The Death of Absalom

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

Doré drew the forest scene for the Tours Bible of 1866, and the engraver who signed at the bottom right cut its leaves into a dense pattern of little curls.

A giant oak fills the plate, its twisted branches spreading over the forest. In the shadow under its leaves hangs a dark shape — Absalom, caught by the head, while his mule walks away beneath him. In the light, Joab charges in on horseback with three spears raised, his soldiers behind.

From the text

“Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree” (2 Samuel 18:9)

“The mule under him kept going” (2 Samuel 18:9)

Joab “took three spears in his hand” (2 Samuel 18:14)

The artist’s own

Joab and his men on horseback

The moment just before the blow — no wound is shown

Absalom almost lost in shadow, while the light falls on Joab

Details

Joab

He rides in with three spears raised in one hand.

Absalom

A dark figure hangs in the shadow of the oak.

The oak

A huge tree with twisted branches spreads over the scene.

Soldiers

Joab’s men follow on horseback with lances.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 85 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.

The verses

2 Sam 18:9–14Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair. When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!” “You just saw him!” Joab exclaimed. “Why did you not strike him to the ground right there? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt!” The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ If I had jeopardized my own life—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.” But Joab declared, “I am not going to wait like this with you!” And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak tree.