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Absalom ( ʾAḇšālōm, "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled against his father and was killed during the Battle of Ephraim's Wood. Absalom, David's third son, by Maacah, was born in Hebron. At an early age, he moved, along with the transfer of the capital, to Jerusalem, where he spent most of his life. He was a great favorite of his father and of the people. His charming manners, personal beauty, insinuating ways, love of pomp, and royal pretensions captivated the hearts of the people from the beginning. He lived in great style, drove in a magnificent chariot, and had fifty men run before him. Little is known of Absalom's family life, but the biblical narrative states that he had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who is described as a beautiful woman. From the language of 2 Samuel 18:18, Absalom states, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance". It may be that his sons died before his statement, or, as Matthew Henry suggests, Absalom's three sons may have been born after his statement. Aside from his daughter Tamar, Absalom had another daughter or granddaughter named Maacah, who later became the favorite wife of Rehoboam. Maacah was the mother of Abijah of Judah and the grandmother of Asa of Judah. She served as queen mother for Asa until he deposed her for idolatry. Absalom also had a sister named Tamar, who was raped by her half-brother Amnon, David's eldest son. After the rape, Absalom waited two years and then avenged Tamar by sending his servants to murder a drunken Amnon at a feast to which Absalom had invited all of King David's sons. After this murder Absalom fled to Talmai, who was the king of Geshur and Absalom's maternal grandfather. Not until three years later was Absalom fully reinstated in David's favour and finally returned to Jerusalem.

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Related concepts (4)

Absalom

David

David (ˈdeɪvᵻd; Dāwīḏ, "beloved one") was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel. Historians of the Ancient Near East agree that David probably lived around 1000 BCE, but little more is known about him as a historical figure. According to Jewish works such as the Seder Olam Rabbah, Seder Olam Zutta, and Sefer ha-Qabbalah (all written over a thousand years later) David ascended the throne as the king of Judah in 885 BCE.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem (dʒəˈruːsələm; יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; القُدس, , al.quds, il.ʔuds) is a city in Western Asia, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital, as Israel maintains its primary governmental institutions there and the State of Palestine ultimately foresees it as its seat of power.