Absalom

"Father of peace; i.e., "peaceful" David's son by Maacah (2 Sam." 3:3; comp. 1 Kings 1:6). He was noted for his personal beauty and for the extra-ordinary profusion of the hair of his head (2 "Sam. 14:25,26). The first public act of his life was the" "blood-revenge he executed against Amnon, David's eldest son, who" had basely wronged Absalom's sister Tamar. This revenge was executed at the time of the festivities connected with a great sheep-shearing at Baal-hazor. David's other sons fled from the "place in horror, and brought the tidings of the death of Amnon" "to Jerusalem. Alarmed for the consequences of the act, Absalom" "fled to his grandfather at Geshur, and there abode for three" years (2 Sam. 3:3; 13:23-38). "David mourned his absent son, now branded with the guilt of fratricide. As the result of a stratagem carried out by a woman "of Tekoah, Joab received David's sanction to invite Absalom back" "to Jerusalem. He returned accordingly, but two years elapsed" before his father admitted him into his presence (2 Sam. 14:28). "Absalom was now probably the oldest surviving son of David, and" as he was of royal descent by his mother as well as by his "father, he began to aspire to the throne. His pretensions were" favoured by the people. By many arts he gained their affection; "and after his return from Geshur (2 Sam. 15:7; marg., R.V.) he" "went up to Hebron, the old capital of Judah, along with a great" "body of the people, and there proclaimed himself king. The" revolt was so successful that David found it necessary to quit "Jerusalem and flee to Mahanaim, beyond Jordan; where upon" Absalom returned to Jerusalem and took possession of the throne "without opposition. Ahithophel, who had been David's chief" "counsellor, deserted him and joined Absalom, whose chief" "counsellor he now became. Hushai also joined Absalom, but only" for the purpose of trying to counteract the counsels of "Ahithophel, and so to advantage David's cause. He was so far" "successful that by his advice, which was preferred to that of" "Ahithophel, Absalom delayed to march an army against his father," who thus gained time to prepare for the defence. "Absalom at length marched out against his father, whose army, "under the command of Joab, he encountered on the borders of the" forest of Ephraim. Twenty thousand of Absalom's army were slain "in that fatal battle, and the rest fled. Absalom fled on a swift" "mule; but his long flowing hair, or more probably his head, was" "caught in the bough of an oak, and there he was left suspended" till Joab came up and pierced him through with three darts. His "body was then taken down and cast into a pit dug in the forest," and a heap of stones was raised over his grave. When the tidings "of the result of that battle were brought to David, as he sat" "impatiently at the gate of Mahanaim, and he was told that" "Absalom had been slain, he gave way to the bitter lamentation:" "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died" "for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam. 18:33. Comp. Ex." 32:32; Rom. 9:3). "Absalom's three sons (2 Sam. 14:27; comp. 18:18) had all died "before him, so that he left only a daughter, Tamar, who became" the grandmother of Abijah.

Definition of Absalom:
"father of peace"