Absalom's Tomb
A tomb twenty feet high and twenty-four feet square. The resting-place of Absalom. It is situated in the eastern part of the valley of Kidron, to the east of Jerusalem.
This is the first time we encounter in our tradition the concept of a tombstone, or a memorial marker. Furthermore, this is the only place in the Bible where a tombstone erected on an individual's grave is specifically mentioned. Although several references to burial are made elsewhere in the Bible, none of these are accompanied by the mention of a tombstone or any other such structure having been erected over a grave.
There is, in fact, an additional reference in the Bible to a memorial monument:
"Absalom erected his own tombstone in the Valley of the King, for Absalom said, 'I have no son who will remember me after I die.' He named the monument 'Absalom's Tomb', which has remained the monument's name to this very day." (II Samuel xviii:18)
However, in this verse, Absalom's Tomb is not referred to as a tombstone, but rather as a structure erected in a particular place in order to serve as a memorial. Furthermore, the structure was known as Absalom's Tomb during his lifetime.
When Nathan convicted David of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, God promised to punish him in three ways. First, God said that the baby carried by Bathsheba would die. Second, David would be involved with war for the rest of his reign. Third, problems would come to him from his own children. The child who brought much grief to him was Absalom.
Absalom, from the Hebrew meaning father of peace, was the third son of King David and Maacah, one of the king's numerous wives. Contrary to his name, Absalom was not a man of peace. Absalom was one of the most handsome men who ever lived. "Now in all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks." (II Samuel 14:25) But his personal vanity and disloyalty to his father due to selfish ambition caused great strife and open warfare in the royal family.
The troubles began when Amnon, David's oldest son, raped his half-sister Tamar, Absalom's whole-sister (2 Samuel 13-1-22). Absalom bided his time, and when the opportunity arose two years later during the sheep shearing time at Baal Hazor, he had his brother Amnon killed. Thinking that it was the start of a general massacre of competitors to the throne, all of the king's other sons fled for their lives back to Jerusalem. Absalom then took refuge with his mother's father at Geshur, northeast of The Sea Of Galilee, where he remained for three years (2 Samuel 13:37-38).
King David mourned for his dead son, Amnon, and also for the fugitive Absalom. Eventually, David permitted Absalom's return to Jerusalem, although two years would go by before the king agreed to meet with him.
Absalom then made his move, not merely to succeed his father as king, but to replace his father while he was still reigning. Through scheming politics, he managed to gain the support of a large portion of the people. Absalom then moved to Hebron, the previous capital city of Judah, and declared himself king - thereby triggering a civil war between himself and his father.
The attempted coup was successful at the beginning, so much so that David found it necessary to flee from Jerusalem to Mahanaim, across the Jordan. In one of the darkest times of David's life, Absalom then took over the throne in Jerusalem. It seemed like the end for David, except for one undefeatable reality - God had already decided who would succeed David, and the choice wasn't the vain and disloyal Absalom.
The matter was settled on the battlefield where Absalom and his followers proved to be no match for David's army - and the will of Almighty God. David had told his Commander to "Deal gently with the young man Absalom". Absalom lost 20,000 of his troops, and the rest were put to flight. While making a retreat riding a donkey, Absalom's long hair got caught in the branches of a tree, leaving him hanging in mid-air. Joab (King David's nephew and Commander of his army), then ran three daggers (javelins) into his cousin Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. The rebellion, and Absalom's life, were over.
When David heard about it, he mourned greatly, giving one of the most famous lamentations in the Bible. "O my son Absalom--my son, my son Absalom--if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!" (II Samuel 18:33).
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