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| | | == International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_475" /> == |
| | | <p> ( Apocrypha) ( Codex Vaticanus, Ἀβεσσάλωμος , < i> ''''' Abessálōmos ''''' </ i> and < i> ''''' Abessalō̇m ''''' </ i> ; Codex Alexandrinus, < i> ''''' Absálōmos ''''' </ i> ; the King James Version Absalon ): </p> <p> (1) Father of Mattathias, a captain of the [[ Jewish]] army (1 Macc 11:70 ; < i> Ant </ i> , Xiii , v, 7). </p> <p> (2) Father of [[ Jonathan]] who was sent by Simon [[ Maccabee]] to take possession of Joppa; perhaps identical with [[Absalom]] (1) (1 Macc 13: 11; < i> Ant </ i> , Xiii , vi, 4). </p> <p> ( 3) One of two envoys of the Jews, mentioned in a letter sent by [[ Lysias]] to the Jewish nation (2 Macc 11: 17). </p> |
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| == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_15425" /> == | |
| <p> Only son of [[David]] by Maacah, 2 [[Samuel]] 3:3 . [[He]] was remarkable for his beauty and for his fine head of hair, 2 Samuel 14:25 , which being cut from time to time when it incommoded him, used to weigh 200 shekels by the king's standard, that is, probable about thirty ounces, an extraordinary, but not incredible weight. Ammon, another of the king's sons, having violated his sister Tamar, [[Absalom]] caused him to be slain, and then fled to Geshur, where [[Talmai]] his grandfather was king. After three years, at the intercession of Joab, David permitted him to return to Jerusalem, and at length received him again into favor, 2 Samuel 14:1-33 . Absalom, however, grossly abused his father's kindness; he soon began to play the demagogue, and by many artful devices "stole the hearts of the people," and got himself proclaimed king in Hebron. David retired from Jerusalem; Absalom followed him; and in the battle, which ensued, the troops of the latter were defeated, and he himself, being caught by his head in a tree, was found and slain by Joab. David was much affected by his death, and uttered bitter lamentations over him, 2 Samuel 18:33 . </p> <p> [[His]] history affords instructive lessons to the young against the sins to which they are prone, particularly vanity, ambition, lawless passions, and filial disobedience. </p> | |
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| == Bridgeway Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_18354" /> ==
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| <p> Absalom, the third son of David, first features in the [[Bible]] story when his sister [[Tamar]] was raped by Amnon, their older brother by a different mother (2 [[Samuel]] 3:2-3; 2 Samuel 13:1-22). [[Absalom]] was determined to have his revenge, no matter how long he had to wait. After two full years he found a suitable opportunity, and had [[Amnon]] murdered. [[He]] then fled into exile (2 Samuel 13:23-27). </p> <p> After three years without a recognized heir to [[David]] in Jerusalem, David’s army commander [[Joab]] was worried about the stability of David’s dynasty. He therefore worked out a cunning plan to re-establish Absalom in Jerusalem, without the necessity for Absalom to face trial for murder (2 Samuel 13:38; 2 Samuel 14:1-24). [[Although]] Absalom returned from exile, David refused to receive him into the palace. But after two years Absalom forced his way in (2 Samuel 14:28-33). </p> <p> Over the next four years Absalom built up a following for himself among the country people, particularly those from the south (2 Samuel 15:1-7). He then launched a surprise attack, seizing the throne and forcing David to flee for his life (2 Samuel 15:8-18; 2 Samuel 16:20-23). But one of David’s chief advisers stayed behind as a spy in Absalom’s court. [[By]] appealing to Absalom’s vanity, he was able to persuade Absalom to ignore the wise words of Absalom’s chief adviser (2 Samuel 15:32-37; 2 Samuel 17:1-14). [[As]] a result Absalom decided to glorify himself in a full-scale battle with David’s army. [[His]] troops were no match for David’s hardened soldiers, and he himself was killed (2 Samuel 18:1-15). </p>
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| == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_30412" /> ==
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| 2 [[Samuel]] 3:31 Kings 1:62 Samuel 14:25,262 Samuel 3:313:23-38 <p> [[David]] mourned his absent son, now branded with the guilt of fratricide. [[As]] the result of a stratagem carried out by a woman of Tekoah, [[Joab]] received David's sanction to invite [[Absalom]] back to Jerusalem. [[He]] returned accordingly, but two years elapsed before his father admitted him into his presence (2 Samuel 14:28 ). Absalom was now probably the oldest surviving son of David, and as he was of royal descent by his mother as well as by his father, he began to aspire to the throne. [[His]] pretensions were favoured by the people. [[By]] many arts he gained their affection; and after his return from [[Geshur]] (2 Samuel 15:7; marg., RSV) he went up to Hebron, the old capital of Judah, along with a great body of the people, and there proclaimed himself king. The revolt was so successful that David found it necessary to quit [[Jerusalem]] and flee to Mahanaim, beyond Jordan; where upon Absalom returned to Jerusalem and took possession of the throne without opposition. Ahithophel, who had been David's chief counsellor, deserted him and joined Absalom, whose chief counsellor he now became. [[Hushai]] also joined Absalom, but only for the purpose of trying to counteract the counsels of Ahithophel, and so to advantage David's cause. He was so far successful that by his advice, which was preferred to that of Ahithophel, Absalom delayed to march an army against his father, who thus gained time to prepare for the defence. </p> <p> Absalom at length marched out against his father, whose army, under the command of Joab, he encountered on the borders of the forest of Ephraim. [[Twenty]] thousand of Absalom's army were slain in that fatal battle, and the rest fled. Absalom fled on a swift mule; but his long flowing hair, or more probably his head, was caught in the bough of an oak, and there he was left suspended till Joab came up and pierced him through with three darts. His body was then taken down and cast into a pit dug in the forest, and a heap of stones was raised over his grave. When the tidings of the result of that battle were brought to David, as he sat impatiently at the gate of Mahanaim, and he was told that Absalom had been slain, he gave way to the bitter lamentation: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would [[God]] I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Samuel 18:33 . [[Compare]] [[Exodus]] 32:32; [[Romans]] 9:3 ). </p> <p> Absalom's three sons (2 Samuel 14:27; comp 18:18) had all died before him, so that he left only a daughter, Tamar, who became the grandmother of Abijah. </p>
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| == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_34390" /> ==
