Absalom

(flourished c. 1020 BC, Palestine) In ancient Israel, the third and most beloved son of David. His story is told in 2 Samuel 13–19. An attractive but lawless man, he killed his half brother Amnon as revenge for the latter's rape of Tamar, Absalom's sister, and was banished from the kingdom for a time. He later raised a rebellion against his father, capturing Jerusalem but meeting defeat in the forest of Ephraim, where he was killed by his cousin Joab, who found him caught by the hair in an oak tree. Despite Absalom's treachery, David greatly lamented his son's death.

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