Joab, the mighty general of King David, figures in rabbinic legend as a warrior of such ferocity that even the angels feared him. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) preserves a story about his exploits in the city of Kinsari — possibly Caesarea or another fortified city — where his military genius and his terrifying strength were both on full display.
Joab arrived at Kinsari and found it heavily fortified. The walls were thick, the garrison was strong, and conventional assault would have been suicidal. But Joab was not a conventional commander. He studied the defenses, found the weakness, and devised a strategy that combined cunning with overwhelming force.
The details vary across different sources — the Maase Buch (No. 145) and various manuscripts tell the story with different emphases — but the core remains consistent: Joab took the city through a combination of deception and valor that left his enemies stunned. The fortress that should have held for months fell in days.
The sages were ambivalent about Joab. He was loyal to David to the point of murder — he killed Abner and Amasa, both of whom David had wanted alive. He was ruthless, brilliant, and indispensable. Without Joab, David's kingdom could not have been built. With Joab, it was stained with blood that David himself had not authorized.
The story of Joab in Kinsari captured both sides: the dazzling military achievement and the moral ambiguity of a man who served his king by doing the terrible things his king could not bring himself to do.