Absalom

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father of peace
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


ABSALOM (‘father is peace’).—Third son of David, by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2Sa_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 (2Sa_14:29 ff.). Then he assumed the position of heir-apparent (2Sa_15:1; cf. 1Sa_8:11, 1Ki_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 (2Sa_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: 2Sa_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 2Sa_18:18, Absalom had no son: this is more reliable than the statement in 2Sa_14:27. It is said that later generations, following Pro_10:7, always avoided the name Absalom, preferring the form Abishalom (which appears in 1Ki_15:2; 1Ki_15:10).
J. Taylor.
ABSALOM (in Apocr. [Note: Apocrypha, Apocryphal.] ).—1. The father of Mattathias, one of the captains who stood by Jonathan at Hazor (1Ma_11:70 = Jos. [Note: Josephus.] Ant. 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.] Ant. XIII. vi. 4). 2. An envoy sent by the Jews to Lysias (2Ma_11:17).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

("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 (2Sa_13:8; 2Sa_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.
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 2Sa_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, Jdg_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 2Sa_3:3).
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 (2Sa_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 (1Sa_9:2), and his princely retinue, attracted many (2Sa_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; 2Sa_15:1-6).
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," 2Sa_15:7) years, under the hypocritical pretense of a vow like that of pious Jacob (compare 2Sa_15:8 with Gen_28:20-21); David alludes to the hypocrisy of the rebels in Psa_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 (2Sa_11:8; 2Sa_23:34). Both were of Judah; Amasa became Absalom's general, Ahithophel his counselor. This David felt most keenly (Psa_69:12; Psa_55:12-14; Psa_55:20; Psa_41:9).
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, 1Ki_2:13, etc.), and fulfilling God's threatened retribution of David's adultery in kind (2Sa_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 (2Sa_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, Jdg_12:4) resulted in the defeat of his cumbrous undisciplined host.
His locks, on which he prided himself (Jdg_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 (Jos_7:26; Jos_8:29). After losing his three sons (2Sa_14:27; compare Psa_21:10), he had erected in the king's dale (Gen_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 (1Ki_1:6). Absalom's fair daughter Tamar married Uriel, by whom she had Michaiah or Maachah, wife of Rehoboam and mother of (See ABIJAH.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

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.
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, 2Sa_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.
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, 2Sa_19:10, Absalom crossed the Jordan to attack his father, who by this time had rallied round him a considerable force.
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. Jos_7:26.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

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.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

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 (2Sa_3:2-3; 2Sa_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 (2Sa_13:23-27).
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 (2Sa_13:38; 2Sa_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 (2Sa_14:28-33).
Over the next four years Absalom built up a following for himself among the country people, particularly those from the south (2Sa_15:1-7). He then launched a surprise attack, seizing the throne and forcing David to flee for his life (2Sa_15:8-18; 2Sa_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 (2Sa_15:32-37; 2Sa_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 (2Sa_18:1-15).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

Ab?salom (father of peace) the third son of David, and his only son by Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2Sa_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 (Gen_34:6; Gen_34:13; Gen_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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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 (2Sa_13:1 to 2Sa_19:8).
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

2Sa_14:25 (c) This son of David may be taken as a type of a human being without GOD.
- 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.
- He hated his father David who was GOD's chosen king.
- He refused and rejected GOD's plan and purpose in regard to Solomon.
- He was fit for neither Heaven nor earth, and so he died between the two of them on the tree.
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.

2Sa_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.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.

