Shmuel Bais 18
18
1And Dovid mustered HaAm that were with him, and set sarei alafim, and sarei me'ot over them.
2And Dovid sent forth a third part of the people under the yad Yoav, and a third part under the yad Avishai Ben Tzeruyah (Yoavʼs brother), and a third part under the yad Ittai the Gitti. And HaMelech said unto HaAm, I will surely go forth with you myself also.
3But HaAm answered, Thou shalt not go forth; for if we flee away, they will not set their lev on us; neither if half of us die, will they set their lev on us; but now thou art worth ten thousand of us; therefore, now it is better that thou support us from the Ir.#18:3 i.e., Machanayim
4And HaMelech said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And HaMelech stood by the side of the sha'ar, and kol haAm came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5And HaMelech commanded Yoav and Avishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the na'ar, even with Avshalom. And kol HaAm heard when HaMelech gave all the sarim charge concerning Avshalom.
6HaAm went into the sadeh against Yisroel; the milchamah was in ya'ar (forest) of Ephrayim;
7Where Am Yisroel were slain before the avadim of Dovid, and there was there a magefah gedolah that day of esrim elef.
8For the milchamah was there scattered over the face of kol ha'aretz; and the ya'ar devoured more people that day than the cherev devoured.
9And Avshalom met the avadim of Dovid. And Avshalom rode upon a pered (mule), and the pered went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his rosh (head) caught hold of elah (tree, oak), and he was suspended between HaShomayim and ha'aretz; the pered under him went on.
10And a certain ish saw it, told Yoav, and said, Hinei, I saw Avshalom#18:10 ben Dovid talui (hanged) b'elah (on a tree, oak).#18:10 Zech 12:10
11And Yoav said unto the ish that told him, And, hinei, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not strike him down to the ground there? And I would have given thee ten shekels of kesef, and a khagorah.
12And the ish said unto Yoav, Though I should receive elef kesef in mine palm, yet would I not put forth mine yad against the ben HaMelech; for in ozneinu (our hearing) HaMelech charged thee and Avishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the na'ar Avshalom.
13Otherwise I should have dealt sheker against mine own nefesh; for there is no matter hid from HaMelech, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.
14Then said Yoav, I will not tarry thus with thee. And he took three shevatim in his yad, and thrust them through the lev Avshalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak tree.#18:14 Jn 19:34
15And ten ne'arim that bore the armor of Yoav surrounded Avshalom, struck and slaughtered him.
16Then Yoav blew the shofar, and HaAm returned from pursuing after Yisroel; for Yoav held back HaAm.
17And they took Avshalom, and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and laid a very great heap of avanim upon him; and all Yisroel fled, every ish to his ohel.
18Now Avshalom in his lifetime had taken and erected for himself a matzevet (monument), which is in the Emek HaMelech; for he said, I have no ben to keep my shem in remembrance; and he called the matzevet after shmo; and it is called unto this day, Avshalomʼs Monument.
19Then said Achima'atz Ben Tzadok, Let me now run, and take news to HaMelech, how that Hashem hath in justice vindicated him of his oyevim.
20And Yoav said unto him, Thou shalt not be ish besorah (bearer of news) this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day; but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the ben HaMelech is dead.
21Then said Yoav to Cushi, Go tell HaMelech what thou hast seen. And Cushi prostrated himself unto Yoav, and ran.
22Then said Achima'atz Ben Tzadok yet again to Yoav, But be what may, let me, now, also run after Cushi. And Yoav said, why wilt thou run, beni, seeing that thou hast no besorah to provide?
23But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Rutz! (run!). Then Achima'atz ran by the derech of the plain, outran Cushi.
24And Dovid sat between the two she'arim (gates); and the tzofeh (watchman) went up to the gag (roof) over the sha'ar (gate) unto the chomah (wall), and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and hinei an ish running alone.
25And the tzofeh (watchman) cried, and told HaMelech. And HaMelech said, If he be alone, there is besorah (news) in his peh (mouth). And he came rapidly, and drew near.
26And the tzofeh (watchman) saw another man running; and the tzofeh called unto the sho'er (gatekeeper), and said, Hinei, another man running alone. And HaMelech said, This is mevaser (one bringing good news, evangelist).
27And the tzofeh (watchman) said, I see the running of the foremost is like the running of Achima'atz Ben Tzadok. And HaMelech said, He is an ish tov, and cometh with besorah tovah (good news).#18:27 See 2Sm 18:10
28And Achima'atz called, and said unto HaMelech, Shalom. And he fell down to ha'aretz upon his face before HaMelech, and said, Baruch Hashem Eloheicha, which hath delivered up the anashim that lifted up their yad against adoni HaMelech.
29And HaMelech said, Is the na'ar Avshalom, shalom? And Achima'atz answered, When Yoav sent eved HaMelech, avdecha, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.
30And HaMelech said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.
31And, hinei, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Yitbaser (be informed of news), adoni HaMelech; for Hashem hath in justice vindicated thee this day from the yad of all them that rose up against thee.
