Zeruiah

How Nave’s arranged it

• Sister of David1 Chronicles 2:16
• Mother of three of David' s great soldiers1 Chronicles 2:162 Samuel 2:182 Samuel 3:392 Samuel 16:9–112 Samuel 17:25

The passages, in Bible order (5)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 5 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. 2 Samuel 2:18

   The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 2:182 voices

   “And there were three sons of Zeruiah there,.... In the battle: Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel; Joab was the general of the array, Abishai was he who went into Saul's host at night, and took away his spear and cruse of water at his head, 1Sa 26:6; and it is for the sake of the third, Asahel, that the account is given, the story of his death being about to be told.

   “Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe - To be swift of foot was deemed a great accomplishment in the heroes of antiquity; ποδας ωκυς Αχιλλευς, the swift-footed Achilles, is an epithet which Homer gives to that hero no less than thirty times in the course of the Ilias. It has a qualification also among the Roman soldiers; they were taught both to run swiftly, and to swim well.

   Everything gathered on 2 Samuel 2:18→

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2. 2 Samuel 3:39

   And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 3:392 voices

   “I am this day weak - Had Abner lived, all the tribes of Israel would have been brought under my government. Though anointed king - I have little else than the title: first, having only one tribe under my government; and secondly, the sons of Zeruiah, Joab and his brethren, having usurped all the power, and reduced me to the shadow of royalty. The Lord shall reward the doer of evil - That is, Joab, whom he appears afraid to name.

   “It was therefore carnal wicked policy, yea cruel pity that spared him. If the law had had its course against Joab, it is probable the murder of Ishbosheth, Ammon, and others, had been prevented. So truly was he in these, and some other respects, a bloody man, which may be observed to the glory of the Divine grace, in his forgiveness and conversion.

   Everything gathered on 2 Samuel 3:39→

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3. 2 Samuel 16:9–11

   Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 16:9–112 voices

   “Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king,....

   “It is, however, only the confines of the district that are here meant. Shimei, . . . a man of the family of Saul--The misfortune of his family, and the occupation by David of what they considered their rightful possessions, afforded a natural, if not a justifiable cause for this ebullition of rude insults and violence.

   Everything gathered on 2 Samuel 16:9–11→

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4. 2 Samuel 17:25

   Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 17:252 voices

   “Nahash - Nahash is the name of Jesse's wife, by whom he had this Abigail, as he had Zeruiah by another wife; so they were sisters by the father, but not by the mother.

   “Ithra an Israelite - Or “Jether the Ishmeelite” 1Ch 2:17. “Ithra” and “Jether” are practically the same names. “Israelite” in the text is wrong. It should be either “Ishmaelite” or “Jezreelite” 2Sa 3:2. Abigail the daughter of Nahash - If Zeruiah and Abigail were Jesse’s daughters, the only probable way of reconciling our text with 1Ch 2:16-17, is to suppose that Nahash was Jesse’s wife. If Zeruiah and Abigail were only sisters of David by the mother, then Nahash might be the name of her first husband.

   Everything gathered on 2 Samuel 17:25→

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5. 1 Chronicles 2:16

   Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.

   ›Commentary on 1 Chronicles 2:162 voices

   “Whose sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail..... That is, sisters of David: and the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three; all valiant men and captains in David's army; their father's name is nowhere mentioned.

   “Sisters - i. e. half-sisters. Abigail and Zeruiah were daughters not of Jesse, but of a certain Nahash, whose widow Jesse took to wife 2Sa 17:25. From the present passage, and from the fact that Abishai joined David as a comrade in arms before Joab 1Sa 26:6, it would seem that, although Joab was pre-eminent among the three 2Sa 2:13, 2Sa 2:16, Abishai was the eldest.

   Everything gathered on 1 Chronicles 2:16→

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