2 Samuel 18:9-11
The Voice
David takes the fight into a forested area rather than staying out in the open field. Since his army is more experienced in fighting in such terrain, there is an opportunity for a smaller force to defeat a larger one. Absalom’s men (and Absalom himself, as illustrated in the following verses) die as a result of not knowing how to fight in the forest and avoid its pitfalls.
9 Absalom himself encountered David’s forces, and as he was riding away on his mule, the animal took him into the thick overhanging branches of a huge oak tree. There his hair was caught, and he dangled between the sky and earth as his mule fled from underneath him. 10 A soldier saw this and told Joab.
Soldier: I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree, helpless.
Joab: 11 You saw Absalom? Then why didn’t you kill him while he was hanging there? I would have given you 10 pieces of silver and a belt!
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