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| <p> ("father of peace".) [[Third]] son of David, by Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, a [[Syrian]] region N.E. of Palestine, near lake Merom. [[Polygamy]] bore its fatal fruits in engendering jealousies among the families by different wives, each with a separate, establishment (2 [[Samuel]] 13:8; 2 Samuel 14:24), and in fostering David's own lust, which broke forth in the sad adultery with Bathsheba. Absalom, the fruit of David's polygamy, was made the divine instrument of David's punishment. Amnon, the half brother, violated Tamar, Absalom's whole sister. David, though very wroth, would not punish Amnon, because he was his firstborn by [[Ahinoam]] the Jezreelitess. [[As]] [[Simeon]] and [[Levi]] avenged on [[Hamor]] their sister Dinah's violation, so [[Absalom]] after two years' dark, silent hatred, took vengeance on [[Amnon]] at a sheepshearing feast at [[Baal]] [[Hazor]] to which he invited all the king's sons (2 Samuel 13). Then he fled to his father-in-law at [[Geshur]] for three years. </p> <p> [[Joab]] perceiving how the king took to heart Absalom's exile suborned a woman of Tekoa, by an imaginary case, to extort from the king (whose justice would not allow his love for Absalom to let him escape some penalty for Amnon's murder) the admission of the general principle that, in special cases where the life taken could not be recalled, means for restoring the loved and living banished one should be devised; just as God, considering the brevity of man's life, weak and irrecoverable when gone, "as water spilt on the ground, does not take a (sinner's) soul away" (so the [[Hebrew]] text of 2 Samuel 14:14 for "neither doth [[God]] respect any person"), but deviseth means that [[His]] banished be not (for ever) expelled from Him." [[David]] yielded, but would not see Absalom, though living at Jerusalem, for two more years. [[Impatient]] of delay in his ambitious schemes, he sent for Joab, and, not being heeded, he burnt Joab's grain (as [[Samson]] did to the Philistines, [[Judges]] 15:4), which drove Joab to intercede with David for Absalom's admission to his presence. possibly he feared the succession of Bathsheba's son to the throne, to which he had the title, being alone of royal descent by his mother's side, also the oldest surviving son (Amnon being slain, and [[Chileab]] or [[Daniel]] dead, as his name does not occur after 2 Samuel 3:3). </p> <p> Nathan's mission from [[Jehovah]] to David, announcing that the [[Lord]] loved the child, and that his name therefore was to be Jedidiah, "beloved of the Lord," implied Jehovah's choice of [[Solomon]] as successor to David (2 Samuel 12:24-25). This excited Absalom's fears. At all events, directly after receiving the king's kiss of reconciliation, he began popularity hunting, to the disparagement of his father, whose moral hold on the people had been weakened by his sin with Bathsheba, and who probably as years advanced attended personally to judicial ministrations less than is the usual policy of oriental kings. Absalom intercepted suitors, lamenting that there was no judge appointed to help them to their rights such as he would be. His beauty too, as in Saul's case (1 Samuel 9:2), and his princely retinue, attracted many (2 Samuel 14:25-26, where probably some error of number has crept in: though doubtless 200 shekels after the king's weight is much less weight of hair than ordinary shekels would be; 2 Samuel 15:1-6). </p> <p> Judah, from jealousy of Israel, with whom they had been merged by David, seems to have been too ready to be seduced from loyalty. Accordingly, Absalom chose Hebron, Judah's old capital, as the head quarters of the revolt. [[He]] repaired thither after four (so we ought to read instead of "forty," 2 Samuel 15:7) years, under the hypocritical pretense of a vow like that of pious [[Jacob]] (compare 2 Samuel 15:8 with [[Genesis]] 28:20-21); David alludes to the hypocrisy of the rebels in Psalms 4:5. Amasa, son of Abigail, David's sister, and Jether, an Ishmaelite, owing to David's neglect of him, and preference of his other sister Zeruiah's sons (probably because of his [[Ishmaelite]] fatherhood), was tempted to join the rebellion, and [[Ahithophel]] of [[Giloh]] also, because of his granddaughter Bathsheba's wrong (2 Samuel 11:8; 2 Samuel 23:34). Both were of Judah; [[Amasa]] became Absalom's general, Ahithophel his counselor. This David felt most keenly (Psalms 69:12; Psalms 55:12-14; Psalms 55:20; Psalms 41:9). </p> <p> [[By]] Ahithophel's abominable counsel, Absalom lay with his father's concubines, at once committing his party to an irreconcilable war, and him to the claim to the throne (according to oriental ideas: so Adonijah, 1 Kings 2:13, etc.), and fulfilling God's threatened retribution of David's adultery in kind (2 Samuel 12:11-12). Hushai, David's friend, defeated treachery by treachery. Ahithophel, like his anti-type Judas, baffled, went and hanged himself. Absalom, though well pleased at the counsel of "smiting the king only" and at once, was easily drawn aside by fear of his father's bravery, and by indecision and vanity; all which [[Hushai]] acted on in his counsel to summon all Israel, and that Absalom should command in person. He waited to have himself anointed king first (2 Samuel 19:10). He lost the opportunity of attacking his father that night, while weak handed. The battle in [[Gilead]] in the wood of [[Ephraim]] (called from Ephraim's defeat, Judges 12:4) resulted in the defeat of his cumbrous undisciplined host. </p> <p> His locks, on which he prided himself (Judges 14:25-26), were the means of his destruction, for they kept him suspended from a terebinth tree until Joab pierced him; and David, whom the unnatural son would have gladly smitten, but who charged Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, his three generals, to spare the youth for his sake, mourned pathetically for his death: "O Absalom, my son, would God I had died for thee; my son, my son!" His grave was a pit, over which the insulting conquerors heaped stones, as over [[Achan]] and the king of [[Ai]] (Joshua 7:26; [[Joshua]] 8:29). After losing his three sons (2 Samuel 14:27; compare Psalms 21:10), he had erected in the king's dale (Genesis 14:17) a pillar to commemorate his name; a sad contrast to this was his dishonored grave. The so-called tomb of Absalom, in the valley of [[Jehoshaphat]] outside Jerusalem, betrays its modern origin by [[Ionic]] columns; and besides could not have outlasted the various sieges and conquests to which the city has been exposed. David seems to have been a fond but weak father; and Absalom's and Amnon's course showed the evil effects of such indulgence (1 Kings 1:6). Absalom's fair daughter [[Tamar]] married Uriel, by whom she had [[Michaiah]] or Maachah, wife of [[Rehoboam]] and mother of (See ABIJAH. </p>
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| == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_38443" /> ==
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| 2 [[Samuel]] 3:32 Samuel 13-192 Samuel 15:1-62 Samuel 15:102 Samuel 2:42 Samuel 15:52 Samuel 15:14 <p> [[Robert]] Fricke </p>
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| == Hitchcock's Bible Names <ref name="term_45031" /> ==
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| == Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary <ref name="term_47436" /> ==
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| <p> [[Son]] of David. [[His]] history we have 2 [[Samuel]] 14:1-33; 2Sa 15:1-37; 2Sa 16:1-23; 2Sa 17:1-29; 2Sa 18:1-33. His name was but suited to his character; for he was of a rebellious, turbulent spirit. Ab, the father, Shalom, of peace. </p>
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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_49304" /> ==
