- his head:
- Riding furiously under the thick boughs of a great oak, which hung low and had never been cropped, either the twisted branches, or some low forked bough of the tree, caught him by the neck, or, as some think, by the loops into which his long hair had been pinned, which had been so much his pride, and was now justly made a halter for him. He may have hung so low from the bough, in consequence of the length of his hair, that he could not use his hands to help himself, or so entangled that his hands were bound, so that the more he struggled the more he was embarrassed. This set him up as a fair mark to the servants of David; and although David would have spared his rebellious son, if his orders had been executed, yet he could not turn the sword of Divine justice, in executing the just, righteous sentence of death on this traitorous son. "Then saidª° Joab,ª I may not¹ tarryª° thus¹ with¹ thee.² And he tookª° threeª dartsª in his hand,ª and thrustª° them through the heartª of Absalom,ª while¹ he [was] yet aliveª in the midst¹ of the oak.ª" {2Sm 18:14} + "And when he polledª°¹ his head,ª (for it was¹ at every year'sª endªª¹ that¹ he polledª° [it]: because¹ [the hair] was heavyª° on¹ him, therefore he polledª° it:) he weighedª°¹ the hairª of his headª at two hundredª shekelsª after the king'sª weight.ª" {2Sm 14:26} + "And when Ahithophelª sawª° that¹ his counselª was not¹ followed,ª° he saddledª° [his]¹ ass,ª and arose,ª° and gat¹ him home²° to¹ his house,ª to¹ his city,ª and put¹¹ his householdª in order,²° and hanged²° himself,¹ and died,ª° and was buriedª° in the sepulchreª of his father.ª" {2Sm 17:23} + "Andª he cast downª° the¹ pieces of silverª inª the¹ temple,ª and departed,ª° andª wentª° and hanged¹ himself.²°" {Mtt 27:5}
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