And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.

2 SAMUEL 18:17KJV
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2 Samuel 18:17 (KJV)

What does 2 Samuel 18:17 mean?

2 Samuel 18:17 describes the end of Absalom’s rebellion against his father, King David. Absalom’s body is disposed of in the woods, while the people who had supported him scatter to their homes. His death leaves his followers without their leader.

The narrator reports these events after Absalom is killed in the preceding verses. The great heap of stones marks the place where his body lies. “All Israel” refers here to the people on Absalom’s side, not every Israelite, since David also had Israelite supporters.

The Hebrew behind 2 Samuel 18:17

  • “pit” — בּוֹר (bor): This word can refer to a pit or a cistern, a hollow used to hold water. Here it describes the place in the woods where Absalom’s body was thrown.
  • “tent” — אֹהֶל (ohel): The word means a tent, but “to his tent” could also be a familiar way of saying that someone went home. The phrase does not require every person to have been living in a tent.

Why 2 Samuel 18:17 matters

  • Absalom’s supporters are no longer acting as an army under his command. They “fled every one to his tent,” which pictures the force breaking apart after his death.
  • The heap of stones contrasts with the monument Absalom had set up for himself. Verse 18 says he had raised a pillar to keep his name in memory, while verse 17 places his body under stones in the woods.
  • David’s instruction about his son makes the report more striking. David had ordered his commanders to deal gently with Absalom in verse 5, but verse 17 shows what became of Absalom after the fighting.

Where else these words appear

“pit” Hebrew H6354 · used in 8 verses

  • 2 Samuel 17:9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
  • Isaiah 24:18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
  • Jeremiah 48:43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.

“heap” Hebrew H1530 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 31:46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.
  • Psalms 42:7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
  • Isaiah 51:15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

“wood” Hebrew H3293 · used in 58 verses

  • Deuteronomy 19:5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:
  • Psalms 96:12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
  • Isaiah 56:9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.

“laid” Hebrew H5324 · used in 75 verses

  • Genesis 18:2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
  • Numbers 23:6 And he returned unto him, and, lo, he stood by his burnt sacrifice, he, and all the princes of Moab.
  • 1 Kings 9:23 These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.