2 Samuel 20:9
And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.
The verse belongs to 2 Samuel 19 to 21 at the close of David's reign. It stands in the revolt of Sheba son of Bichri, which broke out from a quarrel between the men of Judah and the men of Israel after Absalom's revolt was suppressed, threatened to prove very serious, and kept David's troubles unended as judgment from God for his sin in the case of Uriah. It falls within the account of the troubles in David's family that arose from his multiplying wives, illustrating the consequences of living contrary to God's laws, in that transgression carries an inherent curse even when God does not openly reprove it. It belongs to the later history of David after his great wickedness in the case of Uriah, by which he gave great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, and stands among the judgments that came upon him in fulfillment of Nathan's denunciation, which was not covered up or excused but placed on record together with David's own humble confession.
It records Joab near Gibeon greeting Amasa as his brother, asking after his health, and taking him by the beard with the right hand to kiss him, and after his dagger falls from its sheath he quickly takes it up and stabs Amasa under the fifth rib. The friendly greeting and kiss was a deceitful salute covering murder, with treachery disguised as affection to conceal murderous intent.
Like that kiss, the pleasure and prosperity of the wicked is fair in appearance but false, blossoming only to wither under God's wrath and filling up the measure of misery at the day of judgment, and their prosperity slays them, so when a sinner prospers in wickedness envy should turn to pity. The verse is an image of persecution approaching its victims under a friendly or plausible disguise.