Bible Verses About Altars: Afforded no protection to murderers

But if someone willfully kills another after deliberate planning, you are to take him even from my altar and put him to death.

Bat-Sheva said, "All right, I will speak to the king on your behalf."

So Bat-Sheva went to King Shlomo to speak to him on behalf of Adoniyah. The king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a throne set up for the king's mother, so that she sat at his right.

She said, "I am asking one small favor of you; don't deny me." The king said to her, "Ask, mother; I won't deny you."

She said, "Let Avishag the Shunamit be given to Adoniyah your brother as his wife."

King Shlomo answered his mother, "Why are you asking Avishag the Shunamit for Adoniyah? Ask the kingdom for him too! After all, he's my older brother! Yes, for him, and for Evyatar the cohen and for Yo'av the son of Tz'ruyah!"

Then King Shlomo swore by ADONAI, "May God do terrible things to me and worse if Adoniyah hasn't condemned himself to death with this request!

Now therefore, as ADONAI lives, who has established me, put me on the throne of David my father and set up a dynasty for me, as he promised, Adoniyah will certainly be put to death today."

King Shlomo commissioned B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada, and he struck him down, so that he died.

To Evyatar the cohen the king said, "You, get yourself to 'Anatot, to your own fields. You deserve to die; but I won't put you to death just now; since you did carry the ark of Adonai ELOHIM before David my father; and you suffered together with my father in everything he suffered."

So Shlomo forced Evyatar out of his task as cohen to ADONAI, so that what ADONAI had said in Shiloh about the family of 'Eli might be fulfilled.

When the news came to Yo'av, he fled to the tent of ADONAI and took hold of the horns of the altar; for Yo'av had given his support to Adoniyah, even though he had not supported Avshalom.

King Shlomo was told, "Yo'av has fled to the tent of ADONAI; he's there by the altar." Shlomo sent B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada with the order, "Go, strike him down."

B'nayah came to the tent of ADONAI and said to him, "The king says: leave!" He answered, "No, I'd rather die here." B'nayah brought the message back to the king, "This is what Yo'av said to me."

The king answered him, "Do what he said - strike him down, and bury him. In this way you will take away from me and my father's family the blood which Yo'av shed for no reason.

ADONAI will bring his blood back on his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he - he killed them with the sword without my father David's awareness: Avner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Isra'el, and 'Amasa the son of Yeter, commander of the army of Y'hudah.

In this way their blood will return on the head of Yo'av and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his family and his throne there will be peace forever from ADONAI."

So B'nayah the son of Y'hoyada went up, struck him down and killed him; he was buried in his own house in the desert.