Absalom Killed 1 UST David organized his soldiers for the battle. He counted them and then appointed someone to lead each group of a hundred soldiers. He then appointed someone to lead each group of one thousand soldiers{ that contained ten groups of a hundred soldiers}. BSB BSB: Then David reviewed his troops and appointed over them commanders of thousands and of hundreds.
2 UST David then sent the soldiers out in three divisions. Joab commanded one division, Joab’ s brother Abishai commanded a second division, and Ittai from Gath commanded the third division. Before they left, David told the soldiers,“I will go with you personally into the battle.” BSB BSB: 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 UST But his soldiers said,“No, we will not permit you to come into the battle with us. Even if they defeat us so that we all run away, they will not care about us. Or even if they kill half of us, they will not care about that either. There are ten thousand soldiers like us{, but only one king like you}. So it would be better for you to stay here inside the city of Mahanaim. You can receive reports of the battle and send soldiers to where we need them, and you can keep the city secure as a place to which we can retreat if we need to.” BSB BSB: But the people pleaded, “You must not go out! For if we have to flee, they will not care about us. Even if half of us die, they will not care. But you are worth ten thousand of us. It is better now if you support us from the city.”
4 UST The king replied to them,“Very well, I will do whatever seems best to you.” So he stood beside the city gate and observed while his soldiers marched out in their groups of hundreds and thousands. BSB BSB: “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 UST As they were leaving, the king ordered Joab, Abishai, and Ittai,“For my sake, do not harm that young man Absalom!” All the soldiers heard David give this order about Absalom to his three main commanders. BSB BSB: 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 UST So David’ s soldiers went out to fight against the Israelite soldiers who were supporting Absalom. They fought a battle in the Forest of Ephraim. BSB BSB: So David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
7 UST David’ s soldiers won the battle there against Absalom’ s soldiers. They badly defeated them that day. They killed 20, 000 of them. BSB BSB: There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men.
8 UST The battle broke up into small skirmishes all over that area. The number of Absalom’ s soldiers who died that day because of accidents in the forest was greater than the number of them whom David’ s soldiers killed in the battle. BSB BSB: The battle spread over the whole countryside, and that day the forest devoured more people than the sword.
9 UST In the forest, Absalom suddenly noticed that some of David’ s soldiers were near him. Absalom was riding on the mule{ that the Israelite king rode}.{ To get away from David’ s soldiers, he made the mule run away, and} the mule ran under the thick branches of a large oak tree. Absalom’ s head got caught in the branches. The mule he was riding kept going, and that left Absalom dangling in the air. BSB BSB: 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 UST One of David’ s soldiers saw what happened. He went and told Joab,“Listen, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!” BSB BSB: When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”
11 UST Joab said to the man,“Listen, when you saw him hanging there, you should have killed him immediately! If you had killed him, I would have rewarded you with ten pieces of silver and a soldier’ s belt!” BSB BSB: “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 UST The man replied to Joab,“Even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver, I would not do anything to harm the king’ s son. I say this because we all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai,‘For my sake, keep any soldier from hurting that young man Absalom!’ BSB BSB: 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 UST If I had killed Absalom, I would have put my own life in danger.{ The king would have heard about it, since} the king hears about everything. You would not have protected me by saying I was obeying your orders{, and the king would have executed me}.” BSB BSB: If I had jeopardized my own life—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.”
14 UST Joab said,“I am not going to stay here and speak with you any longer!” Then he got three spears and went to where Absalom was. Absalom was still alive, dangling from the branches of the oak tree. Joab thrust the spears into Absalom’ s chest. BSB BSB: 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 UST Then ten young men who carried Joab’ s weapons gathered around Absalom, and they stabbed him repeatedly to finish killing him. BSB BSB: And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom, struck him, and killed him.
16 UST Then Joab blew on his ram’ s horn to signal to his soldiers that they should stop fighting. So his soldiers stopped chasing Absalom’ s soldiers and came back{ to their camp}. BSB BSB: Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab had restrained them.