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| <p> <strong> ABSALOM </strong> (‘father is peace’). [[Third]] son of David, by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of [[Geshur]] ( 2 [[Samuel]] 3:3 ). [[His]] sister [[Tamar]] having been wronged by her half-brother Amnon, and [[David]] having failed to punish the criminal, [[Absalom]] assassinated [[Amnon]] and fled to Geshur, where he spent three years (ch. 13). [[Joab]] procured his recall, but he was not admitted into his father’s presence. [[In]] his usual imperious fashion he next compelled Joab to bring about his full restoration ( 2 Samuel 14:29 ff.). Then he assumed the position of heir-apparent ( 2 Samuel 15:1; cf. 1 Samuel 8:11 , 1 Kings 1:5 ), and began undermining the loyalty of the people. [[Four]] (not ‘forty’) years after his return he set up the standard of rebellion at Hebron, a town which was well-affected towards him because it was his birthplace, and aggrieved against David because it was no longer the metropolis. The old king was taken by surprise, and fled to the east of the Jordan. [[On]] entering Jerusalem, Absalom publicly appropriated the royal harem, thus proclaiming the supersession of his father. [[By]] the insidious counsel of [[Hushai]] time was wasted in collecting a large army. But time was on David’s side. His veterans rallied round him; his seasoned captains were by his side. When Absalom offered battle, near Mahanaim, the king’s only anxiety was lest his son should be slain. This really happened, through Joab’s agency. The father’s natural, but unseasonable, lamentation was cut short by the soldier’s blunt remonstrance ( 2 Samuel 19:5 ff.). On the face of the history it is clear that, if Absalom lacked capacity, he possessed charm. His physical beauty contributed to this: 2 Samuel 14:25-27 is probably a gloss, but certainly rests on a reliable tradition; the polling of the hair was a religious act. According to 2 Samuel 18:18 , Absalom had no son: this is more reliable than the statement in 2 Samuel 14:27 . It is said that later generations, following Proverbs 10:7 , always avoided the name Absalom, preferring the form <strong> [[Abishalom]] </strong> (which appears in 1 Kings 15:2; 1 Kings 15:10 ). </p> <p> J. Taylor. </p> <p> <strong> ABSALOM </strong> (in Apocr. [Note: Apocrypha, Apocryphal.] ). <strong> 1 </strong> . The father of Mattathias, one of the captains who stood by [[Jonathan]] at <strong> [[Hazor]] </strong> ( 1Ma 11:70 = Jos. [Note: Josephus.] <em> [[Ant]] </em> . XIII. v. 7). It is perhaps the same Absalom whose son Jonathan was sent by [[Simon]] to secure [[Joppa]] ( 1Ma 13:11 = Jos. [Note: Josephus.] <em> Ant </em> . XIII. vi. 4). <strong> 2 </strong> . An envoy sent by the [[Jews]] to [[Lysias]] ( 2Ma 11:17 ). </p> | |
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| == Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_64766" /> ==
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| <p> The third son of David, by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. [[He]] was remarkable for his beauty and his luxuriant hair. 2 [[Samuel]] 14:25,26 . [[Because]] of his putting his half-brother [[Amnon]] to death he fled from his father and remained at [[Geshur]] three years. [[By]] the instigation of Joab, [[Absalom]] was recalled, but not admitted into the presence of his father until a later period. (This reconciliation was effected at the expense of righteousness, and without any repentance on Absalom's part a total contrast to God's ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; etc.) It was declared to Davidthat his successor was not yet born. 2 Samuel 7:12 This was told to [[David]] by [[Nathan]] the prophet, and probably became known to Absalom. Amnon being dead, and perhaps Chileab, his two elder brothers, he might naturally have thought that the throne should have descended to him, and this may have led to his treason. By artful acts of condescension he stole the hearts of the people, and then at [[Hebron]] he claimed to be king, and met with much encouragement. The rebellion was so strong that David fled from Jerusalem. Absalom entered the city and was joined by [[Amasa]] and Ahithophel. The latter advised Absalom to go in publicly to the concubines of David who were left at Jerusalem, that all hopes of a reconciliation might be abandoned though this had been foretold as a punishment to David. 2 Samuel 12:11 . By the advice of [[Hushai]] the further counsel of [[Ahithophel]] of an immediate pursuit was set aside, and David had time to collect an army, and reach a place of safety. A war followed, and Absalom in riding through a wood, was caught by his head in the branches of an oak, and was there put to death by Joab. David's grief was extreme, but he was recalled to his duties by Joab. We read that Absalom had three sons and a daughter, 2 Samuel 14:27 , yet that because he had no son left he raised up a pillar in the king's dale, to keep his name in remembrance: it was called ABSALOM'S PLACE or monument. 2 Samuel 18:18 . A building in the valley of the [[Kedron]] partly rock-hewn, is called Absalom's tomb; but it can have nothing to do with the above 'pillar' unless it has been much added to with comparatively modern architecture. [[Josephus]] says that in his day there was an object called Absalom's 'pillar' about 2 stadia from Jerusalem. [[Apparently]] Absalom is called ABISHALOM in 1 Kings 15:2; cf. 2 [[Chronicles]] 11:21 . </p>
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| == People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_69573" /> ==
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| <p> [[Absalom]] (ăb'sa-lom), father of peace. The third son of David, by Maachah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, born at Hebron. 2 [[Samuel]] 3:3; 1 [[Chronicles]] 3:2. Absalom revenged the dishonor done to Tamar, his sister, by Amnon, his half-brother, by killing him at a feast, and then fled to his father-in-law, Talmai. 2 Samuel 13:1-39. After three years, by means of Joab, he was enabled to return to Jerusalem, and in two years more fully restored to David's favor. Absalom was now nourishing the ambitious scheme of supplanting his father. [[He]] was very beautiful and had extraordinary hair, which when cut every year weighed 200 shekels, the exact equivalent to which in our weights it is not easy to ascertain; or, possibly, the hair was of 200 shekels' value. He took great pains to acquire popularity, and after four years (so we may read, 2 Samuel 15:7) he raised the standard of revolt at Hebron. The history of this rebellion, its first success—there being evidently some ill-feeling in his own tribe of [[Judah]] towards David—with the iniquitous conduct of Absalom, and his final defeat, is in 2 Samuel 15:1-37; 2 Samuel 16:1-23; 2 Samuel 17:1-29; 2 Samuel 18:1-33. [[David]] wished to spare his unhappy son's life; but, in the rout, his mule carrying him under the thick boughs of an oak, his head was caught; and Joab, being made aware of this, dispatched him. Absalom had three sons and a daughter, but it would seem that his sons died before him, as he erected a pillar to keep his name in remembrance. 2 Samuel 18:18. A monument outside the walls of [[Jerusalem]] now bears his name, but it is a structure of comparatively modern date. </p>
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| == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_71351" /> ==
