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? (2 Samuel 3:24)
Joab bitterly remonstrated with David for having secretly negotiated with Abner. Joab may have had an honest suspicion of Abner’s integrity, but in addition there existed a feeling of personal enmity, due partly to the fact that in the famous old warrior Joab would find a formidable rival, and partly to the blood feud between him and Abner for the slaying of Asahel (2 Sam. 2:22, 23).