2 Samuel 18:9-18
World English Bible
9 Absalom happened to meet David’s servants. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the sky and earth; and the mule that was under him went on. 10 A certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.”
11 Joab said to the man who told him, “Behold, you saw it, and why didn’t you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver, and a sash.”
12 The man said to Joab, “Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I still wouldn’t stretch out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware that no one touch the young man Absalom.’ 13 Otherwise if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hidden from the king), then you yourself would have set yourself against me.”
14 Then Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this with you.” He took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the middle of the oak. 15 Ten young men who bore Joab’s armor surrounded and struck Absalom, and killed him. 16 Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; for Joab held the people back. 17 They took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, each to his own tent. 18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar which is in the king’s valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in memory.” He called the pillar after his own name. It is called Absalom’s monument, to this day.
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2 Samuel 18:9-18
International Standard Version
Joab Kills Absalom
9 Absalom happened to run into David’s soldiers. While Absalom was trying to get away on his mule, it ran under the thick branches of a giant oak tree, and Absalom’s head got caught in the tree! As his mule ran out from under him, Absalom was left hanging above the ground. 10 When one of the soldiers saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I saw Absalom stuck in an oak tree!”
11 Joab asked the man who was reporting to him, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you kill him right then and there? I would’ve given you ten pieces[a] of silver and a warrior’s sash!”[b]
12 But the soldier replied to Joab, “I wouldn’t have touched the king’s son even if you dropped 1,000 pieces[c] of silver right into my hands, because we heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Watch how you treat the young man Absalom!’ 13 If I had taken his life,[d] the king would have uncovered everything about it, and you would never have protected me!”
14 “There’s no reason to wait for you!” Joab retorted. Then he took three spears[e] in his hand and stabbed Absalom in the heart while he was still alive, dangling from the branches of[f] the oak tree. 15 Ten young men who served as Joab’s personal assistants then surrounded Absalom, striking him repeatedly and killing him. 16 At this, Joab sounded his battle trumpet and his troops stopped pursuing the other[g] Israelis. 17 Meanwhile, Joab’s army grabbed Absalom’s body, tossed it into a large pit in the forest, and filled it up with a huge pile of rocks. Then the Israelis ran away back to their homes.
18 While Absalom had been living, he had erected a pillar as a monument[h] to himself in King’s Valley because he had been telling himself, “I don’t have a son to carry on my family name.”[i] So he named the pillar after himself—it’s called Absalom’s Monument even today.
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- 2 Samuel 18:11 The Heb. lacks pieces; the unit of payment is unspecified
- 2 Samuel 18:11 Lit. belt; i.e., a commemorative battle decoration
- 2 Samuel 18:12 The Heb. lacks pieces; the unit of payment is unspecified
- 2 Samuel 18:13 Or If I had put my life in jeopardy; i.e. by disobeying David’s order
- 2 Samuel 18:14 Or sticks
- 2 Samuel 18:14 The Heb. lacks the branches of
- 2 Samuel 18:16 The Heb. lacks other
- 2 Samuel 18:18 The Heb. lacks as a monument
- 2 Samuel 18:18 Lit. on memory of my name
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