Why does the man who sees Absalom hanging in the oak refuse to kill him for Joab?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

He heard David command Joab, Abisai and Ethai to save Absalom. He says even a thousand pieces of silver would not make him lay hands on the king’s son, and asks whether Joab would stand by him if he risked his life against a command the king would learn he had broken.

Chapter breakdown

David reviews his people and appoints captains over thousands and hundreds. He sends a third under Joab, a third under Abisai, son of Sarvia and Joab’s brother, and a third under Ethai of Geth. David says he will go with them. The people refuse: if they flee, the enemy will not much mind them; if half fall, the enemy will not greatly care, but David alone counts for ten thousand. They say it is better for him to help them from the city. David agrees to do what seems good to them. He stands by the gate as the troops go out by hundreds and thousands. He commands Joab, Abisai and Ethai to save the boy Absalom, and all the people hear his charge to all the princes.

The people go into the field against Israel, and the battle takes place in the forest of Ephraim. Israel’s people are defeated by David’s army, with twenty thousand men killed that day. The battle spreads over all the country, and the forest consumes many more of the people than the sword does.

Challoner’s separate note explains the forest’s consuming the people as their falling into pits and precipices.

Absalom meets David’s servants while riding a mule. As the mule passes under a thick and large oak, his head sticks in the oak. He hangs between heaven and earth while the mule goes on. A man sees him and tells Joab. Joab asks why the man did not stab Absalom to the ground, saying he would have given him ten sicles of silver and a belt. The man replies that even a thousand pieces of silver in his hands would not make him lay hands on the king’s son. He heard the king charge Joab, Abisai and Ethai to save the boy Absalom. If he acted boldly against his own life, it could not be hidden from the king; would Joab have stood by him?

Joab says he will act otherwise and attack Absalom in the man’s sight. He takes three lances and thrusts them into Absalom’s heart. While Absalom still pants for life, stuck in the oak, ten young men who bear Joab’s armour run up, strike him and kill him. Joab sounds the trumpet and holds the people back from pursuing Israel in flight, being willing to spare the multitude. They cast Absalom into a great pit in the forest and cover him with an exceedingly great heap of stones. All Israel flees to their own dwellings.

During his life, Absalom had raised a pillar for himself in the king’s valley. He said he had no son and that this would be the monument of his name. He named the pillar after himself; the passage says it is called the hand of Absalom to this day.

Challoner’s separate note says the sons mentioned in chapter 14:27 were dead when Absalom raised the pillar, unless he raised it before they were born.

Achimaas, son of Sadoc, offers to run and tell the king that the Lord has done judgment for him from the hand of his enemies. Joab says he may carry tidings another day, but not this day, because the king’s son is dead. Joab tells Chusai to go and report what he has seen. Chusai bows to Joab and runs. Achimaas asks again why he too cannot run after Chusai. Joab asks why he wants to run, since he will not bear good tidings. Achimaas persists, and Joab lets him run. Taking a nearer way, Achimaas passes Chusai.

David sits between the two gates. The watchman on top of the gate upon the wall sees a man running alone and calls to the king. David says that if he is alone, he has good tidings. As the runner comes closer, the watchman sees another man running alone and calls out again. David calls him a good messenger too. The watchman says the first man seems to run like Achimaas, son of Sadoc. David says he is a good man and comes with good news.

Achimaas calls for God to save the king and falls before him with his face to the ground. He blesses the Lord David’s God, who has shut up the men who raised their hands against his lord the king. David asks whether the young man Absalom is safe. Achimaas says he saw a great tumult when Joab sent him and knows nothing else. David tells him to pass and stand there, and he stands aside.

Chusai arrives and says he brings good tidings: the Lord has judged for David that day from the hand of all who rose against him. David again asks whether Absalom is safe. Chusai answers that the king’s enemies and all who rise against him for evil should be as the young man is. David is deeply moved. He goes up to the high chamber over the gate and weeps. As he goes he repeats his son Absalom’s name and wishes that he might die for him.

Challoner’s separate note says David lamented Absalom’s death because of the wretched state in which he died and would have saved his life even by dying himself. It calls David a figure of Christ, who wept, prayed and died for his rebellious children, including those who crucified him.

