טז (שמואל ב יח, יח) ואבשלום לקח ויצב לו בחייו מאי לקח אמר ריש לקיש שלקח מקח רע לעצמו את מצבת אשר בעמק המלך וגו' א"ר חנינא בר פפא בעצה עמוקה של מלכו של עולם
16 Samuel the elder, father-in-law of R. Samuel b. Ammi said in the name of R. Samuel b. Ammi: Having once known her,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That she was righteous. ');"><sup>28</sup></span> he did not separate from her again. It is written here, 'And he knew her again no more [Yasaf], and elsewhere it is written: With a great voice increasing [Yasaf].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. V, 19. The two verbs are really distinct, but the Rabbi connected them both with the root [H] and accordingly explained the phrase in Gen. as 'and he knew her again without ceasing', v. Sanh. 17a. ');"><sup>29</sup></span> ABSALOM GLORIED IN HIS HAIR etc. Our Rabbis have taught: Absalom rebelled [against his father] through his hair, as it is said: There was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty … And when he polled his head, now it was at every year's end that he polled it because the hair was heavy on him therefore he polled it, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred <i>shekels</i>, after the king's weight.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XIV, 25f. ');"><sup>30</sup></span> It has been taught that [the king's weight] was the weight with which the men of Tiberias and Sepphoris weigh. Therefore he was hanged by his hair, as it is said: And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went on.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XVIII. 9. ');"><sup>31</sup></span> He took a sword and wished to cut himself loose;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The first half of this sentence is omitted in some edd. ');"><sup>32</sup></span> but it was taught in the School of R. Ishmael, At that moment Sheol was split asunder beneath him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that had he cut through his hair he would have fallen into Sheol. ');"><sup>33</sup></span> And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, thus he said: O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XIX, 1. E.V. XVIII, 33. ');"><sup>34</sup></span> And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, my son.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 5, E.V. 4. ');"><sup>35</sup></span> Why is 'my son' repeated eight times? Seven to raise him from the seven divisions of Gehinnom; and as for the last, some say to unite his [severed] head to his body and others say to bring him into the World to Come. Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XVIII, 18. ');"><sup>36</sup></span> What means 'had taken'? — Resh Lakish said: He had made a bad purchase for himself.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The verb signifies both took and purchased. The meaning appears to be that his conduct resulted in his having to buy a monument to preserve his memory instead of his succeeding his father; hence it was a bad bargain for him. ');"><sup>37</sup></span> The pillar which is in the king's dale, etc. — R. Hanina b. Papa said: In the deep plan of the King of the Universe;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The word 'dale' means 'deep', and 'king' is applied to God Who had decided that this should happen as a punishment for his sin with Bathsheba. ');"><sup>38</sup></span>