And David having reviewed his peo ple, appointed over them captains of thousands and of hundreds,

Igitur considerato David populo suo, constituit super eos tribunos et centuriones,

And now David passed the men who were with him under review, appointing commanders and captains over them;

And sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth: and the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you.

et dedit populi tertiam partem sub manu Joab, et tertiam partem sub manu Abisai filii Sarviæ fratris Joab, et tertiam partem sub manu Ethai, qui erat de Geth. Dixitque rex ad populum: Egrediar et ego vobiscum.

one third he entrusted to Joab, one third to Joab’s brother Abisai, and the remainder to Ethai of Geth. He himself, he told his men, would go into battle with them,

And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, they will not greatly care: for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand: it is better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us.

Et respondit populus: Non exibis: sive enim fugerimus, non magnopere ad eos de nobis pertinebit: sive media pars ceciderit e nobis, non satis curabunt, quia tu unus pro decem millibus computaris: melius est igitur ut sis nobis in urbe præsidio.

but they would not have it. It makes no great matter to the enemy, they said, whether we are routed: even if half of us should fall, they would set little store by it; thy life is more to them than the lives of ten thousand others. Better that thou shouldst remain in the city and garrison it for us.

And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will I do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by their troops, by hundreds and by thousands.

Ad quos rex ait: Quod vobis videtur rectum, hoc faciam. Stetit ergo rex juxta portam: egrediebaturque populus per turmas suas centeni et milleni.

So the king told them he would abide by their judgement, and he stood watching at the gate while they marched out company by company, in their hundreds and thousands.

And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving charge to all the princes concerning Absalom.

Et præcepit rex Joab, et Abisai, et Ethai, dicens: Servate mihi puerum Absalom. Et omnis populus audiebat præcipientem regem cunctis principibus pro Absalom.

One charge the king laid upon Joab and Abisai and Ethai alike, Spare me my son Absalom; and this charge about Absalom was so given to each of them that the men in the ranks could hear it.

So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.

Itaque egressus est populus in campum contra Israël, et factum est prælium in saltu Ephraim.

So his army took the field against Israel; it was in the forest of Ephraim that battle was joined.

And the people of Israel were defeated there by David’s army, and a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men.

Et cæsus est ibi populus Israël ab exercitu David, factaque est plaga magna in die illa, viginti millium.

And the Israelites were routed by David’s men, with great loss; twenty thousand men fell that day,

And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest consumed, than whom the sword devoured that day.

Fuit autem ibi prælium dispersum super faciem omnis terræ, et multo plures erant quos saltus consumpserat de populo, quam hi quos voraverat gladius in die illa.

and more of them perished in the woods than in the fighting itself, so scattered was their flight over all the country-side.

And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David, riding on a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head stuck in the oak: and while he hung between the heaven and the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on.

Accidit autem ut occurreret Absalom servis David, sedens mulo: cumque ingressus fuisset mulus subter condensam quercum et magnam, adhæsit caput ejus quercui: et illo suspenso inter cælum et terram, mulus cui insederat, pertransivit.

Some of David’s men encountered Absalom himself, riding on a mule; and away the mule went, under the tangled branches of a great oak, which caught him by the head and kept him hanging there between earth and sky, while the beast that carried him pressed on.

And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom hanging upon an oak.

Vidit autem hoc quispiam, et nuntiavit Joab, dicens: Vidi Absalom pendere de quercu.

A soldier, who witnessed it, went and told Joab that he had seen Absalom hanging from an oak.

And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him, why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten sicles of silver, and a belt?

Et ait Joab viro qui nuntiaverat ei: Si vidisti, quare non confodisti eum cum terra, et ego dedissem tibi decem argenti siclos, et unum balteum?

Thou sawest him, Joab answered, and didst not smite him then and there to the ground? I would have given thee ten sicles of silver and a belt besides.

And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king’s son: for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom.

