person · also Abishalom
Absalom
אַבְשָׁלוֹם
Absalom was David's third son who led a revolt against his father's reign.
- verses
- 92
- first named
- 2 Samuel 3:3
- last named
- Psalms 3:1
- period
- United Monarchy
- tribe
- Judah
Description
Who was Absalom?
Absalom was the third son of King David, born to Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2Sa. 3:3). He was known for his handsome appearance and long hair (2Sa. 14:25-26). After the rape of his sister Tamar by Amnon, David's firstborn son, Absalom plotted revenge and had Amnon murdered (2Sa. 13). He then fled to Geshur for three years before Joab, David's general, arranged for his return (2Sa. 14).
Later, Absalom launched a rebellion against David, proclaiming himself king in Hebron (2Sa. 15). David was forced to flee from Jerusalem, and Absalom took advice to pursue him with his forces (2Sa. 16-17). However, David's men defeated Absalom's army, and Absalom himself was killed by Joab against David's wishes (2Sa. 18). David deeply mourned Absalom's death (2Sa. 19:1-4).
Absalom had erected a pillar to preserve his name, since he had no son to carry on his lineage (2Sa. 18:18). He was survived by his daughter Maacah, who later became a wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abijah (1Ki. 15:2; 2Ch. 11:20-21).
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The 10 best-attested of 34 are drawn. All 34 are listed below.
Child of
Father of
- Tamarregistry2 Samuel 14:27
Located in
Parent of
Sibling of
- Adonijahregistry, no verse
- Amnonregistry2 Samuel 13:42 Samuel 13:26
- Chileabregistry, no verse
- Eliadaregistry, no verse
- Elipheletregistry, no verse
- Elishamaregistry, no verse
- Elishuaregistry, no verse
- Elpeletregistry, no verse
- Ibharregistry, no verse
- Ithreamregistry, no verse
- Japhiaregistry, no verse
- Jerimothregistry, no verse
- Nathanregistry, no verse
- Nephegregistry, no verse
- Nogahregistry, no verse
- Shammuaregistry, no verse
- Shephatiahregistry, no verse
- Shobabregistry, no verse
- Solomonregistry, no verse
- Tamarregistry2 Samuel 13:41 Chronicles 3:9
Stands in the same events as
- David11 events
- Joab8 events
- Jerusalem6 events
- Israel5 events
- Ahithophel5 events
- Hushai5 events
- Hebron4 events
- Amnon3 events
- Geshur3 events
- Battle2 events
- Vow2 events
- Ittai2 events
and 22 more, ordered by how many events they share.
Places
Where this happens
The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.
The pattern
Where Absalom is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
92 verses across 5 of 66 books; 61 write the name nowhere. Named in 2 Samuel (83), 1 Kings (5), 1 Chronicles (1), 2 Chronicles (2) and Psalms (1).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 92, across 5 books. The name is written 111 times in them.
2 Samuel83 verses
3:313:113:413:2013:2213:2313:2413:2513:2613:2713:2813:2913:3013:3213:3413:3713:3813:3914:114:2114:2314:2414:2514:2714:2814:2914:3014:3114:3214:3315:115:215:315:415:615:715:1015:1115:1215:1315:1415:3115:3415:3716:816:1516:1616:1716:1816:2016:2116:2216:2317:117:417:517:617:717:917:1417:1517:1817:2017:2417:2517:2618:518:918:1018:1218:1418:1518:1718:1818:2918:3218:3319:119:419:619:919:1020:6
1 Kings5 verses
1 Chronicles1 verse
2 Chronicles2 verses
Psalms1 verse
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
- 2 Samuel 13Absalom sheltered Tamar, hated Amnon in silence, and arranged Amnon’s death at the sheep-shearing feast.
- 2 Samuel 14Absalom returned from Geshur, waited two years in Jerusalem, burned Joab’s barley field, and was finally summoned and kissed by David.
- 2 Samuel 15Absalom courted Israel at the city gate, went to Hebron under cover of a vow, and strengthened his conspiracy with sacrifices and a summons to Ahithophel.
- 2 Samuel 16Absalom came to Jerusalem, received Hushai’s declaration of service, and asked Ahithophel for counsel.
- 2 Samuel 17Absalom summoned Hushai, chose Hushai’s counsel, crossed the Jordan, and camped with Israel in Gilead.
- 2 Samuel 18Absalom rode into the oak’s branches, was killed there, and was buried beneath a mound of stones.
- 2 Samuel 19Absalom’s death turned David’s victory into mourning.
- 1 Chronicles 3Absalom was named as David’s third son, born to Maacah in Hebron.
1 more chapter, from Psalms 3 to Psalms 3
Sources