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Absalom Is Defeated and Killed
2 Samuel 18.5-33
Good News Translation (GNT)
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5 He gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai:
"For my sake don't harm the young man
Absalom." And all the troops heard David
give this command to his officers.
6 David's army went out into the countryside
and fought the Israelites in Ephraim Forest.
7 The Israelites were defeated by David's men;
it was a terrible defeat, with twenty thousand
men killed that day.
8 The fighting spread over the countryside, and
more men died in the forest than were killed in
battle.
9 Suddenly Absalom met some of David's men.
Absalom was riding a mule, and as it went
under a large oak tree, Absalom's head got
caught in the branches. The mule ran on and
Absalom was left hanging in midair.
10 One of David's men saw him and reported to
Joab, "Sir, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak
tree!"
11 Joab answered, "If you saw him, why didn't
you kill him on the spot? I myself would have
given you ten pieces of silver and a belt."
12 But the man answered, "Even if you gave me
a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't lift a
finger against the king's son. We all heard the
king command you and Abishai and Ittai, 'For
my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.'
13 But if I had disobeyed the king and killed
Absalom, the king would have heard about it -
he hears about everything - and you would not
have defended me."
14 "I'm not going to waste any more time with
you," Joab said. He took three spears and
plunged them into Absalom's chest while he
was still alive, hanging in the oak tree.
15 Then ten of Joab's soldiers closed in on
Absalom and finished killing him.
16 Joab had the trumpet blown to stop the
fighting, and his troops came back from
pursuing the Israelites.
17 They took Absalom's body, threw it into a
deep pit in the forest, and covered it with a
huge pile of stones. All the Israelites fled to
their own hometowns.
18 During his lifetime Absalom had built a
monument for himself in King's Valley,
because he had no son to keep his name
alive. So he named it after himself, and to this
day it is known as Absalom's Monument.
David Is Told of Absalom's Death
19 Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said to Joab,
"Let me run to the king with the good news
that the Lord has saved him from his
enemies."
20 "No," Joab said, "today you will not take any
good news. Some other day you may do so,
but not today, for the king's son is dead."
21 Then he said to his Ethiopian [a] slave, "Go
and tell the king what you have seen."
The slave bowed and ran off.
22 Ahimaaz insisted, "I don't care what happens;
please let me take the news also."
"Why do you want to do it, my son?" Joab
asked. "You will get no reward for it."
23 "Whatever happens," Ahimaaz said again, "I
want to go." "Then go," Joab said. So Ahimaaz
ran off down the road through the Jordan
Valley, and soon he passed the slave.
24 David was sitting in the space between the
inner and outer gates of the city. The lookout
went up to the top of the wall and stood on
the roof of the gateway; he looked out and
saw a man running alone.
25 He called down and told the king, and the king
said, "If he is alone, he is bringing good news."
The runner kept coming closer.
26 Then the lookout saw another man running
alone, and he called down to the gatekeeper,
"Look! There's another man running!"
The king answered, "This one also is bringing
good news."
27 The lookout said, "I can see that the first man
runs like Ahimaaz." "He's a good man," the
king said, "and he is bringing good news."
28 Ahimaaz called out a greeting to the king,
threw himself down to the ground before him,
and said, "Praise the Lord your God, who
has given you victory over the men who
rebelled against Your Majesty!"
29 "Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king
asked. Ahimaaz answered, "Sir, when your
officer Joab sent me, I saw a great commotion,
but I couldn't tell what it was."
30 "Stand over there," the king told him; and he
went over and stood there.
31 Then the Ethiopian [b] slave arrived and said
to the king, "I have good news for Your
Majesty! Today the Lord has given you victory
over all who rebelled against you!"
32 "Is the young man Absalom all right?" the king
asked. The slave answered, "I wish that what
has happened to him would happen to all your
enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you."
33 The king was overcome with grief. He went up
to the room over the gateway and wept. As he
went, he cried, "O my son! My son Absalom!
Absalom, my son! If only I had died in your
place, my son! Absalom, my son!"
Footnotes
2 Samuel 18:21 Hebrew Cushite: Cush is the
ancient name of the extensive territory south
of the First Cataract of the Nile River.
This region was called Ethiopia in
Graeco-Roman times, and included within its
borders most of modern Sudan and some of
present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).
2 Samuel 18:31 Hebrew Cushite: Cush is the
ancient name of the extensive territory south
of the First Cataract of the Nile River.
This region was called Ethiopia in
Graeco-Roman times, and included within its
borders most of modern Sudan and some of
present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).
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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union
Absalom Is Defeated and Killed
2 Samuel 18.5-33
There are some football teams that always seem to perform better when they are facing the strongest opposition.
David seems to follow a similar pattern!
Relative military strength is yet to be tested, but Absalom had certainly been winning in the popularity stakes.
Maybe that was what caused David to regain his enthusiasm, eager to retake control of his army.
This time, however, the army was fighting not against an external enemy but in an internal leadership battle.
If either Absalom or David died, the fight was immediately over.
David's troops know that, this time, he will be more useful supporting from the rear -
remembering that supporting from behind is very different from staying at home lounging around.
It is always a challenge for leaders to make the right decision as to when to lead from the front and when from the rear.
The battle happened;
Absalom's plentiful but untrained irregulars were routed by David's well-trained standing army.
Many thousands of the people David was supposed to have been leading were killed;
as also, although this was against David's explicit command, was Absalom.
Questions are left in the air.
Would that have happened if David had been fulfilling his responsibilities as well as he should?
Would it have been possible for him to negotiate with Absalom before the fighting happened?
Absalom's death would today be seen as a war crime:
defenceless opponents should be captured but not murdered.
Was Joab right or wrong to have had him killed?
When we are told that everyone heard David's command (v 5), is this raising further issues of a power struggle between David and Joab?
David was devastated.
The news of victory was nothing beside the grief at the loss of his son.
Sometimes personal grief makes ministry responsibilities very difficult.
Think about or discuss how you would help someone facing that kind of conflict of interest.
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