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http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%2011&version=NKJV?

14 Now the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was a descendant of the king in Edom. 15 For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom 16 (because for six months Joab remained there with all Israel, until he had cut down every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled to go to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him. Hadad was still a little child. 18 Then they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house, apportioned food for him, and gave him land. 19 And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, that is, the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20 Then the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s household among the sons of Pharaoh.

http://books.google.co.id/books?id=PT1qp_FGYJ0C&pg=PA203&lpg=PA203&dq=tikkune+soferim&source=bl&ots=ZyHwvSR-6F&sig=jmfgKFm9ye2HTuUaIfrar4sj9J0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=F1bHUqjlHMnprAfOyYGoCA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=tikkune%20soferim&f=false

argues that this is due to different possible spelling in Deuteronomy. Not sure what. The Deuteronomy talks about erasing memory of Amalek rather than Edomites. Yoab think that it means killing all the males. Yoab then kill the rabbi that taught him incorrectly.

user4951
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    What is the question? You've quoted a passage and given a link that you say argues that "this" is due to spelling differences -- but what is the "this"? Please make sure that all of the information needed to understand your question is in the question; we should not have to follow links to understand what you're asking. Thank you. – Monica Cellio Jan 05 '14 at 01:43
  • indeed, I cannot even read the link. exceeded allowed pages for this book error – josh waxman Jan 05 '14 at 06:25

1 Answers1

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The word in Devarim is זכר, which depending on the vowel points could either be zeicher, meaning the memory of, or Zechar, the males of.

According to a Midrash, yoav's teacher taught him with the incorrect vocalization, and so he killed only all the males.

Edomite and Amalekite are presumed identical, since Amalek was the grandchild of Edom.

josh waxman
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  • I always wondered, did he actually teach him the wrong nekudot, or was he doresh incorrectly, something like "al tikre zeicher, ela zechar"? – Menachem Jan 05 '14 at 02:31
  • I thought torah says to be "nice" to the edomites because they are Israel's brother. So Joab is wrong for not killing everybody and only the male? – user4951 Jan 05 '14 at 02:50
  • @Menachem I understood it to mean the former. Do you have the original text of the Midrash handy? – Double AA Jan 05 '14 at 04:09
  • @DoubleAA: I might, if I knew which Midrash it was :) – Menachem Jan 05 '14 at 05:20
  • in bava batra 21a-b. it seems to be an early childhood rebbe. http://halakhah.com/bababathra/bababathra_21.html – josh waxman Jan 05 '14 at 06:20
  • @joshwaxman, note that in the soncino translation the teacher was negligent in not correcting Yoav, as opposed to teaching it wrong. – Menachem Jan 05 '14 at 08:14
  • @Menachem Either way, it's the wrong nekudot not a bad drasha. Does seem to indicate that there was no written system of nekudot, or at least there were no dotted texts lying around. – Double AA Jan 05 '14 at 09:19
  • @joshwaxman - The last Tosafos in Bava Basra 21a is the source for the Soncino comment that Menachem mentioned. And the Marhasha there explains that the reason why Yoav killed only the males of Edom was because he reasoned that if Hashem commanded us to kill only the males of Amalek in a Milchemes Mitzvah (a required war), certainly no more is required for a Milchemes Reshus (an optional war) such as that with Edom. –  Jan 05 '14 at 09:47
  • @DoubleAA: Yes, although it makes more sense to say the child made a mistake and the teacher didn't correct him (perhaps the teacher held like Rava's position), than to say that the teacher taught it wrong (which is why I thought it might have been a Drush). – Menachem Jan 05 '14 at 21:42