David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds . David sent the troops out -- a third under the command of Joab , a third under Joab ' s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah , and a third under Ittai the Gittite . The king told the troops , " I myself will surely march out with you . " But the men said , " You must not go out ; if we are forced to flee , they won ' t care about us . Even if half of us die , they won ' t care ; but you are worth ten thousand of us . It would be better now for you to give us support from the city . " The king answered , " I will do whatever seems best to you . " So the king stood beside the gate while all the men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands . The king commanded Joab , Abishai and Ittai , " Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake . " And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders . The army marched into the field to fight Israel , and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim . There the army of Israel was defeated by David ' s men , and the casualties that day were great -- twenty thousand men . The battle spread out over the whole countryside , and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword . Now Absalom happened to meet David ' s men . He was riding his mule , and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak , Absalom ' s head got caught in the tree . He was left hanging in midair , while the mule he was riding kept on going . When one of the men saw this , he told Joab , " I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree . " Joab said to the man who had told him this , " What ! You saw him ? Why didn ' t you strike him to the ground right there ? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior ' s belt . " But the man replied , " Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands , I would not lift my hand against the king ' s son . In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai , ' Protect the young man Absalom for my sake . ' And if I had put my life in jeopardy -- and nothing is hidden from the king -- you would have kept your distance from me . " Joab said , " I ' m not going to wait like this for you . " So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom ' s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree . And ten of Joab ' s armor - bearers surrounded Absalom , struck him and killed him . Then Joab sounded the trumpet , and the troops stopped pursuing Israel , for Joab halted them . They took Absalom , threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him . Meanwhile , all the Israelites fled to their homes . During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King ' s Valley as a monument to himself , for he thought , " I have no son to carry on the memory of my name . " He named the pillar after himself , and it is called Absalom ' s Monument to this day . Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said , " Let me run and take the news to the king that the LORD has delivered him from the hand of his enemies . " " You are not the one to take the news today , " Joab told him . " You may take the news another time , but you must not do so today , because the king ' s son is dead . " Then Joab said to a Cushite , " Go , tell the king what you have seen . " The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off . Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab , " Come what may , please let me run behind the Cushite . " But Joab replied , " My son , why do you want to go ? You don ' t have any news that will bring you a reward . " He said , " Come what may , I want to run . " So Joab said , " Run ! " Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite . While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates , the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall . As he looked out , he saw a man running alone . The watchman called out to the king and reported it . The king said , " If he is alone , he must have good news . " And the man came closer and closer . Then the watchman saw another man running , and he called down to the gatekeeper , " Look , another man running alone ! " The king said , " He must be bringing good news , too . " The watchman said , " It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok . " " He ' s a good man , " the king said . " He comes with good news . " Then Ahimaaz called out to the king , " All is well ! " He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said , " Praise be to the LORD your God ! He has delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king . " The king asked , " Is the young man Absalom safe ? " Ahimaaz answered , " I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king ' s servant and me , your servant , but I don ' t know what it was . " The king said , " Stand aside and wait here . " So he stepped aside and stood there . Then the Cushite arrived and said , " My lord the king , hear the good news ! The LORD has delivered you today from all who rose up against you . " The king asked the Cushite , " Is the young man Absalom safe ? " The Cushite replied , " May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man . " The king was shaken . He went up to the room over the gateway and wept . As he went , he said : " O my son Absalom ! My son , my son Absalom ! If only I had died instead of you -- O Absalom , my son , my son ! "