32And HaMelech said unto Cushi, Is the na'ar Avshalom shalom? And Cushi answered, The enemies of adoni HaMelech, and all that rise against thee to do thee harm, be as that na'ar is.
33 And HaMelech was much moved, and went up to the aliyyat hasha'ar (upper room over the gate) and wept; and as he went, thus he said, O beni (my son) Avshalom, beni, beni Avshalom! If only I had died tachteicha (in place of, instead of) thee, O Avshalom, beni, beni!#18:33 T.N. Notice in this chp 18 that the peace-bringing Besorah Tovah of Ben Dovid Talui al HaEtz requires a mevaser to herald it.
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Shmuel Bais 18: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
2 Samuel 18
18
Absalom is Defeated and Killed
1King David brought all his men together, divided them into units of a thousand and of a hundred, and placed officers in command of them. 2Then he sent them out in three groups, with Joab and Joab's brother Abishai and Ittai from Gath, each in command of a group. And the king said to his men, “I will go with you myself.”
3“You mustn't go with us,” they answered. “It won't make any difference to the enemy if the rest of us turn and run, or even if half of us are killed; but you are worth 10,000 of us. It will be better if you stay here in the city and send us help.”
4“I will do whatever you think best,” the king answered. Then he stood by the side of the gate as his men marched out in units of a thousand and of a hundred. 5He gave orders to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.” And all the troops heard David give this command to his officers.
6David's army went out into the countryside and fought the Israelites in the forest of Ephraim. 7The Israelites were defeated by David's men; it was a terrible defeat, with 20,000 men killed that day. 8The fighting spread over the countryside, and more men died in the forest than were killed in battle.
9Suddenly Absalom met some of David's men. Absalom was riding a mule, and as it went under a large oak tree, Absalom's head got caught in the branches. The mule ran on and Absalom was left hanging in mid air. 10One of David's men saw him and reported to Joab, “Sir, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”
11Joab answered, “If you saw him, why didn't you kill him on the spot? I myself would have given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”
12But the man answered, “Even if you gave me a thousand pieces of silver, I wouldn't lift a finger against the king's son. We all heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘For my sake don't harm the young man Absalom.’ 13But if I had disobeyed the king and killed Absalom, the king would have heard about it — he hears about everything — and you would not have defended me.”
14“I'm not going to waste any more time with you,” Joab said. He took three spears and plunged them into Absalom's chest while he was still alive, hanging in the oak tree. 15Then ten of Joab's soldiers closed in on Absalom and finished killing him.
16Joab ordered the trumpet to be blown to stop the fighting, and his troops came back from pursuing the Israelites. 17They took Absalom's body, threw it into a deep pit in the forest, and covered it with a huge pile of stones. All the Israelites fled to their own homes.
18During his lifetime Absalom had built a monument for himself in King's Valley, because he had no son to keep his name alive. So he named it after himself, and to this day it is known as Absalom's Monument.
David is Told of Absalom's Death
19Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said to Joab, “Let me run to the king with the good news that the LORD has saved him from his enemies.”
20“No,” Joab said, “today you will not take any good news. Some other day you may do so, but not today, for the king's son is dead.” 21Then he said to his Ethiopian#18.21 Ethiopian: See Word List. slave, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” The slave bowed and ran off.
22Ahimaaz insisted, “I don't care what happens; please let me take the news also.”
“Why do you want to do it, my son?” Joab asked. “You will get no reward for it.”
23“Whatever happens,” Ahimaaz said again, “I want to go.”
“Then go,” Joab said. So Ahimaaz ran off down the road through the Jordan Valley, and soon he passed the slave.
24David was sitting in the space between the inner and outer gates of the city. The watchman went up to the top of the wall and stood on the roof of the gateway; he looked out and saw a man running alone. 25He called down and told the king, and the king said, “If he is alone, he is bringing good news.” The runner came nearer and nearer.
26Then the watchman saw another man running alone, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look! There's another man running!”
The king answered, “This one also is bringing good news.”
27The watchman said, “I can see that the first man runs like Ahimaaz.”
“He's a good man,” the king said, “and he is bringing good news.”
28Ahimaaz called out a greeting to the king, threw himself down to the ground before him, and said, “Praise the LORD your God, who has given you victory over the men who rebelled against Your Majesty!”
29“Is the young man Absalom safe?” the king asked.
Ahimaaz answered, “Sir, when your officer Joab sent me, I saw a great commotion, but I couldn't tell what it was.”
30“Stand over there,” the king said; and he went over and stood there.
31Then the Ethiopian#18.31 Ethiopian: See Word List. slave arrived and said to the king, “I have good news for Your Majesty! Today the LORD has given you victory over all who rebelled against you!”
32“Is the young man Absalom safe?” the king asked.
The slave answered, “I wish that what has happened to him would happen to all your enemies, sir, and to all who rebel against you.”
33The king was overcome with grief. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he cried, “O my son! My son Absalom! Absalom, my son! If only I had died in your place, my son! Absalom, my son!”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.