"The king questioned him: "Why didst thou kill Abner?" Joab: "I was the avenger of my brother Asahel, whom Abner had slain." Solomon: "Why, it was Asahel who sought to kill Abner, and Abner acted in self-defense." Joab: "Abner might have disabled Asahel without going to extremes." Solomon: "That Abner could not do." Joab: "What! Abner aimed directly at Asahel's fifth rib, and thou wouldst say he could not have managed to wound him lightly?""