretensions of Adonijah after David's death was sufficient to awaken the suspicions of Solomon. Joab fled to the shelter of the altar at Gibeon, and was here slain by Benaiah. (B.C. about 1012.)
+ One of Kenaz's descendants. (1 Chronicles 4:14) + (Ezra 2:6; 8:9; Nehemiah 7:11)
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869
paternity; voluntary
Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 123 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 124 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
