Hi,<\/p>\n
I am just wondering why there’s a discrepancy in what II Samuel says about Absalom.\u00a0 In II Samuel 14:27 it says that Absalom has three sons and a daughter, but in II Samuel 18:18 it says that Absalom erected a monument for himself because he thought he has no son to carry on the memory of his name.\u00a0 Does he have an heir or not?<\/p>\n\t
“To Absalom were born three sons, and one daughter whose name was Tamar. She was a woman of beautiful appearance<\/em>” (II Samuel 14:27).<\/p>\n
“Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument<\/em>” (II Samuel 18:18).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There are several possibilities:<\/p>\n
\n
- II Samuel 18:18 doesn’t say\u00a0when<\/em>\u00a0the monument was erected, only that Absalom had done it during his lifetime. One possibility is that he erected it before he married.<\/li>\n
- It is possible that between II Samuel 14 and II Samuel 18 that Absalom’s sons had died.<\/li>\n
- It is possible that Absalom’s living sons were handicapped and not capable of being his heir.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Most scholars lean toward the second possibility.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hi, I am just wondering why there’s a discrepancy in what II Samuel says about Absalom.\u00a0 In II Samuel 14:27 it says that Absalom has three sons and a daughter, but in II Samuel 18:18 it says that Absalom erected a monument for himself because he thought he has no son to carry on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1285,568,793],"class_list":["post-30279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-absalom","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-apparent-contradictions"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15793,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-were-the-wives-who-gave-birth-to-davids-sons-and-in-which-order-were-they-born\/","url_meta":{"origin":30279,"position":0},"title":"Who were the wives who gave birth to David’s sons and in which order were they born?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who were the wives of King David who gave birth to Amnon, Absalom, Killiam, and Adonijah? 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Adonijah being the last before Solomon because he had the right to the throne before\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/absalom\/","url_meta":{"origin":30279,"position":1},"title":"Absalom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andrew Long","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58888,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-little-dating-advice-for-singles\/","url_meta":{"origin":30279,"position":2},"title":"A Little Dating Advice for Singles","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Maxson \"Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish on him\"(II Samuel 14:25). How much stock do you put into appearance?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36969,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-abijam-and-asa-brothers\/","url_meta":{"origin":30279,"position":3},"title":"Are Abijam and Asa brothers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In I Kings 15:1-2 and I Kings 15:9-10, both Abijam and Asa are said to be sons of Maacha the daughter of Abishalom. Does that mean they are brothers? Answer: II Chronicles 14:1 is clear that Asa is the son of Abijah. 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