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2 Samuel 18

ARC · Chapter 18/24

1E David contou o povo que tinha comsigo, e poz sobre elles capitães de cento.

2E David enviou o povo, um terço debaixo da mão de Joab, e outro terço debaixo da mão de Abisai, filho de Zeruia, irmão de Joab, e outro terço debaixo da mão de Ittai, o getheo; e disse o rei ao povo: Eu tambem juntamente sairei comvosco.

3Porém o povo disse: Não sairás, porque, se formos obrigados a fugir, não porão o coração em nós; e, ainda que metade de nós morra, não porão o coração em nós, porque ainda, taes como nós somos, ajuntarás dez mil: melhor será pois que da cidade nos sirvas de soccorro.

4Então David lhes disse: O que bem parecer aos vossos olhos, farei. E o rei se poz da banda da porta e todo o povo saiu em centenas e em milhares.

5E o rei deu ordem a Joab, e a Abisai, e a Ittai, dizendo: Brandamente tratae por amor de mim ao mancebo, a Absalão. E todo o povo ouviu quando o rei deu ordem a todos os capitães ácerca de Absalão.

6Saiu pois o povo ao campo, a encontrar-se com Israel, e deu-se a batalha no bosque d'Ephraim.

7E ali foi ferido o povo d'Israel, diante dos servos de David: e n'aquelle mesmo dia houve ali uma grande derrota de vinte mil.

8Porque ali se derramou a batalha sobre a face de toda aquella terra; e foram mais os do povo que consumiu o bosque do que os que a espada consumiu n'aquelle dia.

9E Absalão se encontrou com os servos de David; e Absalão ia montado n'um mulo; e, entrando o mulo debaixo da espessura doe ramos d'um grande carvalho, pegou-se-lhe a cabeça no carvalho, e ficou pendurado entre o céu e a terra: e o mulo, que estava debaixo d'elle, passou adiante.

10O que vendo um homem, o fez saber a Joab, e disse: Eis que vi a Absalão pendurado d'um carvalho.

11Então disse Joab ao homem que lh'o fizera saber: Pois que o viste, porque o não feriste logo ali em terra? E forçoso seria o eu dar-te dez moedas de prata e um cinto.

12Disse porém aquelle homem a Joab: Ainda que eu podesse pesar nas minhas mãos mil moedas de prata, não estenderia a minha mão contra o filho do rei, pois bem ouvimos que o rei te deu ordem a ti, e a Abisai, e a Ittai, dizendo: Guardae, cada um de vós, de tocar ao mancebo, a Absalão.

13Ainda que commettesse mentira a risco da minha vida, nem por isso coisa nenhuma se esconderia ao rei; e tu mesmo te opporias.

14Então disse Joab: Não me demorarei assim comtigo aqui. E tomou tres dardos, e traspassou com elles o coração de Absalão, estando elle ainda vivo no meio do carvalho.

15E o cercaram dez mancebos, que levavam as armas de Joab. E feriram a Absalão, e o mataram.

16Então tocou Joab a buzina, e voltou o povo de perseguir a Israel, porque Joab deteve o povo.

17E tomaram a Absalão, e o lançaram no bosque, n'uma grande cova, e levantaram sobre elle um mui grande montão de pedras: e todo o Israel fugiu, cada um para a sua tenda.

18Ora Absalão, quando ainda vivia, tinha tomado e levantado para si uma columna, que está no valle do rei, porque dizia: Filho nenhum tenho para conservar a memoria do meu nome. E chamou aquella columna pelo seu proprio. nome; pelo que até ao dia d'hoje se chama o Pilar d'Absalão.

19Então disse Ahimaas, filho de Zadok: Deixa-me correr, e denunciarei ao rei que já o Senhor o vingou da mão de seus inimigos.

20Mas Joab lhe disse: Tu não serás hoje o portador de novas, porém outro dia as levarás; mas hoje não darás a nova, porque é morto o filho do rei

21E disse Joab a Cusi: Vae tu, e dize ao rei o que viste. E Cusi se inclinou a Joab, e correu.