Absalom
(Heb. Abshalom', אִבְשָׁלוֹם, fully Abishalom', אֲבְישָׁלוֹם, 1Ki_15:2; 1Ki_15:10, father of peace, i.e. peaceful; Sept. Α᾿βεσσαλώμ, Josephus, Α᾿ψάλωμος, Ant. 14, 4, 4), the name of three men.
1. The third son of David, and his only one (comp. 1Ki_1:6) by Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2Sa_3:3; 1Ch_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 (2Sa_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).
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 (2Sa_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 (Gen_34:6; Gen_34:13; Gen_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 (2Sa_13:23-38). SEE GESHUR.
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.”
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 (2Sa_13:39; 2Sa_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 2Sa_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 2Sa_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).
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 (2Sa_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.
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 (2Sa_15:1; 2Sa_19:8; comp. Psa_3:1-8, title), B.C. cir. 1023.
Absalom is elsewhere mentioned only in 2 S. m. 20, 6; 1Ki_2:7; 1Ki_2:28; 1Ki_15:2; 1Ki_15:10; 2Ch_11:20-21; from the last two of which passages he appears to have left only a daughter (having lost three sons, 2Sa_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.
ABSALOMS TOMB. A remarkable monument bearing this name makes a conspicuous figure in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, outside Jerusalem; and it has been noticed and described by almost all travelers. It is close by the lower bridge over the Kedron, and is a square isolated block hewn out from the rocky ledge so as to leave an area or niche around it. The body of this monument is about 24 feet square, and is ornamented on each side with two columns and two half columns of the Ionic order, with pilasters at the corners. The architrave exhibits triglyphs and Doric ornaments. The elevation is about 18 or 20 feet to the top of the architrave, and thus far it is wholly cut from the rock. But the adjacent rock is here not so high as in the adjoining tomb of Zecharias (so called), and therefore the upper part of the tomb has been carried up with mason-work of large stones. This consists, first, of two square layers, of which the upper one is smaller than the lower; and then a small dome or cupola runs up into a low spire, which appears to have spread out a little at the top, like an opening flame. This mason-work is perhaps 20 feet high, giving to the whole an elevation of about 40 feet. There is a small excavated chamber in the body of the tomb, into which a hole had been broken through one of the sides several centuries ago. Its present Mohammedan name is Tantur Faraon (Biblioth. Sac. 1843, p. 34). The old travelers who refer to this tomb, as well as Calmet after them, are satisfied that they find the history of it in 2Sa_18:18, which states that Absalom, having no son, built a monument, to keep his name in remembrance, and that this monument was called “Absalom's Place” (יִד אִבְשָׁלוֹם, Absalom's Hand, as in the margin; Sept. Χεὶρ Α᾿βεσσαλώμ, Vulg. Manus Absalom), that is, index, memorial, or monument. SEE HAND.
Later writers, however, dispute such a connection between this history and any of the existing monuments on this spot. “The style of architecture and embellishment,” writes Dr. Robinson (Bib. Res. 1, 519 sq.), “shows that they are of a later period than most of the other countless sepulchres round about the city, which, with few exceptions, are destitute of architectural ornament. But the foreign ecclesiastics, who crowded to Jerusalem in the fourth century, found these monuments here; and, of course, it became an object to refer them to persons mentioned in the Scriptures. Yet, from that day to this, tradition seems never to have become fully settled as to the individuals whose names they should bear. The Itin. Hieros. in A.D. 333 speaks of the two monolithic monuments as the tombs of Isaiah and Hezekiah. Adamnus, about A.D. 697, mentions only one of these, and calls it the tomb of Jehoshaphat . . . . The historians of the Crusades appear not to have noticed these tombs. The first mention of a tomb of Absalom is by Benjamin of Tudela, who ‘gives to the other the name of king' Uzziah; and from that time to the present day the accounts of travelers have been varying and inconsistent.” Yet so eminent an architect as Prof. Cockerell speaks of this tomb of Absalom as a monument of antiquity, perfectly corresponding with the ancient notices (Athenaeum, Jan. 28, 1843). Notwithstanding the above objections, therefore, we are inclined to identify the site of this monument with that of Scripture. Josephus (Ant. 7, 10, 3) says that it was “a marble pillar in the king's dale [the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which led to “the king's gardens”], two furlongs distant from Jerusalem,” as if it were extant in his day. The simple monolith pillar may naturally have been replaced in after times by a more substantial monument. SEE PILLAR.
It is worthy of remark that the tradition which connects it with Absalom is not a monkish one merely; the Jewish residents likewise, who would not be likely to borrow from Christian legends, have been in the habit from time immemorial of casting a stone at it and spitting, as they pass by it, in order to show their horror at the rebellious conduct of this unnatural son. (See Williams, Holy City, 2, 451; Olin's Travels, 2, 145; Pococke, East, 2, 34; Richter, Wallf. p. 33; Rosenmuller's Ansichten von Palastina, 2, plate 14; Wilson, Lands of Bible, 1, 488; Thomson's Land and Book, 2, 482; Crit. Sac, Thes. Nov. 1, 676; Frith, Palest. photographed, pt. 21).
2. (Sept. Α᾿βεσσάλωμος.) The father of Matathias (1Ma_11:70) and Jonathan (1Ma_13:11), two of the generals under the Maccabees.
3. (Sept. Α᾿βεσσαλώμ.) One of the two Jews sent by Judas Maccabaeus with a petition to the viceroy Lysias (2Ma_11:17, in some “Absalon”).

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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