Absalom Instigates Civil War

15 Sometime later, Absalom acquired a chariot equipped with horses and recruited^[a] 50 men to accompany^[b] him.^{[c] 2} Then he^[d] would get up early, stand near the passageway to the palace^[e] gate, and when anyone arrived to file a legal complaint for a hearing before the king, Absalom would call to him and ask, “You’re from what city?” If^[f] he replied, “Your servant is from one of Israel’s tribes,” ³ Absalom would respond, “Look, your claims are valid and defensible, but nobody will listen to you on behalf of the king. ⁴ Who will appoint me to be a judge in the land? When anyone arrived to file a legal complaint or other cause, he could approach me for justice and I would settle it!” ⁵ Furthermore, if a man approached him to bow down in front of him, he would put out his hand, grab him, and embrace him. ⁶ By doing all of this to anyone who came to the king for a hearing, Absalom stole the loyalty^[g] of the men of Israel.

⁷ And so it was that forty^[h] years after Israel had demanded a king,^[i] Absalom asked the king, “Please let me go to Hebron so I can pay my vow that I made to the Lord, ⁸ because when I was living at Geshur in Aram, your servant made this solemn promise:^[j] ‘If the Lord ever brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’”

⁹ The king replied to him, “Go in peace!” So Absalom^[k] got up and left for Hebron.

¹⁰ But Absalom sent agents throughout all of the tribes of Israel, telling them, “When you hear the sound of the battle trumpet, you’re to announce that Absalom is king in Hebron.” ¹¹ Meanwhile, 200 men left Jerusalem with Absalom. They had been invited to go along, but were innocent, not knowing anything about what was happening.^{[l] 12} Absalom also sent for Ahithophel^[m] the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come^[n] from his home town of Giloh while Absalom^[o] was presenting the sacrificial offerings. And so the conspiracy widened, because the common people increasingly sided with Absalom.