ABSAIOM, the third son of David, and his only son by Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2 Sam. iii. 3). He was deemed the handsomest man in the kingdom; and was particularly noted for the profusion of his beautiful hair. David's other child by Maachah was a daughter named Tammar, who was also very beautiful. She became the object of lustful regard to her half-brother Amnon, David's eldest son; and was violated by him. In all cases where polygamy is allowed, we find that the honour of a sister is in the guardianship of her full brother, more even than in that of her father, whose interest in her is considered less peculiar and intimate. It was not until two years had passed, and when this wound seemed to have been healed, that Absalom found opportunity for the bloody revenge he had meditated. He then held a great sheep-shearing feast at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, to which he invited all the king's sons; and, when they were warm with wine, Amnon was set upon and slain by the servants of Absalom, according to the previous directions of their master. Absalom, after this bloody deed, hastened to Geshur, and remained there three years with his grandfather, king Talmai; at the end of which time, through the contrivance of Joab, he was permitted to return; but David, still mindful of his duties as a king and father, controlled the impulse of his feelings, and declined to admit him to his presence. After two years, however, Absalom, impatient of his disgrace, found means to compel the attention of Joab to his case; and through his means a complete reconciliation was effected, and the father once more indulged himself with the presence of his son. (2 Sam. xiii. xiv.)
Absalom was the third son of David, Amnon and Chilcab being his elder brothers. But he alone was of royal descent by the side of his mother; and royal or noble descent by the mother is even now (as we see by the recent instance of Abbas Meerza in Persia) of itself a sufficient ground of preference over an elder brother whose maternal descent is less distinguished. This circumstance may suggest that he early entertained a design upon the succession to the throne, and that the removal of Amnon was quite as much an act of policy as of revenge. His position must have been greatly strengthened when, on his return from exile, he found himself the eldest surviving son, and according to the ordinary laws of primogeniture, the heir apparent of the crown; and there is every reason to think that David, if left to himself, would have been glad to have seen the rule of succession take its ordinary course in favour of his best loved son. But then, under the peculiar theocratical institutions of the Hebrews, the Divine king reserved and exercised a power of dispensation, over which the human king, or viceroy, had no control. The house of David was established as a reigning dynasty; and although the law of primogeniture was allowed eventually to take in general its due course, the Divine king reserved the power of appointing any member of that house whom he might prefer. David had known many years before that his dynasty was to be established in a son not yet born (2 Sam. vii. 12); and when Solomon was born, he could not be ignorant, even if not specially instructed, that he was the destined heir. This fact must have been known to many others as the child grew up, and probably the mass of the nation was cognizant of it. In this we find a clear motive for the rebellion of Absalom—to secure the throne which he deemed to be his right by the laws of primogeniture, during the lifetime of his father; lest delay, while awaiting the natural term of his days, should so strengthen the cause of Solomon with his years, as to place his succession beyond all contest.
Four years after his return from Geshur, he repaired to Hebron and there proclaimed himself king. The great body
Absalom's Tomb
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Absentee.
of the people declared for him; and so strong ran the tide of opinion in his favour, that David found it expedient to quit Jerusalem and retire to Mahanaim, beyond the Jordan.
When Absalom heard of this, he proceeded to Jerusalem and took possession of the throne without opposition. The king soon raised a large force, which he properly organised and separated into three divisions, commanded severally by Joab, Abishai, and Ittai of Gath. A battle took place in the borders of the forest of Ephraim; and the tactics of Joab, in drawing the enemy into the wood, and there hemming them in, so that they were destroyed with ease, eventually decided the action against Absalom. Twenty thousand of his troops were slain, and the rest fled to their homes. Absalom himself fled on a swift mule; but as he went, the boughs of a terebinth tree caught the long hair in which he gloried, and he was left suspended there. The charge which David had given to the troops to respect the life of Absalom prevented any one from slaying him: but when Joab heard of it, he hastened to the spot, and pierced him with three darts. His body was then taken down and cast into a pit in the forest, and a heap of stones was raised upon it.
ABSALOM'S TOMB, a remarkable monument in the valley of Jehoshaphat, near Jerusalem, and close by the lower bridge over the Kedron. The identity of this monument with that mentioned in 2 Sam. xviii. 18, insisted on by some, is disproved by the character of the architectural ornaments; and neither this nor the adjoining monument called that of Zechariah, have any connection with the era of the persons whose names they bear.