Qui dixit ad Joab: Si appenderes in manibus meis mille argenteos, nequaquam mitterem manum meam in filium regis: audientibus enim nobis præcepit rex tibi, et Abisai, et Ethai, dicens: Custodite mihi puerum Absalom.

Nay, said he, thou mightest count out a thousand silver pieces into my purse, and still I would not lift a hand against the king’s son. We were all of us within hearing when the king bade thee and Abisai and Ethai spare his son Absalom.

Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by me?

Sed etsi fecissem contra animam meam audacter, nequaquam hoc regem latere potuisset, et tu stares ex adverso?

It would have been at the risk of my life, and the thing would never have passed unnoticed by the king; why, thou wouldst thyself be laying information against me.

And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but I will set upon him in thy sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak,

Et ait Joab: Non sicut tu vis, sed aggrediar eum coram te. Tulit ergo tres lanceas in manu sua, et infixit eas in corde Absalom: cumque adhuc palpitaret hærens in quercu,

That will not serve, answered Joab; I will smite him myself, and thou shalt be there to witness it. So he took three javelins with him, and thrust Absalom right through with them; then, as he still hung there writhing on the oak,

Ten young men, armourbearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him slew him.

cucurrerunt decem juvenes armigeri Joab, et percutientes interfecerunt eum.

ten squires who attended on Joab ran up and dispatched him.

And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare the multitude.

Cecinit autem Joab buccina, et retinuit populum, ne persequeretur fugientem Israël, volens parcere multitudini.

With that, Joab sounded the trumpet, and would not let his men go further in pursuit of Israel, to spare the lives of the common folk.

And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stones upon him: but all Israel fled to their own dwellings.

Et tulerunt Absalom, et projecerunt eum in saltu, in foveam grandem, et comportaverunt super eum acervum lapidum magnum nimis: omnis autem Israël fugit in tabernacula sua.

As for Absalom, they threw his body into a deep pit, there in the forest, and piled a great heap of stones over him. Meanwhile, the men of Israel fled away to their tents.

Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a pillar, which is in the king’s valley: for he said: I have no son, and this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his own name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day.

Porro Absalom erexerat sibi, cum adhuc viveret, titulum qui est in Valle regis: dixerat enim: Non habeo filium, et hoc erit monimentum nominis mei. Vocavitque titulum nomine suo, et appellatur Manus Absalom, usque ad hanc diem.

(The monument which stands in the King’s Vale is one which Absalom erected for himself in his own life-time, thinking thus to perpetuate his name, since he had no son to follow him. And as he gave this monument his own name, it has been called Absalom’s Mark ever since.)

And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his enemies.

Achimaas autem filius Sadoc, ait: Curram, et nuntiabo regi quia judicium fecerit ei Dominus de manu inimicorum ejus.

And now Achimaas, son of Sadoc, asked leave to run and tell the king how God had punished his enemies,

And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this day, but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee bear tidings, because the king’s son is dead.

Ad quem Joab dixit: Non eris nuntius in hac die, sed nuntiabis in alia: hodie nolo te nuntiare: filius enim regis est mortuus.

but Joab told him, Better some other day than this for bearing the message; I would not have thee tell the news to-day; here is a king’s son dead.

And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.

Et ait Joab Chusi: Vade, et nuntia regi quæ vidisti. Adoravit Chusi Joab, et cucurrit.

Afterwards Joab bade Chusi go and tell the king what he had seen; so Chusi did reverence to him, and ran.

Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why might not I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou run, my son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings.

Rursus autem Achimaas filius Sadoc dixit ad Joab: Quid impedit si etiam ego curram post Chusi? Dixitque ei Joab: Quid vis currere, fili mi? non eris boni nuntii bajulus.

And thereupon Sadoc’s son Achimaas asked whether he might not run after Chusi. No need for that, my son, Joab answered; it is not good news thou wilt carry.

He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run. Then Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai.