22E proseguiu Ahimaas, filho de Zadok, e disse a Joab: Seja o que fôr, deixa-me tambem correr após Cusi. E disse Joab: Para que agora correrias tu, meu filho, pois não tens mensagem conveniente?

23Seja o que fôr, disse Ahimaas, correrei. E Joab lhe disse: Corre. E Ahimaas correu pelo caminho da planicie, e passou a Cusi.

24E David estava assentado entre as duas portas; e a sentinella subiu ao terraço da porta junto ao muro: e levantou os olhos, e olhou, e eis que um homem corria só.

25Gritou pois a sentinella, e o disse ao rei: Se vem só, ha novas em sua bocca. E vinha andando e chegando.

26Então viu a sentinella outro homem que corria, e a sentinella gritou ao porteiro, e disse: Eis que lá vem outro homem correndo só. Então disse o rei: Tambem traz este novas.

27Disse mais a sentinella: Vejo o correr do primeiro, que parece ser o correr de Ahimaas, filho de Zadok. Então disse o rei: Este é homem de bem, e virá com boas novas.

28Gritou pois Ahimaas, e disse ao rei: Paz. E inclinou-se ao rei com o rosto em terra, e disse: Bemdito seja o Senhor, que entregou os homens que levantaram a mão contra o rei meu senhor.

29Então disse o rei: Vae bem com o mancebo, com Absalão? E disse Ahimaas: Vi um grande alvoroço, quando Joab mandou o servo do rei, e a mim teu servo; porém não sei o que era.

30E disse o rei: Vira-te, e põe-te aqui. E virou-se, e parou.

31E eis que vinha Cusi: e disse Cusi: Annunciar-se-ha ao rei meu senhor que hoje o Senhor te julgou da mão de todos os que se levantaram contra ti.

32Então disse o rei a Cusi: Vae bem com o mancebo, com Absalão? E disse Cusi: Sejam como aquelle mancebo os inimigos do rei meu senhor, e todos os que se levantam contra ti para mal.

33Então o rei se perturbou, e subiu á sala que estava por cima da porta, e chorou: e andando, dizia assim: Meu filho Absalão, meu filho, meu filho, Absalão! quem me dera que eu morrera por ti, Absalão, meu filho, meu filho!

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The decisive battle takes place in the forest of Ephraim between David's forces and Absalom's. Absalom is caught hanging by his hair in an oak tree and is killed by Joab, despite David's explicit order to spare him. David weeps bitterly upon learning of his son's death.

Explanation

Absalom's death ends the rebellion, but in tragic fashion: Joab disobeys the king's direct order because he understands (correctly, from a political standpoint) that a living Absalom would remain a threat. David's lament — 'O my son Absalom, would God I had died for thee' — is one of the most moving expressions of a father's grief in the Bible, showing that even a father's love for a rebellious and violent son does not simply vanish. It is a realistic portrait of how political victories can coexist with deep personal devastation.

