2 Samuel 18:17

17 And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent.

2 Samuel 18:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 18:17

And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the
wood
In the wood of Ephraim, near to which the battle was fought, and into which Absalom fled, and where he was slain:

and laid a very great heap of stones upon him:
his punishment was very exemplary; he was first hanged on an oak, and then thrust through with darts, and swords, and then covered with stones, ( 2 Samuel 18:9 2 Samuel 18:14 2 Samuel 18:15 ) , pointing to the death that a rebellious son, according to the law, ought to die, ( Deuteronomy 21:21 ) ; though this might be done in honour of him as a king's son; for such "tumuli", or heaps of stones or earth, were used by the ancients as sepulchral monuments, and the larger the more honourable ^F14; (See Gill on Joshua 7:26) and (See Gill on Joshua 8:29);

and all Israel fled everyone to his tent;
or to his city, as the Targum; everyone returned to their own house, and to their own business, and so the rebellion ceased.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 Homer. Iliad. 23. ver. 245, 257.

2 Samuel 18:17 In-Context

15 And ten young men who bore Joab's armor surrounded Absalom, and struck and killed him.

16 So Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel. For Joab held back the people.

17 And they took Absalom and cast him into a large pit in the woods, and laid a very large heap of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his tent.

18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King's Valley. For he said, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance." He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom's Monument.

19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, "Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies."