9. Then it happened that Absalom, riding on a mule, met the servants of David. And when the mule had entered under a thick and large oak tree, his head became trapped in the oak. And while he was suspended between heaven and earth, the mule on which he had been sitting continued on.
10. Then a certain one saw this and reported it to Joab, saying, "I saw Absalom hanging from an oak."
11. And Joab said to the man who had reported it to him, "If you saw him, why did you not stab him to the ground, and I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt?"
12. And he said to Joab: "Even if you weighed out to my hands one thousand silver coins, I would never lay my hands on the son of the king. For in our hearing the king ordered you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, 'Keep for me the boy Absalom.'
13. Then too, if I had acted with such audacity, against my own life, this would never have been able to be hidden from the king. And would you then have stood by my side?"