Fun facts

  • The poetic irony is striking: Absalom's hair, a symbol of his vanity and beauty (mentioned in chapter 14), is exactly what causes his death, trapping him in the tree.
  • The monument Absalom had set up for himself, since he had no son to preserve his name (v. 18), was reportedly still pointed out to visitors centuries later, according to ancient Jewish tradition.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Samuel 18:1David organizes his army, appointing captains over groups of a hundred men before the decisive battle against Absalom.
  2. 2 Samuel 18:2David divides the army into three: one third under Joab, another under Abishai, and another under Ittai, and announces that he will go with them into battle.
  3. 2 Samuel 18:3The people persuade David not to go into combat, arguing that he is worth ten thousand of them and that his risking himself could jeopardize everything.
  4. 2 Samuel 18:4David agrees to stay, and the army goes out organized by hundreds and thousands while he remains by the city gate.
  5. 2 Samuel 18:5David publicly orders Joab, Abishai, and Ittai to deal gently with Absalom, for his sake, and the whole army hears this order.
  6. 2 Samuel 18:6David’s army goes out into the field and meets Israel in the forest of Ephraim.
  7. 2 Samuel 18:7Absalom’s army is defeated there, with a loss of twenty thousand men in that single day.
  8. 2 Samuel 18:8The battle spreads across the whole region, and the forest itself ends up killing more people than the sword did that day.
  9. 2 Samuel 18:9The text simply says that Absalom’s “head caught hold” of the oak’s branches while the mule kept going — it does not specify that it was by his hair, although that is the most famous traditional reading, reinforced by the fact that chapter 14 had just praised how heavy his hair was.
  10. 2 Samuel 18:10A man spots Absalom hanging in the oak and goes to tell Joab what he saw.
  11. 2 Samuel 18:11Joab rebukes the man for not killing Absalom on the spot, promising he would have given him silver and a belt as a reward.
  12. 2 Samuel 18:12The man refuses, saying that not even for a thousand pieces of silver would he raise his hand against the king’s son, recalling David’s public order to spare him.
  13. 2 Samuel 18:13The man argues that if he had betrayed that order, nothing would stay hidden from the king, and Joab himself would turn against him.
  14. 2 Samuel 18:14Joab thrusts three darts into Absalom while he is still alive, directly against David’s explicit order to deal gently with him — Joab decides, on his own, that a living Absalom was too dangerous for the kingdom, even at the cost of disobeying the king.
  15. 2 Samuel 18:15Ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surround Absalom, still hanging, and strike him until he is completely dead.
  16. 2 Samuel 18:16Joab sounds the trumpet, and the army stops pursuing Israel, ending the battle.
  17. 2 Samuel 18:17Absalom’s body is thrown into a great pit in the forest and covered with a large heap of stones, while all Israel flees, each to his own tent.
  18. 2 Samuel 18:18Absalom had set up a monument in his lifetime because he said he had no son to keep his name alive — a claim that sits in tension with chapter 14, which had already mentioned three sons and a daughter of his; perhaps those sons died young, but the text does not explain the discrepancy.
  19. 2 Samuel 18:19Ahimaaz, son of the priest Zadok, asks Joab for permission to run and carry the news of the victory to David.
  20. 2 Samuel 18:20Joab refuses to let him carry the news that day, because it would mean telling David that the king’s son had died.
  21. 2 Samuel 18:21Joab sends a man named Cushi to carry the news to David, and he sets off running after bowing.
  22. 2 Samuel 18:22Ahimaaz insists on running too, even without a complete message to deliver, and Joab asks why he wants to go.
  23. 2 Samuel 18:23Ahimaaz insists he will run anyway, and Joab lets him go; he ends up passing Cushi by the way of the plain.
  24. 2 Samuel 18:24David is sitting between the gates of the city, while a watchman on the wall spots a man running alone.
  25. 2 Samuel 18:25The watchman tells the king, who reasons that a lone messenger usually brings good news.
  26. 2 Samuel 18:26The watchman spots another man running, and the king concludes that he too brings some news.
  27. 2 Samuel 18:27The watchman recognizes Ahimaaz’s way of running, and David remarks that he is a good man and must be bringing good news.
  28. 2 Samuel 18:28Ahimaaz arrives shouting “All is well” and bows before the king, announcing that the Lord had delivered up the enemies who had risen against him.
  29. 2 Samuel 18:29David immediately asks if Absalom is safe, and Ahimaaz pretends not to know the details of the commotion he saw.
  30. 2 Samuel 18:30The king asks Ahimaaz to step aside and wait, without answering directly about Absalom.
  31. 2 Samuel 18:31Cushi arrives and announces that the Lord had judged in the king’s favor, delivering him from all who had risen against him.
  32. 2 Samuel 18:32David asks again if Absalom is safe, and Cushi answers evasively, making it clear, without saying it outright, that he had died.
  33. 2 Samuel 18:33David breaks down, goes up to the chamber over the gate, and weeps, repeating his son’s name: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!” — one of the most human laments in the entire Bible.

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