2 Samuel 18:9

_AND ABSALOM MET THE SERVANTS OF DAVID. AND ABSALOM RODE UPON A 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 HEAVEN AND THE EARTH; AND THE MULE THAT WAS UNDER HIM WENT AWAY._ Absalom met the servants of David - or was overtaken. AND HIS HEAD CAUGHT HOLD OF THE OAK, х_ WAYECHªZAQ_ (H2388) _ RO'SHOW_ (H7218) _ BAA'EELAAH_ (H424)] - and his head caught fast in the terebinth (probably Quercus AEgilops, Valonia oak, for which Gilead and Bashan were famous). 'It is necessary to be continually on one's guard against the branches of trees; and when the hair is worn in large locks floating down the back, as was the case with a young man of the party to which I belonged, any thick boughs interposing in the path might easily

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 18:9. _AND HIS HEAD CAUGHT HOLD OF THE OAK_] It has been supposed that Absalom was caught by the _hair_, but no such thing is intimated in the text. Probably his neck was caught in the fork of a strong bough, and he was nearly dead when Joab found him; for it is said, 2 Samuel 18:14, _he was yet alive_, an expression which intimates he was _nearly_ _dead_....

would seem that the two things which his vain-glory boasted in, the royal mule, and the magnificent head of hair by which he was caught in the “oak” (rather, terebinth or turpentine tree), both contributed to his untimely death....

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 ABSALOM MET THE SERVANTS OF DAVID,.... When his army was routed, he was in such a fright that he knew not which way to flee, and instead of flying from David's men, he fled in the way of them; but none of them attempted to slay him, nor even to stop him, but let him pass by them, knowing David's charge concerning him: AND ABSALOM RODE UPON A MULE; as was common for great personages to do in those days, 2 Samuel 13:29; AND THE MULE WENT UNDER THE THICK BOUGHS OF A GREAT OAK; and running full speed, Absalom could not guide him, nor stop, nor divert him from going under it: AND HIS HEAD CAUGHT HOLD OF THE OAK; either the hair of his head was twisted and entangled in the thick boughs of the oak; or rather his head was jammed into a forked branch of the oak: AND HE WAS TAKEN UP BETWEEN THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH

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)....

TAKEN UP. The tradition about his "hair" comes from Josephus 2 Samuel 10:2)....

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