Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?
Joab came to the king ... What hast thou done? Joab's knowledge of Abner's wily character might have led him to doubt the sincerity of that person's proposals, and to disapprove the policy of relying on his fidelity. But undoubtedly there were other reasons of a private and personal nature which made Joab displeased and alarmed by the reception given to Abner. The military talents of that general, his popularity with the army, his influence throughout the nation, rendered him a formidable rival; and in the event of his overtures being carried out, the important service of bringing over all the other tribes to the king of Judah would establish so strong a claim on the gratitude of David, that his accession would inevitably raise a serious obstacle to the ambition of Joab. To these considerations was added the remembrance of the blood feud that existed between them since the death of his brother Asahel (2 Samuel 2:23). Determined, therefore, to get Abner out of the way, Joab feigned some reason, probably in the king's name, for recalling him "from the well of Sirah," probably Ayun Derwa, about three miles from Hebron, and going out to meet him, stabbed him unawares; not within Hebron, because it was a city of refuge, but at a noted well in the neighbourhood. The modern history of the East furnishes an instance of treacherous murder exactly parallel to this of Abner by Joab, in the assassination, by one of the Pashas, of Ali Pasha of Yanina, when engaged in conducting a secret negotiation for the advancement of a neighbouring prince (see Dr. Walsh's 'Travels').