Discovery Box2 Samuel 18:9-10 
Context18:9 Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his 1 mule, it 2 went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, 3 while the mule he had been riding kept going.
18:10 When one 4 of the men saw this, he reported it to Joab saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.
2 Samuel 18:14
Context18:14 Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. 5
1 tn Heb “the.”
2 tn Heb “the donkey.”
3 tn Heb “between the sky and the ground.”
4 tc 4QSama lacks the word “one.”
5 tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”