Qui respondit: Quid enim si cucurrero? Et ait ei: Curre. Currens ergo Achimaas per viam compendii, transivit Chusi.

But may I run? asked he. Run if thou wilt, said Joab. And Achimaas took a shorter way, and passed Chusi by.

And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman that was on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running alone.

David autem sedebat inter duas portas: speculator vero, qui erat in fastigio portæ super murum, elevans oculos, vidit hominem currentem solum.

David was sitting between the two gates; and now the watchman that stood above the roof over the gate, high up on the wall, looked up and saw a man running, all alone,

And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace, and drawing nearer,

Et exclamans indicavit regi: dixitque rex: Si solus est, bonus est nuntius in ore ejus. Properante autem illo, et accedente propius,

and cried out to let the king know of it. If he is alone, the king said, he has good news to tell. Then, as the runner came nearer,

The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud from above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king said: He also is a good messenger.

vidit speculator hominem alterum currentem, et vociferans in culmine, ait: Apparet mihi alter homo currens solus. Dixitque rex: Et iste bonus est nuntius.

the watchman saw a second courier on his way, and cried out from the roof, I see a second man running all alone. He too, the king said, is a welcome messenger.

And the watchman said: The running of the foremost seemeth to me like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said: He is a good man: and cometh with good news.

Speculator autem: Contemplor, ait, cursum prioris, quasi cursum Achimaas filii Sadoc. Et ait rex: Vir bonus est, et nuntium portans bonum venit.

And the watchman told him, I have marked how the first messenger runs; he runs like Achimaas, son of Sadoc. A good man, the king said; his will be good news.

And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have lifted up their hands against the lord my king.

Clamans autem Achimaas, dixit ad regem: Salve rex. Et adorans regem coram eo pronus in terram, ait: Benedictus Dominus Deus tuus, qui conclusit homines qui levaverunt manus suas contra dominum meum regem.

And now Achimaas cried out, Hail, my lord king! Then he bowed down with his face to the earth, to do the king reverence, and said, Blessed be the Lord thy God; he has not suffered them to escape, the men who took up arms against the king’s grace.

And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Achimaas said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab sent me thy servant: I know nothing else.

Et ait rex: Estne pax puero Absalom? Dixitque Achimaas: Vidi tumultum magnum cum mitteret Joab servus tuus, o rex, me servum tuum: nescio aliud.

Is all well, the king asked, with my son Absalom? And Achimaas answered, There was a great stir round about Joab when he sent me, thy servant, on my errand; I can tell thee no more.

And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here.

Ad quem rex: Transi, ait, et sta hic. Cumque ille transisset, et staret,

Stand aside here, the king said; and as he did so,

And when he had passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared: and coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen up against thee.

apparuit Chusi: et veniens ait: Bonum apporto nuntium, domine mi rex: judicavit enim pro te Dominus hodie de manu omnium qui surrexerunt contra te.

Chusi came up after him; Good news, said he, for my lord the king! The Lord has maintained thy cause against the rebels.

And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.

Dixit autem rex ad Chusi: Estne pax puero Absalom? Cui respondens Chusi: Fiant, inquit, sicut puer, inimici domini mei regis, et universi qui consurgunt adversus eum in malum.

Then the king asked Chusi, Is all well with my son Absalom? My lord king, Chusi answered, may all thy enemies, and all that conspire to thy hurt, fare as the prince has fared!

The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this manner: My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom.

Contristatus itaque rex, ascendit cœnaculum portæ, et flevit. Et sic loquebatur, vadens: Fili mi Absalom, Absalom fili mi: quis mihi tribuat ut ego moriar pro te, Absalom fili mi, fili mi Absalom?

And with that, the king went up to the room over the gate in bitter sorrow, and wept there. O, my son Absalom, he said as he went, my son, my son Absalom! Would to God I had died instead of thee, Absalom, my son, my son!