Questions From Readers

◼ What is meant at 2 Samuel 18:8, which says: “The forest did more in eating up the people than the sword did”?

King David’s handsome son Absalom usurped the throne and forced his father to flee Jerusalem. Thereafter, in the forest of Ephraim (perhaps east of the Jordan River) a battle took place between Absalom’s forces and those loyal to Jehovah’s anointed king, David. The account at 2 Samuel 18:6, 7 reports that in the fierce battle David’s men slaughtered 20,000 rebels. In part, the next verse 2Sa 18:8 adds: “Furthermore, the forest did more in eating up the people than the sword did in eating them up on that day.”

Some have suggested that this refers to rebel soldiers’ being devoured by wild beasts dwelling in the woods. (1 Samuel 17:36; 2 Kings 2:24) But such literal eating by animals need not be meant, any more than that “the sword” literally ate those slain in battle. Actually, the battle “got to be spread out over all the land that was in sight.” So a more likely explanation is that Absalom’s routed men, who were fleeing in panic through the rocky forest, perhaps fell into pits and hidden ravines, and became entangled in dense underbrush. Interestingly, the account goes on to relate that Absalom himself became a victim of the forest. Apparently because of his abundant hair, his head got caught in a big tree, leaving him helplessly exposed to a fatal attack by Joab and his men. Absalom’s corpse was ‘pitched in the forest into a big hollow, and a very big pile of stones was raised up over him.’​—2 Samuel 18:9-17.