26 Then to Abiathar the priest the king said , " Go to Anathoth to your own field , for you deserve to die ; but I will not put you to death at this time , because you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David , and because you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted ." 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord , in order to fulfill the word of the Lord , which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh . 28 Now the news came to Joab , for Joab had followed e Adonijah , although he had not followed e Absalom . And Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar . 29 It was told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord , and behold , he is beside the altar . Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada , saying , " Go , fall upon him." 30 So Benaiah came to the tent of the Lord and said to him, "Thus the king has said , 'Come out.' " But he said , "No , for I will die here ." And Benaiah brought the king word again , saying , "Thus spoke Joab , and thus he answered me." 31 The king said to him, " Do as he has spoken and fall upon him and bury him, that you may remove from me and from my father's house the blood which Joab shed without cause . 32 " The Lord will return his blood on his own head , because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword , while my father David did not know it: Abner the son of Ner , commander of the army of Israel , and Amasa the son of Jether , commander of the army of Judah . 33 " So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever ; but to David and his descendants and his house and his throne , may there be peace from the Lord forever e ." 34 Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and fell upon him and put him to death , and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 2:26-34
Commentary on 1 Kings 2:26-34
(Read 1 Kings 2:26-34)
Solomon's words to Abiathar, and his silence, imply that some recent conspiracies had been entered into. Those that show kindness to God's people shall have it remembered to their advantage. For this reason Solomon spares Abiathar's life, but dismisses him from his offices. In case of such sins as the blood of beasts would atone for, the altar was a refuge, but not in Joab's case. Solomon looks upward to God as the Author of peace, and forward to eternity as the perfection of it. The Lord of peace himself gives us that peace which is everlasting.