Editing Absalom (section)

==Biblical narrative==
===Background===
[[File:Convito di Ansalonne.jpg|thumb|right|''The Banquet of Absalom'' attributed to [[Niccolò de Simone]] around 1650]]

Absalom, David's third son, by Maacah, was born in [[Hebron]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|3:3}}</ref> At an early age, he moved, along with the transfer of the capital, to [[Jerusalem]], where he spent most of his life. He was a great favorite of his father and of the people. His charming manners, personal beauty, insinuating ways, love of pomp, and royal pretensions captivated the hearts of the people from the beginning. He lived in great style, drove in a magnificent chariot, and had fifty men run before him.

Little is known of Absalom's family life, but the biblical narrative states that he had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who is described as a beautiful woman.<ref name="auto"/> From the language of 2 Samuel 18:18, Absalom states, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance".<ref name="auto1">{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|18:18|KJV}}</ref> It may be that his sons died before his statement,{{sfn|Kirkpatrick|1905|p=173}} or, as [[Matthew Henry]] suggests, Absalom's three sons may have been born ''after'' his statement.<ref>{{Cite book |title=An Exposition of the Old and New Testament |last=Henry |first=Matthew |authorlink= Matthew Henry |publisher= [[Henry George Bohn]] |year= 1853 |url= https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/mhm/2-samuel-14.html |quote= It is probable that it was a good while before he had a child. Then, despairing of having one, he set up the pillar (2 Samuel 18:18) to bear up his name, but afterwards he had three sons and one daughter (2 Samuel 14:27). Or perhaps these sons, while he was hatching his rebellion, were all cut off by the righteous hand of God, and he thereupon set up that monument.}}</ref>

Aside from his daughter Tamar, Absalom had another daughter or granddaughter, [[Maacah]],<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|11:20|KJV}}</ref> who later became the favorite wife of [[Rehoboam]].{{efn|A footnote in the New King James Version reads "Literally ''daughter'', but in the broader sense of granddaughter"{{bibleverse|2 Chron| 11:20|NKJV}} }} Maacah was the mother of [[Abijah of Judah]] and the grandmother of [[Asa of Judah]]. She served as queen mother for Asa until he deposed her for idolatry.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|15:1-14|KJV}}{{bibleverse|2 Chron|11:20-22|KJV}}{{bibleverse|2 Chron|15:16|KJV}}</ref>

===Murder of Amnon===
[[File:Convito di Assalonne - Tornioli.png|thumb|''The Feast of Absalom'', [[Niccolò Tornioli]], 17th century]]
[[File:Scenes from the Life of David - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Leaf from the [[Morgan Bible|Morgan Picture Bible]], "Scenes from the Life of David"]]

[[File:Leaf from the Morgan Picture Bible - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Leaf from the [[Morgan Bible|Morgan Picture Bible]], "Scenes from the Life of Absalom", c. 1250]]
[[File:Weltchronik Fulda Aa88 286r detail.jpg|thumb|The death of Absalom, hanging from a tree by his hair (14th-century German miniature)]]

[[File:Pavimento di siena, storie di assalonne (piero del minnella) 01.jpg|thumb|''The Death of Absalom'' (circa 1447), [[Pietro di Tommaso del Minella]] (1391–1458),  - tiled floor, south [[transept]] of [[Siena Cathedral]] ]]

Absalom also had a sister named [[Tamar (daughter of David)|Tamar]], who was raped by her half-brother [[Amnon]], David's eldest son. Absalom waited two years after the rape for vengeance, sending his servants to murder a drunken Amnon at a feast to which Absalom had invited all of King David's sons.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|13|NIV}}</ref>

After this murder, Absalom fled to his maternal grandfather [[Talmai]], the king of [[Geshur]].<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|13:37|NIV}}{{bibleverse|Joshua|12:5|NIV}}{{bibleverse|Joshua|13:2|NIV}}</ref> Not until three years later was Absalom fully reinstated in David's favour and finally returned to Jerusalem.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|13–14|NIV}} (see [[Joab]])</ref>

===The revolt at Hebron===
In Jerusalem, Absalom built support for himself by speaking to those who came to King David for justice, saying, "See, your claims are good and right; but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you", perhaps reflecting flaws in the [[judicial system]] of the united monarchy. "If only I were the judge of the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice." He made gestures of flattery by kissing those who bowed before him instead of accepting supplication. He "stole the hearts of the people of Israel".<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|15|NRSV}}</ref>

