Asahel (, , Latin ''Asael'') was a military leader under

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

and the youngest son of David's sister Zeruiah. Asahel thus was the nephew of David and the younger brother of David's general, Joab, Asahel is mentioned in

2 Samuel The Book of Samuel () is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological ...

chapters 2 and 3.

Name

The name means 'made by God. It is made up of two parts: the verb , Hebrew "to do, make" 3rd m.sg. perfect, and the theophorous element (deity name), , the Hebrew God El, or

Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...

. This would make it a name of "thanksgiving", thanking God for what he has "made" or "done".

History

Asahel was the youngest son of David's sister Zeruiah (; ). According to Josephus ( Antiquaties, VII, 1, 3) his father was called Suri. Asahel's older brothers were Joab and Abishai. He was known for his swiftness of foot: "Asahel was swift of foot, like a gazelle in the open field, or like a wild deer." (cf. ) and was told that if he were running through wheat field, the stalks wouldn't bend. He was put to death by

Abner In the Hebrew Bible, Abner ( ) was the cousin of King Saul and the commander-in-chief of his army. His name also appears as "Abiner son of Ner", where the longer form Abiner means "my father is Ner". Biblical narrative Abner is initially men ...

, whom he pursued from the battlefield when fighting against Abner at Gibeon, in the army of his brother Joab, (cf. ). He is considered among David's thirty valiant men (cf. ;

1 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tan ...

). After a battle at Gibeon between

, commanding the army of

Ish-bosheth Ish-bosheth (, "man of shame"), also called Eshbaal (, ; alternatively spelled Ishbaal, "man of Baal") was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel. After the death of his fa ...

son of

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

and Joab, commanding the army of David, Asahel pursued Abner while he attempted to escape. Young Asahel soon caught up with Abner. Abner begged Asahel to stop pursuing him, but when Asahel refused to desist, Abner thrust the blunt end of a spear through Asahel's stomach, and Asahel died on the spot (cf. ). Although Joab won the battle, Abner escaped with his life; Asahel was buried in his father's tomb at

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. In retaliation, Joab murdered Abner with help from his brother Abishai, against the wishes of David.

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

, ''

Antiquities of the Jews ''Antiquities of the Jews'' (; , ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which was 94 CE. It cont ...

'', According to , Asahel had a son named Zebadiah, who succeeded him in command of his military division after his death.

References

{{Authority control David's Mighty Warriors Books of Chronicles people