Absalom in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

ab'-sa-lom ('abhshalom, "father is peace," written also Abishalom, 1 Ki 15:2,10): David's third son by Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, a small territory between Hermon and Bashan. 1. A General Favorite: Absalom was born at Hebron (2 Sam 3:3), and moved at an early age, with the transfer of the capital, to Jerusalem, where he spent most of his life. He was a great favorite of his father and of the people as well. His charming manners, his personal beauty, his insinuating ways, together with his love of pomp and royal pretensions, captivated the hearts of the people from the beginning. He lived in great style, drove in a magnificent chariot and had fifty men run before him. Such magnificence produced the desired effect upon the hearts of the young aristocrats of the royal city (2 Sam 15:1 ff). 2. In Exile: When Amnon, his half-brother, ravished his sister Tamar, and David shut his eyes to the grave crime and neglected to administer proper punishment, Absalom became justly enraged, and quietly nourished his anger, but after the lapse of two years carried out a successful plan to avenge his sister's wrongs. He made a great feast for the king's sons at Baalhazor, to which, among others, Amnon came, only to meet his death at the hands of Absalom's servants (2 Sam 13:1 ff). To avoid punishment he now fled to the court of his maternal grandfather in Geshur, where he remained three years, or until David, his father, had relented and condoned the murderous act of his impetuous, plotting son. At the end of three years (2 Sam 13:38) we find Absalom once more in Jerusalem. It was, however, two years later before he was admitted to the royal presence (2 Sam 14:28)...