2 Samuel 18:17

And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
took	וַיִּקְח֣וּ vai.yik.Chu	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Absalom	אַבְשָׁל֗וֹם 'av.sha.Lom	H53	Abshalom · proper noun, a man's name
cast	וַיַּשְׁלִ֨יכוּ vai.yash.Li.khu	H7993	to throw out · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
great	הַגָּד֔וֹל ha.ga.Dol	H1419	great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
pit	הַפַּ֣חַת ha.Pa.chat	H6354	a pit · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wood	בַיַּ֙עַר֙ vai.Ya.'ar	H3293	a copse of bushes · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
laid	וַיַּצִּ֧בוּ vai.ya.Tzi.vu	H5324	to station · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
very	מְאֹ֑ד me.'Od	H3966	properly · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
great	גָּד֣וֹל ga.Dol	H1419	great (in any sense) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
heap	גַּל gal-	H1530	something rolled · noun, common masculine singular construct
stones	אֲבָנִ֖ים 'a.va.Nim	H68	a stone · noun, common feminine plural absolute
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
fled	נָ֖סוּ Na.su	H5127	to flit · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
one	אִ֥ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tent	לְאֹהָלָֽיו le.'o.he.lo	H168	a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Joshua 7:26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of th…
Joshua 8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase d…
Joshua 10:27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them in…
2 Samuel 19:8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the peop…
2 Samuel 20:1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We ha…
2 Samuel 20:22 Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he…
Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
Jeremiah 22:18-19 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 18:9-18

Here is Absalom quite at a loss, at his wit's end first, and then at his life's end. He that began the fight, big with the expectation of triumphing over David himself, with whom, if he had had him in his power, he would not have dealt gently, is now in the greatest consternation, when he meets the servants of David, Sa2 18:9. Though they were forbidden to meddle with him, he durst not look them in the face; but, finding they were near him, he clapped spurs to his mule and made the best of his way, through thick and thin, and so rode headlong upon his own destruction. Thus he that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare,…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 18:17

they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit . . . and laid a very great heap of stones upon him--The people of the East indicate their detestation of the memory of an infamous person by throwing stones at the place where he is buried. The heap is increased by the gradual accumulation of stones which passers-by add to it.

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 18:17

And laid a very great heap of stones - This was the method of burying heroes, and even traitors, the heap of stones being designed to perpetuate the memory of the event, whether good or bad. The ancient cairns or heaps of stones, in different parts of the world, are of this kind. The various tumuli or barrows in England are the same as the cairns in different parts of Ireland and Scotland. In the former, stones were not plenty; hence they heaped up great mounds of earth.

John Gill on 2 Samuel 18:17

And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood,.... In the wood of Ephraim, near to which the battle was fought, and into which Absalom fled, and where he was slain: and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: his punishment was very exemplary; he was first hanged on an oak, and then thrust through with darts, and swords, and then covered with stones, 2 Samuel 18:9, pointing to the death that a rebellious son, according to the law, ought to die, Deuteronomy 21:21; though this might be done in honour of him as a king's son; for such "tumuli", or heaps of stones or earth, were used by the ancients as sepulchral monuments, and the larger the more honourable (n); See Gill o…

The Church Fathers

And what shall I say of Peter who at the sixth hour went up upon the house-top, and there learnt the mystery of the baptism of the Gentiles. But the homicide Absalom had reared for himself a pillar in the King's dale, and then, after his death, he was cast into a great pit. So then the saints ascend unto the Lord, the wicked descend to crime; the saints are on the mountains, the wicked in the valleys; For God is the God of the hills, not of the plains.
— Ambrose of Milan, Letter 28.2

But they, as we have sometimes said before in other places, do not charge themselves with what they do to us; while, on the other hand, they charge us with what they do to themselves. For which of our party is there who would desire, I do not say that one of them should perish but should even lose any of his possessions? But if the house of David could not earn peace on any other terms except that Absalom his son should have been slain in the war which he was waging against his father, although he had most carefully given strict injunctions to his followers that they should use their utmost endeavors to preserve him alive and safe, that his paternal affection might be able to pardon him on his repentance, what remained for him except to weep for the son that he had lost and to console himself in his sorrow by reflecting on the acquisition of peace for his kingdom?
— Augustine of Hippo, THE CORRECTION OF THE DONATISTS 8.32

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Burial — The first burial we have an account of is that of Sarah (Gen. 23). The first commercial transaction recorded is that of the purchase of a burial-place, for which Abraham weighed to Ephron “four…
Punishments — The earliest theory of punishment current among mankind is doubtless the one of simple retaliation, “blood for blood.” Viewed historically, the first case of punishment for crime mentioned in…
Stones — Besides the ordinary uses to which stones were applied, we may mention that large stones were set up to commemorate any remarkable event. (Genesis 28:18; 35:14; 31:45; Joshua 4:9; 1 Samuel 7:12) Such…
Absalom · General references — General references

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Samuel 18:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 18:9-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 18:17

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 18:17

John Gill on 2 Samuel 18:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 18:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 18:9-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 18:17

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 18:17

John Gill on 2 Samuel 18:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 18:17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 18:17

Rashi on 2 Samuel 18:14