Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And cast off all pity, And his anger raged continually, And he kept his wrath forever;
From that Psalm too of mingled thanksgiving and prayer which David composed after the victory, “in the valley of salt” (Psalms 60:1-12 title), it appears that, even after that victory, David’s army had not yet entered Edom. “Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?” Psalms 60:9. That same Psalm speaks of grievous suffering before, “in” which God had “cast” them “off” and “scattered” them; “made the earth tremble and cleft it;” so that “it reeled” Psalms 60:1-3, Psalms 60:10. Joab too had “returned” from the war in the north against the Syrians of Mesopotamia, to meet the Edomites. Whether in alliance with the Syrians, or taking advantage of the absence of the main army there, the Edomites had inflicted some heavy blow on Israel; a battle in which Abishai killed 18,000 men 1 Chronicles 18:12 had been indecisive. The Edomites were relpalsed by the rapid counter-march of Joab. The victory, according to the Psalm, was still incomplete 1 Chronicles 18:1, 1Ch 18:5, 1 Chronicles 18:9-12. David put “garrisons in Edom” 2 Samuel 8:14, to restrain them from further outbreaks. Joab avenged the wrong of the Edomites, conformably to his character 1 Kings 11:16; but the fact that “the captain of the host” had “to go up to bury the slain” (1 Kings 11:15. It should be rendered, not, after he had slain, but, and he killed, etc.), shows the extent of the deadly blow, which he so fearfully avenged.