John Gill Commentary 2 Samuel 2:32

"And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and the day brake upon them at Hebron." — 2 Samuel 2:32 (ASV)

And they took up Asahel
From the place where he fell; that is, Joab and Abishai, his brethren, as Josephus ^F23 relates; after they had buried the dead in the field of battle, they took up him:

and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which [was in]
Bethlehem :
not in the city of Bethlehem, but without it, on the south side of it; so says Fuller ^F24 ,

``southward, i.e. of Bethlehem, we find Asahel's sepulchre, who was buried in the grave of his father.'' What was his father's name is not known, only his mother's name, Zeruiah, is mentioned in Scripture, a sister of David, and daughter of Jesse the Bethlehemite. Bethlehem was sixteen miles from Gibeon, according to Bunting ^F25 .

And Joab and his men went all night ;
not the night following the battle, but the night following the next day, after he had been to Bethlehem, and buried his brother there; wherefore, lest David should think it long before he came, he travelled all night:

and they came to Hebron at break of day ;
where David was, which, according to the same writer ^F26 , was twenty miles from Bethlehem.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F23: Antiqu. l. 7. c. 1. sect. 3.
• F24: Pisgah-Sight of Palestine, B. 2. c. 14. sect. 21. p. 301.
• F25: Travels, ut supra. (p. 145, 146.)
• F26: Travels, ut supra. (p. 145, 146.)