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| <p> Ab'salom. (father of peace). [[Third]] son of [[David]] by Maachah, daughter of Tamai king of Geshur, a [[Syrian]] district adjoining the northeast frontier of the [[Holy]] Land. (Born B.C. 1050). [[Absalom]] had a sister, Tamar, who was violated by her half-brother Amnon. The natural avenger of such an outrage would be Tamar's full brother Absalom. [[He]] brooded over the wrong for two years, and then invited all the princes to a sheep-shearing feast at his estate in Baalhazor, on the borders of [[Ephraim]] and Benjamin. [[Here]] he ordered his servants to murder Amnon, and then fled for safety to his grandfather's court at Geshur, where he remained for three years. </p> <p> At the end of that time, he was brought back by an artifice of Joab. David, however, would not see Absalom for two more years; but at length, [[Joab]] brought about a reconciliation. Absalom now began at once to prepare for rebellion. He tried to supplant his father by courting popularity, standing in the gate, conversing with every suitor, and lamenting the difficulty which he would find in getting a hearing. He also maintained a splendid retinue, 2 [[Samuel]] 15:1 and was admired for his personal beauty. It is probable too that the great tribe of [[Judah]] had taken some offence at David's government. </p> <p> Absalom raised the standard of revolt at Hebron, the old capital of Judah, now supplanted by Jerusalem. The revolt was, at first, completely successful; David fled from his capital over the [[Jordan]] to [[Mahanaim]] in Gilead, and Absalom occupied Jerusalem. At last, after being solemnly anointed king at Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 19:10, Absalom crossed the Jordan to attack his father, who by this time had rallied round him a considerable force. </p> <p> A decisive battle was fought in Gilead, in the wood of Ephraim. Here Absalom's forces were totally defeated, and as he himself was escaping, his long hair was entangled in the branches of a terebinth, where he was left hanging while the mule, on which he was riding, ran away from under him. He was dispatched by Joab in spite of the prohibition of David, who, loving him to the last, had desired that his life might be spared. He was buried in a great pit in the forest, and the conquerors threw stones over his grave, an old proof of bitter hostility. [[Joshua]] 7:26. </p> | |
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| == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_80099" /> ==
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| <p> the son of [[David]] by Maachah, daughter of the king of Geshur; distinguished for his fine person, his vices, and his unnatural rebellion. [[Of]] his open revolt, his conduct in Jerusalem, his pursuit of the king his father, his defeat and death, see 2 [[Samuel]] 16-18, at large. </p>
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| == Whyte's Dictionary of Bible Characters <ref name="term_197232" /> ==
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| <p> I WILL RAISE UP EVIL AGAINST THEE OUT OF THINE OWN HOUSE </p> <p> POLYGAMY is just [[Greek]] for a dunghill. [[David]] trampled down the first and the best law of nature in his palace in Jerusalem, and for his trouble he spent all his after-days in a hell upon earth. David's palace was a perfect pandemonium of suspicion, and intrigue, and jealousy, and hatred-all breaking out, now into incest and now into murder. And it was in such a household, if such a cesspool could be called a household, that Absalom, David's third son by his third living wife, was born and brought up. But be not deceived; [[God]] is not mocked: for whatsoever a patriarch, or a prophet, or a psalmist soweth, that shall he also reap. [[For]] he, saint or sinner, that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. </p> <p> Maachah, Absalom's mother, was the daughter of a king. And this, taken together with his distinguished appearance and his princely manners, gave [[Absalom]] the pre-eminence over all his brethren. Absalom inherited all the handsomeness, manly bearing, and beauty of his father's handsome and manly house. The sacred writer expatiates with evident relish upon Absalom's extraordinary beauty. [[In]] all [[Israel]] there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And the hair of his head is a proverb to this day. </p> <p> A little ring of jealous and scheming parasites, all hateful and hating one another, collected round each one of David's wives. And it was in one of the worst of those wicked little rings that Absalom grew up and got his education. Absalom had a sister, named Tamar, who was as beautiful as a woman as Absalom was as a man. And how her beauty became the occasion of her ruin in that horrible household the sacred historian tells us with sufficient plainness of speech. [[Suffice]] it here to say that Absalom determined, sooner or later, to wash off his sister's terrible wrongs in the blood of the wrongdoer. And, then, as the divine vengeance would have it to be, that wrongdoer to one of David's fairest daughters was one of David's favourite sons. The [[Septuagint]] frankly tells us that David loved the wrongdoer so much that he could not so much as rebuke him for his brutality. But, after giving his father two full years to avenge his sister's ruin, Absalom took the law into his own hand till [[Amnon]] fell, when his heart was merry with wine, under Absalom's revengeful sword. And, then, all the plots and counter-plots connected with Absalom's revenge, and flight, and restoration, and too-late reconciliation to his father; his deep-laid schemes to wrench the kingdom out of his father's hands; and then his defeat and murder by Joab-all that, if we have the courage to look at it, will give us a picture of the men and the times, humiliating beyond all words, and never to be forgotten. David and his wives and concubines and mixed-up children, [[Tamar]] and her half-brother Amnon, Absalom and Jonadab, [[Joab]] and the wise woman of Tekoa, [[Ittai]] and Shimei, [[Ahithophel]] and Hushai, and the righteousness and the grace of God reigning over them all. Truly, all [[Scripture]] is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. </p> <p> It is this so terrible plain-spokenness of the [[Bible]] that makes it so precious to all who are in earnest about themselves and their children. Had this sacred writer not been in earnest in his work, we should have had an altogether different David. And we make an altogether different David to ourselves in spite of the sacred writer, and in spite of all that David himself can say and do. The David that we set up for ourselves has always a halo round his head and a harp in his hand, and his eyes fixed on the heavens. We are willingly ignorant that David had ever any other wife but Solomon's mother, as also that she had ever any other son but Solomon. And, then, our [[Solomon]] is always dreaming his dream at Gibeon, and when he is not choosing wisdom for himself he is always writing inspired proverbs about wisdom for his son. While all the time David prevents the night-watches with psalms like this: I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no thing of [[Belial]] before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me, and so on. A David like that in our Bible would have delighted us, and would not have offended and shocked us. No. But then neither would he have been of any real use to us when we went to our Bible for real use. It is when we go to our Bible for real use, for the experiences of men of like passions with ourselves, it is then that we discover and see the pen of God in the Bible life of David. And it is from that pen that I gather these closing lessons out of the life of David and out of the death of Absalom. </p> <p> 'The inconceivable evil of sensuality' was surely never more awfully burned in upon any sinful house than it was upon David's house. David himself is a towering warning to all men, and especially to all godly men against this master abomination. And, all the more that he sinned so terribly against such singular grace. David, to use his own words, was as white as snow as long as he was young, and poor, and struggling up, and oppressed, and persecuted, and with Samuel's horn of oil still sanctifying all the thoughts and all the imaginations of his heart. But no sooner had David sat down on the throne of Israel than his life of sin and shame began. And all the woe upon woe of his after-life, almost every single deadly drop of it, came down out of that day when he first introduced open and unblushing sensuality into his palace in Jerusalem. There was military success, and extended empire, and great wealth, and great and far-sounding glory in David's day in Israel; but beneath it all the whole ground was mined and filled to the lip with gun-powder, and the divine tinder all the time was surely burning its way to the divine vengeance on David's house. Our doctors, our lawyers, our ministers, and many of ourselves, will all subscribe to Newman's strong words in one of his sermons-'The inconceivable evil of sensuality.' </p> <p> You sometimes hear speak about the historical imagination, and the right and the fruitful uses of the historical imagination. Well, here is the history of young Absalom, and you must bring your imagination to bear upon it. You must read all the chapters about David's manner of life in Jerusalem, and all the chapters in which Absalom's name comes up, and then you must imagine yourself to be Absalom, and to be in his place. I dare not put in words what you will see when you read [[Second]] [[Samuel]] with your eye upon the object. For one thing, Absalom did not see his father David at all as we see him. [[He]] saw him as his enemies then saw him, and as infidels and scoffers see him now. It was impossible that Absalom could look on his father with our admiring eyes. 