Of all the punishments, however, inflicted upon David, none was so
severe as the rebellion of his own son.
Absalom was of such gigantic proportions that a man who was himself of
extraordinary size, standing in the eye-socket of his skull, sank in
down to his nose. (97) As for his marvellous hair, the account of it in
the Bible does not convey a notion of its abundance. Absalom had taken
the vow of a Nazarite. As his vow was for life, and because the growth
of his hair was particularly heavy, the law permitted him to clip it
slightly every week. (98) It was of this small quantity that the weight
amounted to two hundred shekels.
Absalom arranged for his audacious rebellion with great cunning. He
secured a letter from his royal father empowering him to select two
elders for his suite in every town he visited. With this document he
travelled through the whole of Palestine. In each town he went to the
two most distinguished men, and invited them to accompany him, at the
same time showing them what his father had written, and assuring them
that they had been chosen by him because he had a particular affection
for them. So he succeeded in gathering the presidents of two hundred
courts about him. This having been accomplished, he arranged a large
banquet, at which he seated one of his emissaries between every two of
his guests, for the purpose of winning them over to his cause. The plan
did not succeed wholly, for, though the elders of the towns stood by
Absalom, in their hearts they hoped for David's victory. (99)
The knowledge that a part of Absalom's following sided with him in
secret,—that, though he was pursued by his son, his friends remained
true to him,—somewhat consoled David in his distress. He thought that
in these circumstances, if the worst came to the worst, Absalom would
at least feel pity for him. (100) At first, however, the despair of
David knew no bounds. He was on the point of worshipping an idol, when
his friend Hushai the Archite approached him, saying: "The people will
wonder that such a king should serve idols." David replied: "Should a
king such as I am be killed by his own son? It is better for me to
serve idols than that God should be held responsible for my misfortune,
and His Name thus be desecrated." Hushai reproached him: "Why didst
thou marry a captive?" "There is no wrong in that," replied David, "it
is permitted according to the law." Thereupon Hushai: "But thou didst
disregard the connection between the passage permitting it and the one
that follows almost immediately after it in the Scriptures, dealing
with the disobedient and rebellious son, the natural issue of such a
marriage." (101)
Hushai was not the only faithful friend and adherent David had. Some
came to his rescue unexpectedly, as, for instance, Shobi, the son of
Nahash, who is identical with the Ammonite king Hanun, the enemy of
David at first, and later his ally. (102) Barzillai, another one of his
friends in need, also surprised him by his loyalty, for on the whole
his moral attitude was not the highest conceivable. (103)
Absalom's end was beset with terrors. When he was caught in the
branches of the oak-tree, he was about to sever his hair with a sword
stroke, but suddenly he saw hell yawning beneath him, and he preferred
to hang in the tree to throwing himself into the abyss alive. (104)
Absalom's crime was, indeed, of a nature to deserve the supreme
torture, for which reason he is one of the few Jews who have no portion
in the world to come. (105) His abode is in hell, where he is charged
with the control of ten heathen nations in the second division.
Whenever the avenging angels sit in judgment on the nations, they
desire to visit punishment on Absalom, too, but each time a heavenly
voice is heard to call out: "Do not chastise him, do not burn him. He
is an Israelite, the son of My servant David." Whereupon Absalom is set
upon his throne, and is accorded the treatment due to a king. (106)
That the extreme penalties of hell were thus averted from him, was on
account of David's eightfold repetition of his son's name in his lament
over him. Besides, David's intercession had the effect of re-attaching
Absalom's severed head to his body. (107)
At his death Absalom was childless, for all his children, his three
sons and his daughter, died before him, as a punishment for his having
set fire to a field of grain belonging to Joab. (108)