2 Samuel 18:17

_AND THEY TOOK ABSALOM, AND CAST HIM INTO A GREAT PIT IN THE WOOD, AND LAID A VERY GREAT HEAP OF STONES UPON HIM: AND ALL ISRAEL FLED EVERY ONE TO HIS TENT._ They took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit ... and laid a very great heap of stones. The people of the East indicate their detestation of the memory of an infamous person by throwing stones at the place where he is buried. The heap is increased by the gradual accumulation of stones which passers-by add to it. Absalom would, of course, be stripped of his armour, although nothing is said of it in the sacred narrative. The following appeared a few years ago in all the continental journals, from which it was transferred to the pages of the English newspapers; and it is here submitted to the reader to be received for what it is worth:-`A strange discovery has just been made by Major Pappazolu, of Bucharest-the sword which belonged...

9-18 Let young people look upon Absalom, hanging on a tree, accursed, forsaken of heaven and earth; there let them read the Lord's abhorrence of rebellion against parents. Nothing can preserve men from misery and contempt, but heavenly wisdom and the grace of God....

Verse 2 Samuel 18:17. _AND LAID A VERY GREAT HEAP OF STONES_] This was the method of burying heroes, and even traitors, the heap of stones being designed to perpetuate the memory of the event, whether good or bad. The ancient _cairns_ or heaps of stones, in different parts of the world, are of this kind. The various _tumuli_ or _barrows_ in England are the same as the _cairns_ in different parts of Ireland and Scotland. In the former, _stones_ were not plenty; hence they heaped up great _mounds of earth_....

A GREAT HEAP OF STONES - See the marginal reference. This kind of monument is common to almost all early nations....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 18:1 AND DAVID NUMBERED. The verb really means that he organized his army, and arranged it in companies and divisions. As Absalom gathered all Israel to him, there would be some delay; and David, like a wise general, made use of it for training the brave but undisciplined men who had joined him, chiefly from Gilead. Besides these, he had with him numerous veterans, whose skill and experience would be invaluable in such service. The result was that when the rebels came to close quarters, they had a vast body of men, but David a disciplined force, which, under skilful generalship, scattered Absalom's raw levies with ease. The arrangement into thousands and hundreds was in accordance with the civil divisions (Exodus 18:25), both being,

AND THEY TOOK ABSALOM, AND CAST HIM INTO A GREAT PIT IN THE WOOD,.... In the wood of Ephraim, near to which the battle was fought, and into which Absalom fled, and where he was slain: AND LAID A VERY GREAT HEAP OF STONES UPON HIM: his punishment was very exemplary; he was first hanged on an oak, and then thrust through with darts, and swords, and then covered with stones, 2 Samuel 18:9, pointing to the death that a rebellious son, according to the law, ought to die, Deuteronomy 21:21; though this might be done in honour of him as a king's son; for such "tumuli", or heaps of stones or earth, were used by the ancients as sepulchral monuments, and the larger the more honourable n; Joshua 7:26 and...

8. THE CIVIL WAR AND ABSALOM'S DEATH CHAPTER 18 _ 1. The battle in the forest of Ephraim (2 Samuel 18:1)_ 2. The death of Absalom (2 Samuel 18:9) 3. The tidings of his death and David's grief (2 Samuel 18:19) And now everything is ready for the battle and the victory. The army of David consisted of three divisions, Joab, Abishai and the faithful Ittai had the command. David was ready to go forth with his warriors, but the people refused to let him go. What a testimony they gave concerning him! “Thou art worth ten thousand of us. But of Him, who according to the flesh is the Son of David, we say, “He alone is worthy.” The king then stood by the gate of Mahanaim to see the d

1 SAMUEL 18:1 TO 1 SAMUEL 19:8. DEFEAT AND DEATH OF ABSALOM. DAVID'S GRIEF (J). 2 SAMUEL 18:1. Absalom's followers are defeated with great slaughter. Nothing is known as to the battle-field, the Forest of Ephraim, beyond what may be gathered from this story. Many fugitives lost their lives by falling headlong in the broken, rocky country; some perhaps, especially the wounded died of hunger and exhaustion in these inhospitable tracts, with which they were not familiar. Forest here, as often in England, _e.g._ Ashdown Forest, denotes the kind of country described above, and not a continuous mass of trees (_cf._ Budde)....

HEAP OF STONES. Not. memorial to honour but to warn (Joshua 7:26; Joshua 8:29). See note on 2 Samuel 18:18....

Absalom's Death 9. _And Absalom_, &c. AND ABSALOM HAPPENED TO FIND HIMSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF DAVID'S SERVANTS: NOW ABSALOM WAS RIDING UPON HIS MULE, AND THE MULE, &c. In the course of the flight, Absalom found himself among enemies: he turned to escape into the denser part of the forest. The mule which he rode perhaps David's own was a mark of royalty (1 Kings 1:33; 1 Kings 1:38). _a great oak_ THE GREAT TEREBINTH; the article seems to shew that the tree was well known in after times. The Heb. _êlah_is generally said to denote the terebinth or turpentine tree, which is not unlike the oak in general appearance: but in the forests on the E. of Jordan, oaks are far more common than terebinths, and some kind of oak may be meant. his head caught hold of th