'It helped me, too,' says Santa Teresa in her happy 'Life of Herself'; 'It helped me much that I never saw my father and my mother respect anything but goodness.' 'It poisoned me at my father,' said Absalom to Ahithophel; 'the life we all led in our several stews.' Yes, polygamy is indeed a dunghill. Only, it is a dunghill with hell at the heart of it. We have nothing like the city of David on this side the Dardanelles. And no real lesson for our day and our household can be got out of Absalom's early life. [[Unless]] it is that far-fetched lesson to that fatal house where there is a father who is no father. And to that house where the father and the mother are full of divided lives, divided interests, divided counsels, divided tastes, and divided desires for themselves and their children. The sons and the daughters of such divided fathers and mothers will need neither history nor imagination to see and to feel with poor Absalom. Only, this lesson to such fathers and mothers is all but too late and irrecoverable. </p> <p> The [[Hebrew]] Bible for some unaccountable reason is silent where the Greek Bible speaks out boldly about David, and delivers a great lesson to all of us who are fathers. The law of [[Moses]] was plain. It is to be read in the [[Book]] of [[Leviticus]] to this day. 'It is a wicked thing. And he that does it shall be cut off in the sight of all the people. He shall bear his iniquity.' Well, Amnon did it. Amnon was worse than if he had been the actual murderer of his own sister. But what do we read on this matter in the Septuagint? We literally read this: 'Notwithstanding Amnon's sin David did not trouble the spirit of Amnon his son, because he loved him, and because he was his first-born.' But, not to trouble the spirit of your son for his sin is to trouble other people's spirit all his days, ay, and your own spirit and his too, to the bargain. The Greek Bible has recovered for us one of the lost links in David's downward career, and in the downward career of Absalom his son. For it was David's unwillingness to trouble Amnon that made Absalom in the cause of his sister first a murderer, and then a conspirator, and then, after a life of terrible trouble, himself a mangled corpse under the revengeful and murderous hands of Joab, that other arch-troubler of Israel. 'Praise them openly, reprehend them secretly,' is the second of [[Lord]] Burleigh's ten precepts to his son concerning his children. But David did the very opposite of that with Absalom. [[All]] [[Jerusalem]] heard David for two years reprehending his half-pardoned son Absalom openly, till Absalom was exasperated out of all endurance, and till the last link of sonship was broken for ever between David and Absalom. </p> <p> But, with all that, it is the terrible cry that comes out of the chamber over the gate of [[Mahanaim]] that makes the name of Absalom so well known and so full of the most terrible lessons to us. 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! [[Would]] God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!' Yes, that is love, no doubt. That is the love of a broken-hearted father, no doubt. But the pang of the cry, the innermost agony of the cry, the poisoned point of the dagger in that cry is remorse. I have slain my son! I have murdered my son with my own hands! I neglected my son Absalom from a child! [[With]] my own lusts I laid his very worst temptation right in his way. It had been better Absalom had never been born! [[If]] he rebelled, who shall blame him? I, David, drove Absalom to rebellion. It was his father's hand that stabbed Absalom through the heart. O Absalom, my murdered son! Would God thy murderer had been in thy place this day. And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! </p> <p> [[Come]] all you who are fathers and mothers, come to the chamber over the gate of Mahanaim, and let us take counsel together as to how we are to bring up our children to virtue and godliness and everlasting life. [[Let]] us read all [[Holy]] [[Writ]] on this subject together; and after Holy Writ, all other good and true books that in any way bear upon this supreme subject. Let us set ourselves to gather together all our experience and all our observation, and let us counsel and correct and comfort one another concerning this one thing that we do, our children. Let us take time to it, and pains, and pursue it until we succeed in it. Let us search the [[Scriptures]] up to the top and down to the bottom for this pearl of great price. Let us set on one side all the fathers and mothers in Israel to whom God hath ever said, I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon [[Abraham]] that which He hath spoken of him. And then let us set on the other side David and all those fathers and mothers on whom God took vengeance, and said, Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thine house. I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. Let us collect into a secret and solemn book all such instances; and let us, husband and wife, minister and people, and one anxious parent with another, let us meet together, and confer together, and pray together, saying, This one thing will we do. Why do men and women combine and consult together about everything else but the thing in which so many are so ignorant, so stupid, and so full of fatal mistakes? If we asked our happy neighbours, they would surely tell us the secret of their success in their children. [[How]] did they come so well and so soon to understand their children? How early did they discover what manner of heart was already in their children? And at what age did they begin to deal with the hearts of their children? What amount of time did they set aside and keep sacred for reflection and for prayer to God for their child; naming their child and describing him; and how did God's answer begin to show itself first in the parents and then in the child? When did your child first begin to show some sure signs of saving grace? And how did that grace show itself to your satisfaction and thanksgiving; first in one child and then in another? [[Tell]] us about the Sabbath-how it was observed, occupied, and sanctified as your children grew up? [[About]] the church also and the Sabbath-school? About the books that were read on Sabbath-days and week days; both by your children alone and of their own accord, as also with you all reading together; one reading and all the rest listening? Things like that. All that you can tell us about such children as yours will be eagerly listened to and attended to. What priceless stores of experience, and observation, and success and defeat are lost all around us just because we do not speak more to one another about our ways with our children; our hopes and our fears; our neglects and our recoveries of neglects; the things that one household is so happy in, and the same things that cause such unavailing remorse in another household. Yes, this whole matter must surely be collected together and made into a science soon, and taught in every true church to every young father and young mother as their very life. </p>
