2 Samuel 18:18

Contextual Overview

⁹ And Absalom chanced to meet the slaves of David. And Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth; and the mule that was under him went on. ⁹ During the battle, Absalom happened to come upon some of David's men. He tried to escape on his mule, but as he rode beneath the thick branches of a great tree, his hair got caught in the tree. His mule kept going and left him dangling in the air. ⁹ And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon his 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 on. ⁹ Then Absalom happened to meet David's troops. As Absalom was riding his mule, it went under the thick branches of a large oak tree. Absalom's head got caught in the tree, and his mule ran out from under him. So Absalom was left hanging above the ground. ⁹ Then Absalom happened to come across David's men. Now as Absalom was riding on his mule, it went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, while the mule he had been riding kept going. 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 suspended between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that [was] under him went away. ⁹ Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his 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 sky and earth; and the mule that was under him went on. ⁹Now Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a massive tree, and his head was caught in [the thick branches of] the tree; and he was left hanging [in midair] between heaven and earth, while the mule that had been under him kept going. ⁹ And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on. ⁹ Sotheli it bifeld, that Absalon sittinge on a mule, cam ayens the seruauntis of Dauid; and whanne the mule hadde entrid vndur a thicke ook, and greet, the heed of Absolon cleuyde to the ook; and whanne he was hangid bitwixe heuene and erthe, the mule, on which he sat, passide.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

reared up: 1 Samuel 15:12

the king's: Genesis 14:17

I have no son: 2 Samuel 14:27, Job 18:16, Job 18:17, Psalms 109:13, Jeremiah 22:30

he called: Genesis 11:4, 1 Samuel 15:12, Psalms 49:11, Daniel 4:30

Absalom's place: Josephus says there was in his time, about two furlongs from Jerusalem, a marble pillar called Absalom's hand, as it is in the Hebrew - see note on 1 Samuel 15:12, and there is one shown to the present day, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which, though comparatively a modern structure, probably occupies the site of the original one set up by Absalom. Genesis 11:9, Acts 1:18, Acts 1:19

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:17 - the name Genesis 28:18 - set it Genesis 35:20 - the pillar 1 Chronicles 3:2 - Absalom Ecclesiastes 2:4 - made Ecclesiastes 3:5 - to cast Isaiah 22:16 - hewed

Cross-References

Genesis 18:2
He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth

Genesis 18:2
and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and noticed three men stood across from him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

Genesis 18:2
He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When Abraham saw them, he ran from his tent to meet them. He bowed facedown on the ground before them

Genesis 18:2
Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

Genesis 18:2
And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

Genesis 18:2
He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

Genesis 18:2
When he raised his eyes and looked up, behold, three men were standing [a little distance] from him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down [with his face] to the ground,

Genesis 18:2
And whanne he hadde reisid his iyen, thre men apperiden to hym, and stoden nyy hym. And whanne he hadde seyn hem, he ran fro the dore of his tabernacle in to the meting of hem, and he worschipide on erthe,

Genesis 18:2
and he lifteth up his eyes and looketh, and lo, three men standing by him, and he seeth, and runneth to meet them from the opening of the tent, and boweth himself towards the earth,

Genesis 18:2
And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken,.... Had taken it into his head, had of himself devised it, as Kimchi explains it; he contrived the following scheme to perpetuate his memory:

and reared up for himself a pillar, which [is] in the king's dale: or valley, the valley of Jehoshaphat; this pillar was of marble, as Josephus o says, and stood about two furlongs or a quater mile from Jerusalem. The author of Cippi Hebraici p places it at the bottom of the mount of Olives: this is observed to show how vain are the devices and contrivances of men's hearts; Absalom intended to have been buried under or by this monumental pillar near Jerusalem, and, lo, he was buried in a pit, under an heap of stones, in a wood on the other side Jordan; whether his bones were ever removed hither it is not certain, though a notion has obtained that his grave was near this pillar. Rauwolff q says, that as you go from the valley of Jehoshaphat r to the Mount of Olives, you see below, towards your left hand, near unto the bridge of the river Kidron, an old square building like unto a steeple; this, although it is believed to this day, not only by Christians, but also by Turks and Moors, to be the grave of Absalom, as you shall see them fling stones into it as they go by, to revenge his unfaithfulness to his father, yet was he not buried there. Sandys s says, at the east end of the bridge (over Kidron), and a little on the north, stands the pillar of Absalom, being yet entire, and of a good fabric, rising in a lofty square, below adorned with half columns, wrought out of the sides and corners, of the Doric form; and then changing into a round, a good height higher doth grow to a point in fashion of a bell, all framed of the growing stone; against this there lies a great heap of stones, which increaseth daily, by Jews and Mahometans throwing stones as they pass by; so that the frontispiece of it, which faces the road, as Le Bruyn t says, looks like a mountain of stones; but as to the fabric itself, he says, there is not a finer piece of workmanship to be met with in all those parts; it takes up a compass of ground of eighty two feet and an half square; the body, which is square, with its moulding, is one entire piece; and the coping, which is an ornament to it, and runs up into a point, taken with the rest of the work, is above thirty feet high; twenty columns, cut out of the same rock, add to the beauty of this pile; one sees through a broken window a great many pieces of antiquity that hang up in a chamber. Adrichomius also relates u, from travellers, that in the king's valley is now a tower, and a large heap of stones, which is increased every day more and more; for Heathens and strangers passing by there have a custom to cast everyone a stone at it, as it were revenging, according to the law, Absalom's rebellion against David his father, and curse him after this manner; let Absalom the parricide be cursed, and whoever unrighteously persecutes their parents are cursed for ever:

for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance; for though he had three sons, it seems they were all dead, see 2 Samuel 14:27;

and he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called unto this day Absalom's place; or his "hand" w, the work of his hand; some wrongly think it was in the form of an hand; it was an obelisk, or monument, erected to preserve his name; but since it became so infamous, it would have been better to have had it buried in oblivion. Such sepulchral monuments were used in other nations; so Minerva advised Telemachus x to go in quest of his father Ulysses, and if he could not find him, but was assured of his death, then to raise a signal or monument in memory of him, which he resolved to do.

o Antiqu l. 7. c. 10. sect. 3. p P. 26. Ed. Hotting. q Travels, part 3. c. 21. p. 310, 311. Ed. Ray. r So Benjamin. Itinerar. p. 43. s Travels, l. 3. p. 147. Ed. 5. t Voyage to the Levant, c. 48. p. 188. u Theatrum Terrae Sanet. p 174. w יד χειρ, Sept. "manus", V. L. Montanus. x Homer. Odyss. 1. ver. 297. Odyss. 2. ver. 243.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king’s dale - Anciently the “valley” of “Shaveh” (marginal reference), and apparently in the near neighborhood of Sodom; but the exact site is not known. It quite agrees with Absalom’s preference for Hebron 2 Samuel 15:7, that his monument should be reared by him in the south. If Absalom’s monument be placed in the ravine of the Kedron, the “king’s dale” here is a different place from the “dale of Shaveh.”

Absalom’s place - literally, “Absalom’s hand.” (1 Samuel 15:12 note.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 18:18. Reared up for himself a pillar — There was a marble pillar in the time of Josephus called Absalom's pillar: and there is one shown to the present day under this name; but it is comparatively a modern structure.

Absalom's place. — Literally Absalom's HAND. 1 Samuel 15:12.