After four years, he declared himself king, raised a revolt at Hebron, the former capital, and publicly raped his father's ten concubines.{{sfn|Kirk-Duggan|2004|p=59}} It is said that this was God punishing David for his sin with [[Bathsheba]] tenfold.  All Israel and Judah flocked to him, and David, attended only by the [[Cherethites and Pelethites]] and his former bodyguard, which had followed him from Gath, found it expedient to flee. The priests [[Zadok]] and [[Abiathar]] remained in Jerusalem, and their sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz served as David's spies. Absalom reached the capital and consulted with the renowned [[Ahitophel]] (sometimes spelled Achitophel). It is also speculated that Ahitophel could have joined Absalom's cause as David had previously committed adultery with his granddaughter, Bathsheba.

David took refuge from Absalom's forces beyond the [[Jordan River]]. However, he took the precaution of instructing a servant, [[Hushai]], to infiltrate Absalom's court and subvert it. Once in place, Hushai convinced Absalom to ignore Ahitophel's advice to attack his father while he was on the run, and instead to prepare his forces for a major attack. This gave David critical time to prepare his own troops for the battle. When Ahitophel saw that his advice was not followed, he committed suicide by hanging himself.

===Battle of Ephraim's Wood===
A fateful [[Battle of the Wood of Ephraim|battle]] was fought in the [[Wood of Ephraim]] (the name suggests a locality west of the Jordan) and Absalom's army was completely routed.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|16:18}}</ref> When Absalom fled from David's army, his head was caught in the boughs of an oak tree as the mule he was riding ran beneath it. He was discovered there still alive by one of David's men, who reported this to [[Joab]], the king's commander. Joab, accustomed to avenging himself, took this opportunity to even the score with Absalom.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|14:30}}</ref> Absalom had once set Joab's field of barley on fire<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|17:25}}</ref> and then made Amasa Captain of the Host instead of Joab. Killing Absalom was against David's explicit command, "Beware that none touch the young man Absalom". Joab injured Absalom with three darts through the heart and Absalom was subsequently killed by ten of Joab's armor-bearers.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|18:14-15}}</ref>

When David heard that Absalom was killed, although not how he was killed, he greatly sorrowed.

{{blockquote|O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!|source=2 Sam 18:33<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|18:33}}</ref>}}

David withdrew to the city of [[Mahanaim]]<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|19:32}}</ref> in mourning, until Joab roused him from "the extravagance of his grief"{{sfn|Kirkpatrick|1905|p=177}} and called on him to fulfill his duty to his people.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|19:1–8}}</ref>

===Memorial===
[[File:InsideAbsalom'sPillar.jpg|thumb|Two views of the burial chamber inside the so-called [[Tomb of Absalom]] in the [[Valley of Jehoshaphat]], [[Jerusalem]], which has no connection to biblical Absalom.]]

Absalom had erected a monument near Jerusalem to perpetuate his name:

{{blockquote|Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place.|source=2 Sam 18:18<ref name="auto1"/> }}

An ancient monument in the [[Kidron Valley]] near the Old City of Jerusalem, known as the [[Tomb of Absalom]] or Absalom's Pillar and traditionally identified as the monument of the biblical narrative, is now dated by modern archeologists to the first century AD.{{sfn|Price|House|2017|p=334}} The Jewish Encyclopedia reports: "A tomb twenty feet high and twenty-four feet square, which late tradition points out as the resting-place of Absalom. It is situated in the eastern part of the valley of Kidron, to the east of Jerusalem. In all probability it is the tomb of [[Alexander Jannæus]] (Conder, in Hastings' ''Dict. Bible'', article "Jerusalem", p.&nbsp;597). It existed in the days of Josephus.<ref>"Antiquities" vii. 10, § 3</ref>{{sfn|Singer|1901|p=134}} However, archaeologists have now dated the tomb to the 1st century AD.{{sfn|Barkat |2003}} In a 2013 conference, Professor [[Gabriel Barkay]] suggested that it could be the tomb of [[Herod Agrippa I]], the grandson of [[Herod the Great]], based in part on the similarity to Herod's newly discovered tomb at [[Herodium]]. For centuries, it was the custom among passers-by—Jews, Christians and [[Islam|Muslims]]—to throw stones at the monument. Residents of Jerusalem would bring their unruly children to the site to teach them what became of a rebellious son.{{sfn|Vilnay|1999|p=113}}