Discovery Box2 Samuel 18:13-33
Context18:13 If I had acted at risk of my own life 1 – and nothing is hidden from the king! – you would have abandoned me.” 2
18:14 Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. 3 18:15 Then ten soldiers who were Joab’s armor bearers struck Absalom and finished him off.
18:16 Then Joab blew the trumpet 4 and the army turned back from chasing Israel, for Joab had called for the army to halt. 18:17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and stacked a huge pile of stones over him. In the meantime all the Israelite soldiers fled to their homes. 5
18:18 Prior to this 6 Absalom had set up a monument 7 and dedicated it to himself in the King’s Valley, reasoning “I have no son who will carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and to this day it is known as Absalom’s Memorial.
18:19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and give the king the good news that the Lord has vindicated him before his enemies.” 8 18:20 But Joab said to him, “You will not be a bearer of good news today. You will bear good news some other day, but not today, 9 for the king’s son is dead.”
18:21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” After bowing to Joab, the Cushite ran off. 18:22 Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again spoke to Joab, “Whatever happens, let me go after the Cushite.” But Joab said, “Why is it that you want to go, my son? You have no good news that will bring you a reward.” 18:23 But he said, 10 “Whatever happens, I want to go!” So Joab 11 said to him, “Then go!” So Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Jordan plain, and he passed the Cushite.
18:24 Now David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, 12 and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate at the wall. When he looked, he saw a man running by himself. 18:25 So the watchman called out and informed the king. The king said, “If he is by himself, he brings good news.” 13 The runner 14 came ever closer.
18:26 Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called out to the gatekeeper, “There is another man running by himself.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.” 18:27 The watchman said, “It appears to me that the first runner is Ahimaaz 15 son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man, and he comes with good news.”
18:28 Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Greetings!” 16 He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, “May the Lord your God be praised because he has defeated 17 the men who opposed 18 my lord the king!”
18:29 The king replied, “How is the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was all about.” 18:30 The king said, “Turn aside and take your place here.” So he turned aside and waited.
18:31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, 19 “May my lord the king now receive the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today and delivered you from the hand of all who have rebelled against you!” 20 18:32 The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young man Absalom?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you 21 be like that young man!”
18:33 (19:1) 22 The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, 23 Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” 24
[18:13] 1 tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew
[18:13] 2 tn Heb “stood aloof.”
[18:14] 3 tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”
[18:16] 4 tn Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet).
[18:17] 5 tn Heb “and all Israel fled, each to his tent.” In this context this refers to the supporters of Absalom (see vv. 6-7, 16).
[18:18] 6 tn Heb “and.” This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) describes an occurrence that preceded the events just narrated.
[18:19] 8 tn Heb “that the
[18:20] 9 tn Heb “but this day you will not bear good news.”
[18:23] 10 tn The words “but he said” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[18:23] 11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:24] 12 tn Heb “the two gates.”
[18:25] 13 tn Heb “good news is in his mouth.”
[18:25] 14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the runner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:27] 15 tn Heb “I am seeing the running of the first one like the running of Ahimaaz.”
[18:28] 17 tn Heb “delivered over.”
[18:28] 18 tn Heb “lifted their hand against.”
[18:31] 19 tn Heb “And look, the Cushite came and the Cushite said.”
[18:31] 20 tn Heb “for the
[18:32] 21 tn Heb “and all those rising against you for evil.”
[18:33] 22 sn This marks the beginning of ch. 19 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 18:33, the verse numbers through 19:43 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 18:33 ET = 19:1 HT, 19:1 ET = 19:2 HT, 19:2 ET = 19:3 HT, etc., through 19:43 ET = 19:44 HT. From 20:1 the versification in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible is again the same.
[18:33] 23 tc One medieval Hebrew
[18:33] 24 tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.
