2 Samuel 18:1-33
1 And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
2 And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.
3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not carea for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now thou art worth ten thousand of us: therefore now it is better that thou succour us out of the city.
4 And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.
6 So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devouredb more people that day than the sword devoured.
9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.
10 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
11 And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.
12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receivec a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.
13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.
14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts 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 that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.
17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.
18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place.
19 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD hath avengedd him of his enemies.
20 And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.
21 Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever,e let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?
23 But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.
25 And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.
26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.
27 And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.
28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.
29 And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.
30 And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.
31 And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings,f my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.
32 And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
2 Samuel 18:2. A third part under Ittai, the Philistine general who had faithfully followed the fortunes of the king.
2 Samuel 18:6. The wood of Ephraim lay beyond Jordan, and was not in the lot of Ephraim; but was called so, either because Jephthah defeated the Ephraimites there, Judges 12., or on some other account. Rabbi Abulensis says, there was a precipice in this wood over which the routed mass of the rebels were driven.
2 Samuel 18:11. And a girdle. This would have been a great mark of military honour; for Jonathan gave his girdle to David. 1 Samuel 18:4. Military rewards have been common to all nations.
2 Samuel 18:13. Thou thyself wouldst have set thyself against me. This is bold talk of a soldier to the general in chief. The man knew that human nature is apt to lay all blame on others. Joab himself was dismissed for the deed, having exceeded his powers in piercing Absalom.
2 Samuel 18:15. Ten young men, the body guard of the general. Joab was a great general in the field, brave in fight, and yet humane in blowing the retreat; but alas, he too often acted as a monarch, forgetting that he was only general in chief.
2 Samuel 18:17. A very great heap of stones. Such has been the practice of all ancient people. Our Saxon fathers have done it in all places, but they often raised round hills or banks of earth where stones were not at hand, to perpetuate the memorial of victories, which in so short a space of time have now no historic records.
REFLECTIONS.
What a scene of woes, what a storm, what billows of personal and family troubles burst on the head of David, and all in the space of eight or ten days! His friends having flocked to the royal standard while in Mahanaim, he was able on Absalom's approach to muster an army strong enough to give the rebels battle in the open field; and his prudence corresponded with his force. He sent out his army in three divisions, so that the centre and its wings might act at once. Truly God never forsook his anointed in the day of trouble, nor will he ever forsake the afflicted or the persecuted who call upon his name.
He who inspired David's army with courage, shed confusion on the rabble of Absalom's numerous host. They had presumptuously crossed the Jordan, not to fight with David in the field, but to besiege him in the city. What then must be their panic, when they found themselves approached by a considerable and well appointed army. Apparently they waited not the first charge, but took shelter in the wood of Ephraim, a name ominous of their defeat. All command ceased, and the affair was a general carnage rather than a fight: for how could the guilty look vengeance in the face? Twenty thousand of the rebels fell, and perhaps twenty thousand more would have been destroyed at the fords, had not Joab, on Absalom's death, humanely sounded the retreat.
The most signal punishment was however reserved for Absalom, the first of traitors, and the worst of sons. During life his hair had been his pride, and like Asahel's swiftness, it now proved the cause of his death. The tresses strongly tied for the battle, caught, it is probable, a short branch of an oak; and his ass in the flight left him suspended, dying and accursed according to the law. David might indeed forgive, but God would not. The malediction overtaking him, he had neither the honour to fall by the sword, nor the fortune to fly from the field. How shocking, how execrable were the circumstances of his death! Thrice Joab pierced him on the tree, for thrice he had notoriously offended, and each of the guards gave him a farther wound. His sinful and pampered body they threw into a pit, and stoned him, though dead, as an Achan, an adulterer, and a presumptuous son. Deuteronomy 21. Yea, every soldier strove to add one stone to the heap, that it might be great, and teach posterity that to act against the best of fathers is to act against the Lord. Let all men, and particularly young men, learn, that there is a pursuing hand of justice for rebellion, for whoredom, and disobedience to parents; yea, a hand which often strikes ere the wicked are aware.
While the divine hand is uplifted against the wicked, we see it acting for the salvation of the righteous. David had wept and prayed in the bitterness of his soul, and could not fail to draw a close line of connection between his sufferings and his sins. God raised him up Hushai to confound the counsel of Ahithophel; he raised him up friends in Israel, and friends beyond the Jordan, and friends among the heathen. He clothed his arm with victory, and purged his kingdom of traitors. Above all, he brought him back to his rest in Zion, loaded with the warmest congratulations of a loyal people. Happy is the man, and happy are the people who have the Lord for their God. In all their personal and family troubles, prayers, tears, and prudent counsel, he shall lead them in the way they ought to go.
In the king's lamentation over Absalom, we see the sublime of grief. He was principally pierced with the awful situation in which he died; the father therefore wished to have died for the son. Viewing the crimes of the youth, and crimes not followed by any known repentance, the sire was pierced anew. All his wounds opened and bled afresh, and it seemed as though the father would have died with anguish, because his son had died in his sins. Perhaps he attributed much of Absalom's ruin to himself, in an excess of lenity and indulgence to a youth whose passions required restraint. The grief however of a parent must not overpower the judgment. He must never reproach the hand of providence, but learn to say of every man who has died a tragic death, He is gone to a judge who will do him no wrong.