2 Samuel 18 HAIR

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
2 Samuel 18:6 David’s army marched out of the city to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There Israel’s troops were routed by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great—twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.

9 Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.

10 When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels(b) of silver and a warrior’s belt.”

12 But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels[c] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.[d]’ 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy[e]—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have kept your distance from me.”

14 Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.

16 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. 17 They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.

18 During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, “I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.​

b. 2 Samuel 18:11 That is, about 4 ounces or about 115 grams
c. 2 Samuel 18:12 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms
d. 2 Samuel 18:12 A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts may be translated Absalom, whoever you may be.
e. 2 Samuel 18:13 Or Otherwise, if I had acted treacherously toward him

Oh that beautiful hair. I figured that would come up again. Remember, in 2 Samuel 14:25-26, Absalom had to have his hair cut because it was too heavy. Apparently, the landscape was a problem as well.

This is from the blueletterbible.org site.

His head caught in the terbinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth: Absalom was noted for his good looks and his luxurious hair (2 Samuel 14:25-26). What was his glory was now his curse - Absalom is literally caught by his own hair in the thick trees of the forest.

Adam Clarke is careful to point out that the text does not say that Absalom was caught by his hair - we assume that. It may be that he was caught by his neck. Nevertheless, the image remains of Absalom hanging in the tree: "So he hung between heaven and earth, as rejected of both." (Trapp)

"Absalom's end was beset with terrors. When he was caught in the branches of the oak-tree, he was about to sever his hair with a sword stroke, but suddenly he saw hell yawning beneath him, and he preferred to hang in the tree to throwing himself into the abyss alive. Absalom's crime was, indeed, of a nature to deserve the supreme torture, for which reason he is one of the few Jews who have no portion in the world to come." (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews)​

Oh I love and hate these verses at the same time. I love the idea of a great looking man.... with fine hair flowing in the wind. Nice.... BUT then I hate to think of all the times my long think hair got tangled in the brush and I begged to cut it all off.... makes me feel so bad for Absalom... all that wonderful hair.... and he's dangling.....

It says the forest swallowed up men. I'm going back to the blueletterbible.org site for this.

The woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured: This phrase implies that God fought for David in unusual ways. Soldiers loyal to Absalom seemed to be "swallowed up" by the woods.

"Perishing not only by the sword, but among the thick oaks and tangled briers of the wood, which concealed fearful precipices and great caverns, into which the rebels plunged in their wild fright when the rout set in." (Spurgeon)

"It is generally supposed that, when the army was broken, the betook themselves to the wood, fell into pits, swamps, and so forth, and being entangled, were hewn down by David's men; but the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, state that they were devoured by wild beasts in the wood." (Clarke)

When we think of fearful precipices and pits... I'm reminded that David hid in caves.... they were in caves when Saul lost that piece of his hem.

This is from Bible.org.

We do not know whether Absalom is running for his life or not, but he does seem to be alone at the time his mule runs under the branches of a great oak tree, and somehow Absalom's head is wedged in the branches. None of Absalom's men seem to be around to attempt a rescue. (They may have been fleeing for their lives.) One of Joab's men comes upon Absalom and mentions it to his commander. Joab is incensed that this young man has not killed Absalom on the spot. Would he not have been rewarded for doing so? The young man is not taken back by Joab's rebuke. He reminds Joab that David, their commander-in-chief, has specifically forbidden anyone to harm his son Absalom. No matter what Joab may promise to do for him, this soldier knows that when David learns he has killed his son, there will be no protection for him. He also knows that while Joab seems to talk tough, when David's wrath is directed toward him for killing Absalom, Joab will quietly stand by and let him take all the blame. There is no way this fellow is going to be directed to disobey the king's orders by killing the king's son.​

It is ironic, is it not, that it would be Joab who would kill Absalom? It was Joab who had orchestrated amnesty for Absalom and brought him back to Jerusalem. It was Joab who obtained greater freedom for Absalom and brought him into the king's presence. And yet, for all Joab had done for Absalom, this man set out to take the throne away from his father, and to set another as commander over Israel's forces. It was likewise Joab who, under orders from David, had Uriah killed in battle, without raising a word of protest. And now, this military commander who would kill a righteous man at David's request would kill David's own son in direct violation to his orders. There is a saying: “What goes around, comes around.” Somehow that seems fitting here. David, who abused his almost absolute authority to take Uriah's wife and then his life is powerless to save his own son from death at the hand of Joab (or anyone else).

The text adds a kind of epitaph to the account of Absalom's death. The author informs us that at one time Absalom had no sons, and fearing that he would be forgotten, built a pillar for himself in the valley of the kings. By this, he thought, he would preserve his name. As it turned out, Absalom did have sons, but in his desire to possess his father's throne, he was able to be king but for a few days, and now he will be remembered as the traitor who died, hanging from a tree, the most ignoble death of all. His pillar in the valley of the kings would never erase the memory of his folly and death.​

absalom.jpg

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