Joab's life and his relationship with David is indeed highly unusual, raising in itself the question as to the great prophetic meaning of these men. We will begin this consideration with an observation that puzzled me most about him back in 1994, and has ever since caused me to ask the nagging question - Who is this man Joab? What is it that he represents prophetically?

When the angel came to Mary to proclaim to her the good news that she would bring forth the Messiah, he declared to her the very name of this child - Yahshua (Luke 1:31). Why did Yahweh name Him this? The answer is found when the angel equally came to Joseph, declaring - "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

Throughout the Bible, men and women are given names for highly prophetic reasons. Abraham, Sarah, Israel, Saul/Paul, Simon Peter are only a few examples. But in fact, there is not a name in the Bible, or for that matter on the face of the earth, that does not possess a prophetic meaning and significance. That meaning might be bold and outstanding as with Yahshua, or obscure as with some insignificant person living on the street. But everything prophecies at some point (if we had eyes to see).

When it comes to names with outstanding meanings, Joab most certainly stands out among them all. When we examine Yahshua's name, we find that it is broken down into two parts - "Ya" and "shua." Herein is where we find its clear meaning. "Ya" is the shortened form of the name of the Father, or Yahweh. Ya is simply short for Yahweh. Thus the Son of God has within His name the name of His father. And it is the second part of His name that completes the story of who Yahshua is.

"Shua" means "to save" or "savior." Thus we see that in the name of the Son of God, we find the specific testimony of His purpose as spoken to Joseph - to reveal or provide the salvation of Yahweh. Yahshua is Yahweh in His saving work. Understanding this, let us now turn to our subject character, Joab, and see what his name reveals. I forewarn you - along with his unique relationship with David, this is where I remained puzzled for eight years! You will now see why.

The meaning of Joab's name is somewhat concealed simply because of the way the translators have handled it. To help understand this, what relationship do you think the names Joshua and Jesus have in common? Both of these names are used in the New Testament. But did you know that in the Greek they are the identical name? Yet the translators translated them as if they were two completely different names. "Joshua" is actually the word "Yahshua," but about 500 years ago the letter "J" came into being and is used to represent the Hebrew "Y." Thus we actually find that the man Joshua in the Old Testament has the same name as the Son of God, and prophetically even represents Him. Thus, when we read this name Joab, the "Jo" in it might provide you some hint as to the breakdown and meaning of his name.

"Joab," like the name "Yahshua," is equally broken down into two parts - "Jo" and "ab." It does not look to be the case at first because of our pronunciation of these two names, but the translators used the "Jo" with a long "o" vowel sound here in "Joab," in the same way it is used in "Joshua" with a short "o" vowel sound. Thus the first part of our puzzle comes into place when we see that the "Jo" in "Joab" carries the same meaning as the "Ya" in the name of the Son of God, and that is "Yahweh." Thus Joab's name equally carries in it the name of the Father, as did the name of the Son.

The second part of Joab's name is probably quite familiar to the reader as well, but once again because of pronunciation it is equally concealed. The "ab" in "Joab" carries the same meaning as that which we read in the words of Yahshua, as well as other New Testament usages - "And He was saying, 'Abba! Father! All things are possible for You" (Mark 14:36) and "by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'" (Romans 8:15) and "crying, 'Abba! Father!'" (Galatians 4:6). Thus we find that the "ab" in "Joab" carries the same meaning of the word translated here "Abba," and means basically "father." So putting these two meanings together, even as we did in the name "Yahshua," we find that "Jo-ab" means "Yahweh father."

Now for the hard question. Yahshua is "Yahweh savior," and Joab is "Yahweh father." If in fact Yahshua is the very representation of Yahweh as Savior, what must we conclude regarding this Joab whose name tells us that he is Yahweh as Father? Once we begin to examine the life of Joab, you will begin to understand how this man whom David said was "too difficult" for him (2 Samuel 3:39), so completely represents Yahweh in His Father actions. You will greatly enjoy this study and find it entirely amazing as Yahweh reveals Himself, His ways, and His plans evidenced through the affairs of man.