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| == Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types <ref name="term_197393" /> ==
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| <p> 2 [[Samuel]] 14:25 (c) This son of [[David]] may be taken as a type of a human being without GOD. </p> <ul> <li> [[He]] had developed his body to perfection. Those who observed him could see nothing but physical beauty. From head to foot there was no blemish in him. [[With]] all of this, however, his heart was wicked. </li> <li> He hated his father David who was GOD's chosen king. </li> <li> He refused and rejected GOD's plan and purpose in regard to Solomon. </li> <li> He was fit for neither [[Heaven]] nor earth, and so he died between the two of them on the tree. </li> </ul> <p> [[So]] is the religious hypocrite of today. He presents many aspects of beauty and characteristics of loveliness, yet his heart is not right with GOD. </p> <p> 2 Samuel 15:2 (c) [[In]] this passage [[Absalom]] is a type of the ingratitude and infidelity of professing [[Christians]] who are not really saved. When the test came he proved to be an enemy of GOD's king, and of GOD's program. He did not take his place on GOD's side. He wanted to assert his own sufficiency and his own supremacy. </p>
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| == Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_14980" /> ==
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| <p> Ab´salom (father of peace) the third son of David, and his only son by Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of [[Geshur]] (2 [[Samuel]] 3:3). [[He]] was deemed the handsomest man in the kingdom; and was particularly noted for the profusion of his beautiful hair, which appears to have been regarded with great admiration. David's other child by [[Maachah]] was a daughter named Tamar, who was also very beautiful. She became the object of lustful regard to her half-brother Amnon, David's eldest son; and was violated by him. [[In]] all cases where polygamy is allowed, we find that the honor of a sister is in the guardianship of her full brother, more even than in that of her father, whose interest in her is considered less peculiar and intimate. We trace this notion even in the time of [[Jacob]] (Genesis 34:6; [[Genesis]] 34:13; Genesis 34:25, sqq.). [[So]] in this case the wrong of [[Tamar]] was taken up by Absalom, who kept her secluded in his own house, and said nothing for the present, but brooded silently over the wrong he had sustained and the vengeance which devolved upon him. It was not until two years had passed that [[Absalom]] found opportunity for the bloody revenge he had meditated. He then held a great sheep-shearing feast at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, to which he invited all the king's sons. [[Amnon]] attended among the other princes; and, when they were warm with wine, he was slain by the servants of Absalom, according to the previous directions of their master. Absalom then hastened to Geshur, and remained there three years with his father-in-law, king Talmai. </p> <p> Now Absalom, with all his faults, was eminently dear to the heart of his father, who mourned every day after the banished fratricide. [[His]] secret wishes to have home his beloved though guilty son were however discerned by Joab, who employed a clever woman of [[Tekoah]] to lay a supposed case before him for judgment; and she applied the anticipated decision so adroitly to the case of Absalom, that the king discovered the object, and detected the interposition of Joab. [[Regarding]] this as in some degree expressing the sanction of public opinion, [[David]] gladly commissioned [[Joab]] to 'call home his banished.' Absalom returned; but David, still mindful of his duties as a king and father, controlled the impulse of his feelings, and declined to admit him to his presence. After two years, however, Absalom, impatient of his disgrace, found means to compel the attention of Joab to his case; and through his means a complete reconciliation with the king was effected (2 Samuel 13-14). </p> <p> Absalom was now, by the death of his elder brothers, Amnon and Chileab, become the eldest surviving son of David, and heir apparent to the throne. But under the peculiar theocratic institutions of the Hebrews, the [[Divine]] king reserved the power of bestowing the crown on any person whom he might prefer. The house of David was now established as the reigning dynasty, and out of his family [[Solomon]] had been selected by [[God]] as the successor of his father. In this fact, which was probably well known to the mass of the nation, we have a clear motive for the rebellion of Absalom, who wished to secure the throne, which he deemed to be his by the laws of primogeniture, during the lifetime of his father, while the destined successor was yet a child. </p> <p> The fine person of Absalom, his superior birth, and his natural claim, pre-disposed the people to regard his pretensions with favor: and this pre-disposition was strengthened by the condescending sympathy with which he accosted the suitors who repaired for justice or favor to the royal audience, combined with the state and attendance with which, as the heir apparent, he appeared in public. [[By]] these influences 'he stole the hearts of the men of Israel;' and when at length, four years after his return from Geshur, he repaired to Hebron, and there proclaimed himself king, the great body of the people declared for him. So strong ran the tide of opinion in his favor, that David found it expedient to quit [[Jerusalem]] and retire to Mahanaim, beyond the Jordan. </p> <p> When Absalom heard of this, he proceeded to Jerusalem and took possession of the throne without opposition. [[Among]] those who had joined him was Ahithophel, who had been David's counselor, and whose profound sagacity caused his counsels to be regarded like oracles in Israel. This defection alarmed David more than any other circumstance, and he persuaded his friend [[Hushai]] to go and join Absalom, in the hope that he might be made instrumental in turning the sagacious counsels of [[Ahithophel]] to foolishness. The first piece of advice which Ahithophel gave Absalom was, that he should publicly take possession of that portion of his father's harem which had been left behind in Jerusalem. This was not only a mode by which the succession of the throne might be confirmed [ABISHAG], but in the present case this villainous measure would dispose the people to throw themselves the more unreservedly into his cause, from the assurance that no possibility of reconciliation between him and his father remained. Hushai had not then arrived. [[Soon]] after he came, when a council of war was held to consider the course of operations to be taken against David, Ahithophel counseled that the king should be pursued that very night, and smitten, while he was 'weary and weak handed, and before he had time to recover strength.' Hushai, however, whose object was to gain time for David, speciously urged, from the known valor of the king, the possibility and fatal consequences of a defeat, and advised that all [[Israel]] should be assembled against him in such force as it would be impossible for him to withstand. [[Fatally]] for Absalom, the counsel of Hushai was preferred to that of Ahithophel; and time was thus given to enable the king to collect his resources. A large force was soon raised, which he properly organized and separated into three divisions, commanded severally by