“Someone saw it and told Yo’av, ‘I saw Avshalom hanging in a terebinth.’ Yo’av asked the man who told him, ‘Here now, you saw it; so why didn’t you strike him to the ground then and there? I would have had to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt besides.’”-2 Samuel 18:10-11
A soldier happens to come across Absalom helplessly hanging in the branches of the tree.
Now, under any other circumstances, he would’ve finished off Absalom immediately.
But instead, he freezes.
He recognizes him and is well aware of King David’s orders to go gently with his son.
So he goes to report his find to his commander, Yo’av.
Yo’av instantly explodes with anger.
“Why didn’t you strike him to the ground then and there? I would have had to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt besides.”
Joab’s gotta good point.
If the soldier had taken advantage of his good fortune and slain Absalom right then and there, not only would he have collected a nice financial reward, but he would’ve gained fame throughout all Israel.
Yet, he staunchly refuses.
He basically tells Joab, “HELL NO HOMIE!”
He makes it clear that because of the king’s orders, he wouldn’t kill Absalom for even a treasure chest full of silver.
The soldier also makes it clear he’s quite sure that if David punished him harshly for killing his son, Joab wouldn’t do a damn thing to stop David.
Furious and not willing to listen to the soldier anymore, Joab storms off and thrusts 3 darts into Absalom’s chest.
The Hebrew word for darts here is SHEVATIM or שְׁבָטִים.
It is the plural of SHEVET or שֵׁבֶט.
It does NOT mean darts or spears.
SHEVET literally means staff, rod, or branch.
So, I’m not exactly sure what Joab did to Absalom, but he essentially incapacitated him with those sticks.
He then called for his armor bearers, who showed up and finished the job..
We’re told there were 10 armor bearers.
The number 10 is significant.
It represents a MINYAN, which is a divine minimum.
This is a sign that Absalom’s execution was a God-ordained matter.
Recall the MINYAN was also the divine minimum that if met, God promised Abraham He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only a minyan can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of a minyan, I will not destroy it (Sodom and Gomorrah).’ When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.”-Genesis 32-33
The point is, despite David’s misplaced affection for his son, the armor bearers were in the right when they slew Absalom
This was Adonai’s righteous hand of justice at work.
So what’s a cool takeaway we can extract from this?
It comes down to this:
When human loyalties clash with God’s justice, it’s God’s standard that prevails.
David’s emotions said, “Spare my son.”
The soldier’s conscience said, “Obey the king.”
But in the end, ten men (the full measure of a MINYAN) executed judgment that aligned with God’s will, not man’s sentimental BS.
The lesson is that God will always raise up the right number of people to carry out His justice, even when leaders hesitate or let emotions get in the way.
Ya feel me?
I’m gonna assume you have.
So we’re done.
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