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2 Samuel 18:1-33 — Absalom's Death

2Sam.18.1-33

¹David mustered the troops who were with him and appointed over them captains of thousands and captains of hundreds. ²David sent out the troops: a third under Joab, a third under Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, 'I myself will also go out with you.' ³But the troops said, 'You must not go out. For if we are forced to flee, they will not care about us; and if half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. So now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city.' ⁴The king said to them, 'I will do what seems good to you.' So the king stood by the side of the gate, while all the troops went out by hundreds and by thousands. ⁵And the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, 'Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.' And all the troops heard when the king gave all the commanders their orders concerning Absalom. ⁶So the troops went out into the field against Israel, and the battle took place in the Forest of Ephraim. ⁷There the people of Israel were struck down before David's servants, and the slaughter there that day was great: twenty thousand men. ⁸The battle spread there over the whole region, and the forest devoured more of the troops that day than the sword devoured. ⁹Absalom happened to come before David's servants. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak; and his head caught fast in the oak, so that he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule under him went on. ¹⁰And one man saw it and told Joab, saying, 'Look, I saw Absalom hanging in the oak.' ¹¹Joab said to the man who told him, 'You saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.' ¹²But the man said to Joab, 'Even if a thousand pieces of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the king's son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Protect the young man Absalom.”' ¹³Otherwise I would have dealt deceitfully against my own life, and no matter is hidden from the king; and you yourself would have stood aloof from me.' ¹⁴Joab said, 'I will not waste time like this with you.' Then he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak. ¹⁵And ten young men who carried Joab's armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him. ¹⁶Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the troops turned back from pursuing Israel, for Joab held the troops back. ¹⁷And they took Absalom and threw him into a large pit in the forest, and they raised over him a very large heap of stones . And all Israel fled, each to his tent. ¹⁸Now Absalom had taken and set up for himself in his lifetime the pillar that is in the King's Valley, for he said, 'I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.' He called the pillar by his own name, and it is called Absalom's Monument to this day. ¹⁹Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, 'Please let me run and carry news to the king, because the LORD has vindicated him from the hand of his enemies.' ²⁰But Joab said to him, 'You are not the man to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall not carry news, because the king's son is dead.' ²¹Then Joab said to the Cushite, 'Go, tell the king what you have seen.' And the Cushite bowed to Joab and ran. ²²But Ahimaaz son of Zadok said again to Joab, 'Come what may, please let me also run after the Cushite.' Joab said, 'Why do you want to run, my son, since no useful news will come of it for you?' ²³'Come what may, I will run,' he said. So Joab told him, 'Run.' Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain and outran the Cushite. ²⁴Now David was sitting between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, lifted his eyes, and saw a man running alone. ²⁵And the watchman called out and told the king. The king said, 'If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.' And he kept coming nearer. ²⁶Then the watchman saw another man running, and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, 'Look, another man is running alone.' The king said, 'This one also is bringing news.' ²⁷The watchman said, 'I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz son of Zadok.' And the king said, 'He is a good man, and he comes with good news.' ²⁸And Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, 'Peace!' Then he bowed before the king with his face to the ground and said, 'Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delivered up the men who lifted their hand against my lord the king.' ²⁹The king said, 'Is it well with the young man Absalom?' Ahimaaz answered, 'I saw a great commotion when Joab sent the king's servant and your servant, but I did not know what it was.' ³⁰The king said, 'Step aside and stand here.' So he stepped aside and stood. ³¹Then the Cushite arrived and said, 'Let my lord the king receive the news: for the LORD has vindicated you today from the hand of all who rose up against you.' ³²The king said to the Cushite, 'Is it well with the young man Absalom?' And the Cushite said, 'May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise up against you for harm, be like that young man.' ³³Then the king was deeply shaken, and he went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, 'My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you , Absalom, my son, my son!'

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4/11/2026

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