Joab, Abishai, and [[Ittai]] of Gath. The king himself intended to take the chief command; but the people refused to allow him to risk his valued life, and the command then devolved upon Joab. The battle took place in the borders of the forest of Ephraim; and the tactics of Joab, in drawing the enemy into the wood, and there hemming them in, so that they were destroyed with ease, eventually, under the providence of God, decided the action against Absalom. [[Twenty]] thousand of his troops were slain, and the rest fled to their homes. Absalom himself fled on a swift mule; but as he went, the boughs of a terebinth tree caught the long hair in which he gloried, and he was left suspended there. The charge which David had given to the troops to respect the life of Absalom prevented any one from slaying him: but when Joab heard of it, he hastened to the spot, and pierced him through with three darts. His body was then taken down and cast into a pit there in the forest, and a heap of stones was raised upon it. </p> <p> David's fondness for Absalom was unextinguished by all that had passed; and no sooner did he hear that his son was dead, than he retired to his chamber and gave vent to his paternal anguish in the most bitter wailings—'O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! I would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!' The consequences might have been most dangerous, had not Joab gone up to him, and, after sharply rebuking him for thus discouraging those who had risked their lives in his cause, induced him to go down and cheer the returning warriors by his presence (2 Samuel 13:1 to 2 Samuel 19:8). </p>
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| == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_17137" /> ==
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| <p> (Heb. Abshalom', אִבְשָׁלוֹם , fully Abishalom', אֲבְישָׁלוֹם, 1 Kings 15:2; 1 Kings 15:10, father of peace, i.e. peaceful; Sept. Ἀβεσσαλώμ, Josephus, Ἀψάλωμος, Ant. 14, 4, 4), the name of three men. </p> <p> 1. The third son of David, and his only one (comp. 1 Kings 1:6) by Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of [[Geshur]] ( 2 [[Samuel]] 3:3; 1 [[Chronicles]] 3:2), born B.C. cir. 1050. [[He]] was particularly noted for his personal beauty, especially his profusion of hair, the inconvenient weight of which often (not necessarily "every year," as in the Auth. Vers.) compelled him to cut it off, when it was found to weigh "200 shekels after the king's weight" — an amount variously estimated from 112 ounces (Geddes) to 71 ounces (A. Clarke) , and, at least, designating an extraordinary quantity (2 Samuel 14:25-26; see [[Journal]] de Trevoux. 1702, p. 176; Diedrichs, Ueb. d. Haare Absalom's, Gott. 1776; Handb. d. A. T. p. 142 sq.; Bochart, Opp. 2, 384). </p> <p> David's other child by [[Maacah]] was a daughter named Tamar, who was also very beautiful. She became the object of lustful regard to her half- brother Amnon, David's eldest son; and was violated by him, in pursuance of a plot suggested by the artful [[Jonadab]] ( 2 Samuel 13:1 -20), B.C. cir. 1033. [[See]] AMNON. [[In]] all cases where polygamy is allowed we find that the honor of a sister is in the guardianship of her full brother, more even than in that of her father, whose interest in her is considered less peculiar and intimate (see Niebuhr, Beschr. p. 39). We trace this notion even in the time of [[Jacob]] (Genesis 34:6; [[Genesis]] 34:13 ; Genesis 34: 25 sq.). [[So]] in this case the wrong of [[Tamar]] was taken up by Absalom, who kept her secluded in his own house, and brooded silently over the injury he had sustained. It was not until two years had passed that [[Absalom]] found opportunity for the bloody revenge he had meditated, He then held a great sheep-shearing at Baal-hazoi near Ephraim, to which he invited all the king's sons and, to lull suspicion, he also solicited the presence of his father. [[As]] he expected, [[David]] declined for himself, but allowed [[Amnon]] and the other princes to attend. They feasted together; and when they were warm with wine Amnon was set upon and slain by the servants of Absalom, according to the previous directions of their master. The others fled to Jerusalem, filling the king with grief and horror by the tidings which they brought. Absalom hastened to Geshur, and remained there three years with his grandfather, king [[Talmai]] (2 Samuel 13:23-38). (See [[Geshur]]). < /p> <p> Absalom, with all his faults, was eminently dear to his father. David mourned every day after the banished fratricide, whom a regard for public opinion and a just horror of his crime forbade him to recall. [[His]] secret wishes to have home his beloved though guilty son were, however, discerned by Joab, who employed a clever woman of [[Tekoah]] to lay a supposed case before him for judgment; and she applied the anticipated decision so adroitly to the case of Absalom, that the king discovered the object and detected the interposition of Joab. [[Regarding]] this as in some degree expressing the sanction of public opinion, David gladly commissioned [[Joab]] to "call home his banished." </ p> <p> Absalom returned; but David controlled his feelings, and declined to admit him to his presence. After two years, however, Absalom, impatient of his disgrace, found means to compel the attention of Joab to his case; and through him a complete reconciliation was thus effected, and the father once more indulged himself with the presence of his son (2 Samuel 13:39; 2 Samuel 14:33), B.C. cir. 1027. [[Scarcely]] had he returned when he began to cherish aspirations to the throne, which he must have known was already pledged to another (see 2 Samuel 7:12). His reckless ambition was probably only quickened by the fear lest Bathsheba's child should supplant him in the succession, to which he would feel himself entitled, as of royal birth on his mother's side as well as his father's, and as being now David's eldest surviving son, since we may infer that the second son, Chileab, as dead, from no mention being made of him after 2 Samuel 3:3. It is harder to account for his temporary success, and the imminent danger which befell so powerful, a government as his father's. The sin with [[Bathsheba]] had probably weakened David's moral and religious hold upon the people; and as he grew older he may have become less attentive to individual complaints, and that personal administration of justice which was one of an [[Eastern]] king's chief duties. The populace were disposed to regard Absalom's pretensions with favor; and by many arts he so succeeded in winning their affections that when, four years (the text has erroneously 40 years; comp. Josephus, Ant. 7:9, 1; see Kennicott, Diss. p. 367; Ewald, Isr. Gesch. 