2 Samuel 18:6-13 - David's army marched out

18:6-8

So the army marches out and takes place in the forest of Ephraim. The significance of this is that the ground was far better suited to the smaller force (i.e. David’s). While Absalom’s army outnumbered David’s, much of that advantage was lost, for the army was not free to move en masse in the forest. David’s men won the day, killing twenty thousand of Israel’s troops, with the forest accounting for many of them. Note that the battle is portrayed as David against Israel. This is like Christ against Israel. Israel should have welcomed the Messiah, but instead chose to kill him.

18:9-13

Absalom seems to have been separated from the bulk of his army. He was riding a mule and got caught in a tree, and was left hanging in an oak tree. One of Joab’s men saw this and reported it to Joab. Joab asked the man why he didn’t kill Absalom while he had the chance, saying he would have rewarded the man. The man had heard David’s instructions to Joab and the others, and he was loyal to David. Joab, however, had no intention of following David;s wishes. Why was this? Joab was more concerned for the state of Israel and knew that there could never be peace within the land as long as Absalom was alive. Joab was a pragmatist, or an exponent of realpolitik. Was it pure self interest on his part? I don’t think so, I think he did have a genuine concern for the nation as a whole, and sometimes David could be an obstacle to this. The man who had seen Absalom knew that Joab was ruthless, and thought that if he had indeed killed Absalom, David would have had him killed, and Joab would not have intervened on his behalf.