II Samuel - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 332
The History of the People of Israel
‘ Whatever is good in your opinion I Therefore the king stood at the side of the gate, and all the force went out by companies and regiments. But the king commanded ]’oab, and Abishai, and Athai, say- Spare the lad Absalom for And all the army heard the kings orders about Absalom, to all the oiiicers. Thus the force went into the field
to meet Israel, and the battle occurred in the forest of Ephraim, where the army of Israel was routed before the generals of David; and in the great rout of that day twenty thousand perished, for the battle was spread over all the district, and more of the people were destroyed inthe forest than what the sword destroyed at the moment. Absalom also fled before the oliicers of David. Absalom was mounted upon a mule, and the mule ran under the boughs of a great oak- tree, and his head was caught in the oak, so that he hung between the sky and the earth. But the mule that was under him passed on. One of the men of David, however, saw him, I have seen Absalom hanging in an oak Show
him to me 2 and where you have seen him.·~·But why did you not strike him to the earth? for then I would have given you ten silvers, and a Even
if you jingled a thousand silvers on my hand, I would not assail the son of the king! for in our hearing the king commanded to you and Abishai, and Athai, saying, ‘Spare for methe lad Absa1om!’—~··If I had done, I should have been false to my life, for no event is hidden from the king, and you would have set yourself against mel ’ I can’t
and took the three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom whilst he yet lived in the middle of the oak. Then two of ]’oab’s guards surrounded him and stabbed Absalom , and killed him. _]’oab afterwards sounded the
trumpet, and the forces returned from pursuing Israel, for }’oab restrained the men. But they took Absalom and dung him down in the forest into a great pit, and piled over him a very great heap of stones. Thus all Israel fled each to his home. Absalom, however, in his life time
had erected the column which is in Ihave no son to continue the memory of my So he named the column by The to this day. Then Akhimatz-ben=Zadok said,
‘I will run and announce to the King, that the EVER-Livmo has done him justice against the hand of his enemies} No man
shall announce this event to·dayl You shall, however, announce it to- morrow,——·—but ·to—day you shall not announce it,--because the son of the King has been killed! ]’oab, however, afterwards said to
Go! Inform the King what And Kusi turned from ]’oab and ran. Yet Akhimatz·ben-Zadok continued
to importune, and said to ]’oab, ‘ May I not now also myself run after ‘What good for
you to run, my boy? There is no runner in the country better than ‘ But yet I wish to run E So
he ran. And Akhimatz ran by the road of the pastures and passed beyond Kusi. David was at this time sitting
between the two gates, and a watch- man was posted on the roof of the gateway, on the ramparts, who raised his eyes and saw a man running alone. The sentinel accordingly called and informed the King; and If alone is it to- wards the wall that he comes and Then the sentinel saw another man
running, so he cried from the gate, I see a man, running When the King replied, ‘He also is a messenger of good I recog-
nize the running of the first runner, 16 18 20 21 22 26