The story inside

A public command, a battlefield death and two reports give this chapter its course. David stays in the city at the people’s request and orders the three leaders to save Absalom. The man who finds Absalom trapped in the oak recalls that command when Joab offers a reward. Joab attacks him anyway, and ten armourbearers complete the killing. The account then moves from Absalom’s burial and his earlier memorial pillar to the runners. David expects good news from men running alone but asks each arriving messenger about Absalom’s safety. Chusai’s answer is followed by David’s weeping and wish to die for his son. The separate notes explain the forest, leave two possible timings for the pillar, and give Challoner’s interpretation of the lament.

Lessons worth keeping

1
David’s order is public and specific. Everyone hears his charge to Joab, Abisai and Ethai to save Absalom. The man’s refusal refers to that command and the danger of acting against it, so his answer is more than a refusal of payment.
2
The killing has two recorded stages. Joab thrusts three lances into Absalom’s heart while he is still alive; ten armourbearers then strike and kill him. The source calls the thing caught in the oak his head. Keeping those details avoids replacing this account with a familiar retelling.
3
News of victory and news of Absalom’s condition affect David differently. Achimaas blesses God for shutting up the enemies but says he knows nothing beyond the tumult. Chusai also reports judgment against the enemies, then gives an indirect answer about Absalom. David’s grief follows that answer; the chapter does not state that Achimaas knowingly lied.

Test your recall

What public command does the man cite when Joab offers him a reward, and how does Joab’s action lead to the reports and David’s lament?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 33579–33602
2 Kings Chapter 18 Absalom is defeated, and slain by Joab. David mourneth for him. 18:1. And David, having reviewed his people, appointed over them captains of thousands and of hundreds, 18:2. And sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth: and the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you. 18:3. And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, they will not greatly care: for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand: it is better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us. 18:4. And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will I do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by their troops, by hundreds and by thousands. 18:5. And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving charge to all the princes concerning Absalom.
Lines 33604–33612
18:6. So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 18:7. And the people of Israel were defeated there by David’s army, and a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men. 18:8. And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest consumed, than whom the sword devoured that day.
Lines 33614–33614
Consumed.... Viz., by pits and precipices.
Lines 33616–33635
18:9. And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David, riding on a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head stuck in the oak: and while he hung between the heaven and the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on. 18:10. And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom hanging upon an oak. 18:11. And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him, why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten sicles of silver, and a belt? 18:12. And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king’s son for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. 18:13. Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by me?
Lines 33637–33651
18:14. And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but I will set upon him in thy sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak, 18:15. Ten young men, armourbearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him slew him. 18:16. And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare the multitude. 18:17. And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stones upon him: but all Israel fled to their own dwellings.
Lines 33653–33656
18:18. Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a pillar, which is in the king’s valley: for he said: I have no son, and this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his own name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day.
Lines 33658–33660
No son.... The sons mentioned above, chap. 14.27, were dead when this pillar was erected: unless we suppose he raised this pillar before they were born.
Lines 33662–33678
18:19. And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his enemies. 18:20. And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this day, but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee bear tidings, because the king’s son is dead. 18:21. And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran. 18:22. Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why might not I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou run, my son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings. 18:23. He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run. Then Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai.
Lines 33680–33694
18:24. And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman that was on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running alone. 18:25. And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace, and drawing nearer, 18:26. The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud from above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king said: He also is a good messenger. 18:27. And the watchman said: The running of the foremost seemeth to me like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said: He is a good man: and cometh with good news.
Lines 33696–33705
18:28. And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have lifted up their hands against the lord my king. 18:29. And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Achimaas said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab sent me thy servant: I know nothing else. 18:30. And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here.
Lines 33707–33719
18:31. And when he had passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared and coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen up against thee. 18:32. And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is. 18:33. The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this manner: My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom.
Lines 33721–33725
Would to God.... David lamented the death of Absalom, because of the wretched state in which he died: and therefore would have been glad to have saved his life, even by dying for him. In which he was a figure of Christ weeping, praying and dying for his rebellious children, and even for them that crucified him.