17 UST They took Absalom’ s body and threw it into a huge pit in the forest. They covered it with a huge pile of stones. Meanwhile, all the remaining Israelite soldiers who had been supporting Absalom ran away back to their own homes. BSB BSB: 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 UST (Absalom had no sons to preserve his family name{ because his sons had died while they were still young}. So while Absalom was alive, he had built a monument in the Valley of Kings{ near Jerusalem}. He thought that if he did that, people would remember him. He named the monument after himself, and people still call it Absalom’ s Monument.) BSB BSB: 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.
David Mourns for Absalom 19 UST Ahimaaz son of Zadok said to Joab,“Allow me to run to King David and tell him the good news. I want to do this because Yahweh has shown that he wants David to remain as king, because he enabled his soldiers to defeat his enemies!” BSB BSB: 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 UST But Joab said to him,“No, I will not allow you to run and tell this news to the king today. Some other day you may do that, but not today. I do not want you to bring to the king the news that his son is dead.” BSB BSB: 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 UST Then Joab said to the man from Ethiopia who ran carrying messages for him,“You go and tell the king what you have seen.” So that man bowed respectfully to Joab{ to show that he would obey} and started to run. BSB BSB: So Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running.
22 UST Then Ahimaaz said again to Joab,“However the king might respond to the news, even though your servant from Ethiopia has already left, please allow me to run too.” Joab replied,“My boy, you should not want to do that! You will not receive any reward for your news!” BSB BSB: Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, 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 UST But Ahimaaz replied,“However the king might respond to the news, I want to go.” So Joab said,“Very well, then, go.” Ahimaaz ran on the flat ground through which the Jordan River flows and arrived where David was before the man from Ethiopia did{ because he had run through hills and forests}. BSB BSB: “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 UST David was sitting in the area between the inner and outer gate in the city wall. A watchman went up on top of the city wall and stood on the roof over the gates. As he was looking around, he suddenly noticed a lone runner. BSB BSB: 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 UST The watchman called down and reported this to King David. David said,“If he is alone, that indicates that he is coming to tell us news.” The man who was running continued to come closer. BSB BSB: 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 UST Then the watchman saw another man running. So he called down to those below,“I see another man running alone!” And King David said,“He is also coming to tell us some news.” BSB BSB: 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 UST The watchman said,“The first man seems to be Ahimaaz son of Zadok. He is running the way Ahimaaz runs.” The king said,“He must be coming to tell us good news, because Joab would not have sent someone like him to tell us bad news.” BSB BSB: 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.”
28 UST When Ahimaaz got close enough, he called out to King David,“All is well!” When he arrived, he knelt down in front of him with his face on the ground to show respect. Then he said,“Your Majesty, praise Yahweh your God, who made your soldiers defeat the men who were rebelling against you!” BSB BSB: 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 UST King David asked,“Is the young man Absalom safe?” Ahimaaz{ did not want to answer that question, so he} replied,“When Joab sent the man from Ethiopia and me to bring news to you, I saw that there was a lot of confusion, but I do not know what it was about.” BSB BSB: 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 UST So the king said,“Stand over there and wait.” So Ahimaaz stepped aside and stood nearby. BSB BSB: “Move aside,” said the king, “and stand here.” So he stepped aside.
31 UST Then the man from Ethiopia arrived. He said,“Your Majesty, I have some good news to share with you. Here it is. Today Yahweh has shown that he wants you to remain as king, because he has enabled your soldiers to defeat the enemies who rebelled against you!” BSB BSB: 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 UST The king said to him,“Is the young man Absalom safe?” The man from Ethiopia replied,“Sir, I wish that what happened to him would happen to all of your enemies and to anyone who violently rebels against you!” BSB BSB: The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And the Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you to harm you be like that young man.”
33 UST { Realizing that he meant that Absalom was dead,} David became extremely distressed. He went up to the room above the gateway and cried. As he was going up, he kept crying out,“O, my son Absalom! O, my dear son Absalom, I wish that I had died instead of you, Absalom, my dear son!” BSB BSB: The king was shaken and went up to the chamber over the gate 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!”
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