Zeruiah's three sons Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were there. As a runner, Asahel was fast, like one of the wild gazelles.

So Asahel ran straight after Abner, following him.

When Abner looked behind him, he said, "Is that you, Asahel?" He answered, "I am."

Abner told him, "Go off to your right or left after one of the young men and grab some war spoils." But Asahel would not stop following him,

so Abner told Asahel again, "Stop following me. Why should I strike you down? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?"

But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner struck Asahel in the abdomen with the butt end of his spear, and the spear protruded through his back. He collapsed to the ground and died where he fell. Everyone gathered round the place where Asahel had collapsed and died, and stood still there.

Joab returned from his pursuit of Abner, and when he had mustered his entire army, nineteen of David's soldiers were missing besides Asahel.

They retrieved Asahel's body and buried him in his father's tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night until daybreak and arrived back in Hebron.

When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab brought him aside within the gateway to talk to him alone and then stabbed him in the abdomen. So he died for shedding the blood of Joab's brother Asahel.

He said this because Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner after he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

Among the Thirty were Joab's brother Asahel, Dodo's son Elhanan of Bethlehem,