Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bikri. – 2 Samuel 20:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 14, 2016): 2 Samuel 20

I loved to watch the old Columbo movies. Columbo was a master at misdirection. Everything about the character was calculated to make sure that no one took him seriously – until, of course, the very end and the detective’s patented “Oh, and one more thing.” It was in that moment that the misdirection ended, and the fictional criminals realize that they have been played – and that they have underestimated the clumsy detective.

Misdirection is a key element of all drama. I think part of what I liked about Columbo is that, while the audience found out the whodunit part in the initial scene, it was still fun to see the misdirection play out around the frumpy detective. I also enjoy the true whodunits, where the audience is kept in the dark about who it is that committed the crime until the very last scene. In those movies, the audience experiences the misdirection along with the characters, all on the road to trying to discover the identity of the criminal. Sometimes the audience is successful, but if the misdirection works its magic, there is this moment at the end where you get to say both “I didn’t see that coming” and also that “the solution is logical and all the clues were there” both at the same time.

Many experts seem to believe that the text of this story might be corrupted, but ultimately what emerges is a classic scene of misdirection. According to the story, Joab is carrying two weapons, one that is visible and one that is not. The visible weapon, a sword or dagger, is placed so that Joab can grab it easily with what was most likely his dominant right hand. A knife is hidden where Joab can get at it with his left hand. As Joab approaches Amasa, we are told that the sword or dagger drops out of its sheath. This is not likely accidental. Joab drops the visible weapon to put his enemy at ease. Amasa sees the weapon drop and assumes that now Joab is unarmed.

But he is not. There is a second weapon. This is where the text appears to be corrupted. In reading the story it is almost as if Joab stops and picks up the dropped weapon and approaches Amasa without him seeing any of it. For that to be true, Amasa would have had to be almost blind (which he wasn’t). It makes much more sense to the story if Joab leaves the dropped weapon where it is, approaches Amasa and takes his beard to kiss him with his right hand, while grabbing the hidden knife with his left and killing his enemy with a single stroke. Amasa was betrayed by Joab’s misdirection; he didn’t even see the killing blow coming.

 Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 21