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Person · Tribe of Judah

Zeruiah

Woman living at the time of United Monarchy

Zeruiah, David's sister, was the mother of Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, who were among David's mighty men and military leaders.

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Zeruiah was the sister of King David and the mother of three of his most prominent military leaders: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Her sons played significant roles throughout David's reign, both in military campaigns and in political matters. Joab served as the commander of David's army, while Abishai and Asahel were also known for their bravery and skill in battle. Zeruiah's sons were fiercely loyal to David, though their actions sometimes brought them into conflict with the king. For example, Joab murdered Abner and Amasa, two of David's rivals, without the king's consent. Despite these tensions, David recognized the importance of Zeruiah's sons in establishing and maintaining his kingdom. The fact that Zeruiah is consistently mentioned as their mother highlights her significance in the family and her influence on her sons' roles in David's court.

Family

Father
Jesse
Mother
Nahash
Siblings
DavidEliabAbinadabNethanelRaddaiOzemElihuAbigailShimeah
Spouse or partner
husband of Zeruiah
Children
AbishaiJoabAsahel

Connections

Joab, Abishai and Asahel: David's nephews

FamilyStated in the text

The three sons of David's sister Zeruiah were David's nephews and among his chief commanders, yet Joab's ruthlessness repeatedly embarrassed David; David said "these sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me".

JoabDavid's compatriotAbishaiDavid's compatriotAsahelDavid's compatriotZeruiahSister of DavidDavidKing of Judah
Where the text shows it: 1 Chr 2:15-16 — Zeruiah and her three sons2 Sam 3:39 — "These sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me"2 Sam 18:14 — Joab kills Absalom against David's order

Sources: 1 Chr 2:15-16 · 2 Sam 3:39 · 2 Sam 18:14

More background: search Wikipedia ↗

Bible dictionary

Zeruiah Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

Stricken of the Lord, David’s sister, and the mother of Abishai, Joab, and Asahel (1 Chr. 2:16), who were the three leading heroes of David’s army, and being his nephews, they were admitted to the closest companionship with him.

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Zeruiah Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(balsam), the mother of the three leading heroes of David’s army—Abishai, Joah and Asahel— known as the “sons of Zeruiah.” Of Zeruiah’s husband there is no mention in the Bible. (B.C. before 1046.)

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Zeruiah Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

pain or tribulation of the Lord

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Zeruiah Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

ZERUI'AH (cleft, wounded), a sister of David, and the mother of Joab. 1 Sam 26:6; 1 Chr 2:16.

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Zeruiah Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

ZERUI'AH (cleft, wounded), a sister of David, and the mother of Joab. 1 Sam 26:6; 1 Chr 2:16.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Zeruiah appears

25 verses in 4 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H6870

1 Samuel1
2 Samuel14
1 Kings3
1 Chronicles7

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.