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2 SAM UEL 19
page 289
Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake, please spare
young Absalom.’ 13 And if I had betrayed the
king by killing his son—and the king would certainly find out who did it—you yourself would
be the first to abandon me.”
14 “Enough of this nonsense,” Joab said. Then
he took three daggers and plunged them into
Absalom’s heart as he dangled, still alive, in the
great tree. 15 Ten of Joab’s young armor bearers
then surrounded Absalom and killed him.
16 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and his men
returned from chasing the army of Israel. 17 They
threw Absalom’s body into a deep pit in the forest and piled a great heap of stones over it. And
all Israel fled to their homes.
18 During his lifetime, Absalom had built a
monument to himself in the King’s Valley, for
he said, “I have no son to carry on my name.”
He named the monument after himself, and it
is known as Absalom’s Monument to this day.
David Mourns Absalom’s Death
19 Then Zadok’s son Ahimaaz said, “Let me run
to the king with the good news that the Lord has
rescued him from his enemies.”
20 “No,” Joab told him, “it wouldn’t be good
news to the king that his son is dead. You can
be my messenger another time, but not today.”
21 Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia,*
“Go tell the king what you have seen.” The man
bowed and ran off.
22 But Ahimaaz continued to plead with Joab,
“Whatever happens, please let me go, too.”
“Why should you go, my son?” Joab replied.
“There will be no reward for your news.”
23 “Yes, but let me go anyway,” he begged.
Joab finally said, “All right, go ahead.” So
Ahimaaz took the less demanding route by way
of the plain and ran to Mahanaim ahead of the
Ethiopian.
24 While David was sitting between the inner
and outer gates of the town, the watchman
climbed to the roof of the gateway by the wall.
As he looked, he saw a lone man running toward them. 25 He shouted the news down to
David, and the king replied, “If he is alone, he
has news.”
As the messenger came closer, 26 the watchman saw another man running toward them.
He shouted down, “Here comes another one!”
The king replied, “He also will have news.”
27 “The first man runs like Ahimaaz son of
Zadok,” the watchman said.
“He is a good man and comes with good
news,” the king replied.
28 Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “Everything is all right!” He bowed before the king
with his face to the ground and said, “Praise
18:21 Hebrew from Cush; similarly in 18:23, 31, 32.
18:33 Verse 18:33 is numbered 19:1 in Hebrew text.
19:1 Verses 19:1-43 are numbered 19:2-44 in Hebrew text.
to the Lord your God, who has handed over
the rebels who dared to stand against my lord
the king.”
29 “What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?”
Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab told me to
come, there was a lot of commotion. But I didn’t
know what was happening.”
30 “Wait here,” the king told him. So Ahimaaz
stepped aside.
31 Then the man from Ethiopia arrived and
said, “I have good news for my lord the king.
Today the Lord has rescued you from all those
who rebelled against you.”
32 “What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?”
And the Ethiopian replied, “May all of your
enemies, my lord the king, both now and in the
future, share the fate of that young man!”
33*The king was overcome with emotion. He
went up to the room over the gateway and burst
into tears. And as he went, he cried, “O my son
Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I
had died instead of you! O Absalom, my son,
my son.”
Joab Rebukes the King
1*Word soon reached Joab that the king
was weeping and mourning for Absalom. 2 As all the people heard of the king’s
deep grief for his son, the joy of that day’s victory was turned into deep sadness. 3 They crept
back into the town that day as though they were
ashamed and had deserted in battle. 4 The king
covered his face with his hands and kept on crying, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son,
my son!”
5 Then Joab went to the king’s room and said
to him, “We saved your life today and the lives
of your sons, your daughters, and your wives
and concubines. Yet you act like this, making
us feel ashamed of ourselves. 6 You seem to love
those who hate you and hate those who love
you. You have made it clear today that your
commanders and troops mean nothing to you.
It seems that if Absalom had lived and all of us
had died, you would be pleased. 7 Now go out
there and congratulate your troops, for I swear
by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a single
one of them will remain here tonight. Then you
will be worse off than ever before.”
8 So the king went out and took his seat at
the town gate, and as the news spread throughout the town that he was there, everyone went
to him.
Meanwhile, the Israelites who had supported
Absalom fled to their homes. 9 And throughout
all the tribes of Israel there was much discussion and argument going on. The people were
saying, “The king rescued us from our enemies
and saved us from the Philistines, but Absalom
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