2 Samuel 18:1-18

Absalom Slain

1 Then David numbered the people who were with him and ¹set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.

2 David sent the people out, ²one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and one third under the command of ³Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, "I myself will surely go out with you also."

3 But the people said, "⁴You should not go out; for if we indeed flee, they will not care * about us; even if half of us die, they will not care * about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us; therefore now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city."

4 Then the king said to them, "Whatever seems best to you I will do." So ⁵the king stood beside * the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and thousands.

5 The king charged Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." And ⁶all the people heard when the king charged all the commanders concerning * Absalom.

6 Then the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle took place in ⁷the forest of Ephraim.

7 The people of Israel were defeated there before the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, 20,000 * men.

8 For the battle there was spread over * the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than * the sword devoured.

9 Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. For Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak. And ⁸his head caught fast in the oak, so he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going.

10 When a certain man saw it, he told Joab and said, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak."

11 Then Joab said to the man who had told him, "Now behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt."

12 The man said to Joab, "Even if I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not put out my hand against the king's son; for ⁹in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Protect for me the young man Absalom!'

13 "Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against his life (and ¹⁰there is nothing * * hidden from the king ), then you yourself would have stood aloof *."

14 Then Joab said, "I will not waste time here with you." ¹¹So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

15 And ten young men who carried Joab's armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.

16 Then ¹²Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people.

17 They took Absalom and cast him into a deep pit in the forest and ¹³erected over him a very great heap of stones. And ¹⁴all Israel fled, each to his tent.

18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and ¹⁵set up for himself a pillar which is in ¹⁶the King's Valley, for he said, "¹⁷I have no son to preserve my name." So he named the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day.

2 Samuel 18:1-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 18

In this chapter is an account of David's review of his army, preparing it for battle with Absalom, and those with him, 2Sa 18:1-5; and of the defeat and flight of the rebels, 2Sa 18:6-8; and of the death of Absalom, and the manner of it, and of his burial, 2Sa 18:9-18; and of the news of it brought to David by different persons, 2Sa 18:19-32; and of his great grief and sorrow on that account, 2Sa 18:33.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 18:25; Numbers 31:14; 1 Samuel 22:7
• 2. Judges 7:16; 1 Samuel 11:11
• 3. 2 Samuel 15:19-22
• 4. 2 Samuel 21:17
• 5. 2 Samuel 18:24
• 6. 2 Samuel 18:12
• 7. Joshua 17:15, 18; 2 Samuel 17:26
• 8. 2 Samuel 14:26
• 9. 2 Samuel 18:5
• 10. 2 Samuel 14:19, 20
• 11. 2 Samuel 14:30
• 12. 2 Samuel 2:28; 2 Samuel 20:22
• 13. Deuteronomy 21:20, 21; Joshua 7:26; Joshua 8:29
• 14. 2 Samuel 19:8; 2 Samuel 20:1, 22
• 15. 1 Samuel 15:12
• 16. Genesis 14:17
• 17. 2 Samuel 14:27

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "mustered"
• [b]. Lit "hand"
• [c]. Lit "hand"
• [d]. Lit "hand"
• [e]. So with some ancient versions; M.T. "for now there are ten thousand like us"
• [f]. Lit "smitten"
• [g]. Lit "placed"
• [h]. So with some mss and the ancient versions; M.T. "Take care whoever" you are "of"
• [i]. Lit "tarry thus"
• [j]. Lit "heart"
• [k]. Lit "the great"
• [l]. Lit "for the sake of remembering"