2 Samuelchapter 18

The Death of Absalom — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

A.Deal gently for my sake with the young manvv. 1-8

1 Then David reviewed his troops and appointed over them commanders of hundreds and of thousands. 2 He sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the troops, “I will surely march out with you as well.” 3 But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will pay no attention to us. Even if half of us die, they will not care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better for now if you support us from the city.” 4 “I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5 Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom. 6 So David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel in the battle, which took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.

B.Caught in an oak, and three darts through the heartvv. 9-18

9 Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair. 10 When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!” 11 “You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why did you not strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt!” 12 The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ 13 If I had jeopardized my own life—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.” 14 But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him. 16 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab had restrained them. 17 They took Absalom, cast him into a large pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled, each to his home. 18 During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.

C.Two runners and a watchman on the wallvv. 19-27

19 Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.” 20 But Joab replied, “You are not the man to take good news today. You may do it another day, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.” 21 So Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running. 22 Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “Regardless of whatever may happen, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?” 23 “No matter what, I want to run!” he replied. “Then run!” Joab told him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite. 24 Now David was sitting between the two gates when the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall, looked out, and saw a man running alone. 25 So he called out and told the king. “If he is alone,” the king replied, “he bears good news.” As the first runner drew near, 26 the watchman saw another man running, and he called out to the gatekeeper, “Look! Another man is running alone!” “This one also brings good news,” said the king. 27 The watchman said, “The first man appears to me to be running like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” “This is a good man,” said the king. “He comes with good news.”

D.O Absalom, my son, my sonvv. 28-33

28 Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” And he bowed facedown before the king. He continued, “Blessed be the LORD your God! He has delivered up the men who raised their hands against my lord the king.” 29 The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab sent the king’s servant and your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I do not know what it was.” 30 “Move aside,” said the king, “and stand here.” So he stepped aside. 31 Just then the Cushite came and said, “May my lord the king hear the good news: Today the LORD has avenged you of all who rose up against you!” 32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And the Cushite replied, “May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and to all who rise up against you to harm you.” 33 The king was shaken and went up to the gate chamber and wept. And as he walked, he cried out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

David would march with his people, but they refuse to risk him, thou art worth ten thousand of us.

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David would march with his people, but they refuse to risk him, thou art worth ten thousand of us. His last order before the battle is heard by all the troops: 'Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.' The fight spreads through the forest of Ephraim, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Absalom, riding his mule under a great oak, is caught by the head and left hanging between heaven and earth; a soldier who will not touch him reports it, and Joab thrusts three darts through his heart. Then the runners, the watchman, and the king's stair: 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would I had died for thee.'

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Nathan, Gad — 2 Samuel overview

A. 1–8 Deal gently for my sake with the young man
B. 9–18 Caught in an oak, and three darts through the heart
C. 19–27 Two runners and a watchman on the wall
D. 28–33 O Absalom, my son, my son

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

2 Samuel 1810 verses
- 2 Samuel 18:4“I will do whatever seems best to you,” the king replied. So he stood beside the gate, while all the troops marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
- 2 Samuel 18:5Now the king had commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, “Treat the young man Absalom gently for my sake.” And all the people heard the king’s orders to each of the commanders regarding Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 18:12The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’
- 2 Samuel 18:19Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.”
- 2 Samuel 18:22Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “Regardless of whatever may happen, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”
- 2 Samuel 18:23“No matter what, I want to run!” he replied. “Then run!” Joab told him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.
- Read 2 Samuel 18: 4 more there →
2 Samuel 145 verses
- 2 Samuel 14:4When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”
- 2 Samuel 14:19So the king asked, “Is the hand of Joab behind all this?” The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king says. Yes, your servant Joab is the one who gave me orders; he told your maidservant exactly what to say.
- 2 Samuel 14:26And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard.
- 2 Samuel 14:27Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.
- 2 Samuel 14:30Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
- Read 2 Samuel 14 →
2 Samuel 193 verses
- 2 Samuel 19:4But the king covered his face and cried out at the top of his voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
- 2 Samuel 19:8So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So they all came before the king. Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled, each man to his home.
- 2 Samuel 19:41Soon all the men of Israel came to the king and asked, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, take you away secretly and bring the king and his household across the Jordan, together with all of David’s men?”
- Read 2 Samuel 19 →
Joshua 82 verses
- Joshua 8:10Joshua got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel marched before them up to Ai.
- Joshua 8:29He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
- Read Joshua 8 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

2 Samuel 152 verses
- 2 Samuel 15:19Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland.
- 2 Samuel 15:36Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”
- Read 2 Samuel 15 →
2 Samuel 172 verses
- 2 Samuel 17:2I will attack him while he is weak and weary; I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee; I will strike down only the king
- 2 Samuel 17:14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
- Read 2 Samuel 17 →
Joshua 172 verses
- Joshua 17:15Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
- Joshua 17:18because the hill country will be yours as well. It is a forest; clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours. Although the Canaanites have iron chariots and although they are strong, you can drive them out.”
- Read Joshua 17 →
Joshua 102 verses
- Joshua 10:11As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.
- Joshua 10:27At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave in which they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day.
- Read Joshua 10 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.