2, 637) after his return from Geshur, he repaired to Hebron, and there proclaimed himself king, the great body of the people declared for him. It is probable that the great tribe of [[Judah]] had taken some offense at David's government, perhaps from finding themselves completely merged in one united Israel; and that they hoped secretly for pre-eminence under the less wise and liberal rule of his son. [[Thus]] Absalom selects Hebron, the old capital of Judah (now supplanted by Jerusalem), as the scene of the outbreak; Amasa, his chief captain, and [[Ahithophel]] of Giloh, his principal counsellor, are both of Judah, and, after the rebellion was crushed, we see signs of ill-feeling between Judah and the other tribes (19, 41). </p> <p> But whatever the causes may have been, the revolt was at first completely successful. David found it expedient to quit [[Jerusalem]] and retire to Mahanaim, beyond the Jordan. When Absalom heard of this, he proceeded to Jerusalem and took possession of the throne without opposition. [[Among]] those who had joined him was Ahithophel, who had been David's counsellor, and whose profound sagacity caused his counsels to be regarded like oracles in Israel. This defection alarmed David more than any other single circumstance in the affair, and he persuaded his friend [[Hushai]] to go and join Absalom, in the hope that he might be made instrumental in turning the sagacious counsels of Ahithophel to foolishness. The first piece of advice which Ahithophel gave Absalom was that he should publicly take possession of that portion of his father's harem which had been left behind in Jerusalem; thus fulfilling Nathan's prophecy ( 2 Samuel 13:11) . This was not only a mode by which the succession to the throne might be confirmed [ (See [[Abishag]]); comp. Herodotus, 3, 68], but in the present case, as suggested by the wily counsellor, this villainous measure would dispose the people to throw themselves the more unreservedly into his cause, from the assurance that no possibility of reconcilement between him and his father remained. But David had left friends who watched over his interests. Hushai had not then arrived. [[Soon]] after he came, when a council of war was held to consider the course. of operations to be taken against David. Ahithophel counselled that the king should be pursued that very night, and smitten while he was "weary and weak handed, and before he had time to recover strength." Hushai, however, whose object was to gain time for David, speciously urged, from the known valor of the king, the possibility and disastrous consequences of a defeat, and advised that all [[Israel]] should be assembled against him in such force as it would be impossible for him to withstand. [[Fatally]] for Absalom, the counsel of Hushai was preferred to that of Ahithophel; and time was thus afforded for the king, by the help of his influential followers, to collect his resources, as well as for the people to reflect upon the undertaking in which so many of them had embarked. David soon raised a large force, which he properly organized and separated into three divisions, commanded severally by Joab, Abishai, and [[ Ittai]] of Gath. </p> <p> The king himself intended to take the chief command; but the people refused to allow him to risk his valued life, and the command then devolved upon Joab. The battle took place in the borders of the forest of Ephraim; and the tactics of Joab, in drawing the enemy into the wood, and there hemming them in, so that they were destroyed with ease, eventually, under the providence of God, decided the action against Absalom. [[Twenty]] thousand of his troops were slain, and the rest fled to their homes. Absalom himself fled on a swift mule; but as he went, the boughs of a terebinth (or oak; see Thomson's [[Land]] and Book, 1, 374; 2:234) tree caught the long hair in which he gloried, and he was left suspended there (comp. Josephus, Ant. 7, 10, 2; Celsii Hierob. 1, 43). The charge which David had given to the troops to respect the life of Absalom prevented any one from slaying him; but when Joab heard of it, he hastened to the spot and pierced him through with three darts. His body was then taken down and cast into a pit there in the forest, and a heap of stones was raised upon it as a sign of abhorrence (see Thomson, ibid. 2, 234). David's fondness for Absalom was unextinguished by all that had passed; and as he sat, awaiting tidings of the battle, at the gate of Mahanaim, he was probably more anxious to learn that Absalom lived than that the battle was gained; and no sooner did he hear that Absalom was dead, than he retired to the chamber above the gate, to give vent to his paternal anguish. The victors, as they returned, slunk into the town like criminals when they heard the bitter wailings of the king: "O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would [[God]] I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" The consequences of this weakness might have been most dangerous, had net Joab gone up to him, and, after sharply rebuking him for thus discouraging those who had risked their lives in his cause, induced him to go down and cheer the returning warriors by his presence (2 Samuel 15:1; 2 Samuel 19:8; comp. Psalms 3:1-8, title), B.C. cir. 1023. </p> <p> Absalom is elsewhere mentioned only in 2 S. m. 20, 6; 1 Kings 2:7; 1 Kings 2:28; 1 Kings 15:2; 1 Kings 15:10; 2 Chronicles 11: 20-21; from the last two of which passages he appears to have left only a daughter (having lost three sons, 2 Samuel 14:27; comp. 18:18), who was the grandmother of [[Abijah]] (q.v.). See, generally, Niemeyer, Charakt. 4, 319 sq.; Kitto, [[Daily]] [[Bible]] Illust. in loc.; Debaeza, Com. Allegor. p. 5; Evans, Script. Biog. p. 1; Lindsay, Lect. 2; Dietric, Antiq. p. 353; Laurie, Lect. p. 68; Harris, Works, p. 209; Spencer, Sermons, p. 273; Simeon, Works, 3, 281, 294; Dibdin, ‘ Sermons, 3, 410; Williams, Sermons, 2, 190. (See [[David]]); (See [[Joab]]) . </p> | |
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| == The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_67095" /> ==
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| <p> A son of David, who rebelled against his father, and at whose death [[David]] gave vent to a bitter wail of grief. A name given by Dryden to the [[Duke]] of Monmouth, son of [[Charles]] II. </p>
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| ==References == | | ==References == |
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| <ref name="term_15425"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/absalom Absalom from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_475"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/absalom+(2) Absalom from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_18354"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/bridgeway-bible-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Bridgeway Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_30412"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_34390"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_38443"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_45031"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hitchcock-s-bible-names/absalom Absalom from Hitchcock's Bible Names]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_47436"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hawker-s-poor-man-s-concordance-and-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_49304"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/absalom Absalom from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_64766"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_69573"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/absalom Absalom from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_71351"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_80099"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/absalom Absalom from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_197232"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/whyte-s-dictionary-of-bible-characters/absalom Absalom from Whyte's Dictionary of Bible Characters]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_197393"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/wilson-s-dictionary-of-bible-types/absalom Absalom from Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_14980"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/absalom Absalom from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_17137"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/absalom Absalom from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_67095"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/the-nuttall-encyclopedia/absalom Absalom from The Nuttall Encyclopedia]</ref>
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| </references> | | </references> |
