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7-8 Battles were being fought all over the forest, and David's soldiers were winning. Twenty thousand soldiers were killed[a] that day, and more of them died from the dangers of the forest than from the fighting itself.

Absalom was riding his mule under a huge tree when his head[b] caught in the branches. The mule ran off and left Absalom hanging in midair. Some of David's soldiers happened by, 10 and one of them went and told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in a tree!”

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Footnotes

  1. 18.7,8 Twenty … killed: This may refer to the total number or to the number of Absalom's soldiers who were killed.
  2. 18.9 head: Or “hair.”

The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed up more men that day than the sword.

Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair(A) got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.

10 When one of the men saw what had happened, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

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