2 Samuel 18:10 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak. As the ruined gambler for a crown rode recklessly on in his fear, he was swept out of the saddle by being caught by the low, spreading branches of a great terebinth tree, and the startled mule galloping away, was left hanging there, unable to lift his arms so as to haul himself up. It is from Josephus that we get the statement that Absalom was caught by his hair, which is probable enough, but the lesson does not describe how he was entangled. Perhaps his head was jammed between the forks of some great branch. At all events, there he dangled, half throttled, and utterly incapable of releasing himself. There is something of horror and ghastliness in so strange a fate, as if this criminal was too bad to die by a common death. But there is a deeper lesson in that figure swinging there, with his gay clothing all disordered. God has plenty of instruments to punish evil-doers. "Thousands at his bidding wait." There is no need for a miracle. He works through the natural operations of his creation. So all things are against the man who is against God, even as all work together for good to those who love Him, and, when He wills, the leafy beauty of the great tree shall be the gallows for the rebel Absalom. "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." A frightened mule and an unconscious tree bring Absalom to his death. There are no accidents in the great scheme of things. God's foes have foes in every bush and every beast. (A. Maclaren, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.WEB: A certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak." |
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