Person Old Testament
Zeruiah
Zeruiah, David's sister, was the mother of Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, who were among David's mighty men and military leaders. Mentioned in 25 verses across 4 books, first at 1 Samuel 26:6.
Why it matters. Sister of David; mother of Joab, Abishai, and Asahel
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Zeruiah
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.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 25 verses across 4 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.