King David's son, Absalom, pursued David to kill him and take the throne. 18:8 reads, "The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword." Absalom's head got caught in an oak tree, and his mule kept going on. He hung in midair. David's men were afraid to strike him since David had asked them to be gentle with him for David's sake, so they told Joab, who pierced his heart with three javelins. His armorbearers surrounded him, struck him, and killed him. Joab sounded the trumpet, and the war was over. Absalom's men ran home in fear, and David's men came to David, but found him weeping for Absalom his son. Joab confronted David and said, you better go out and address your men, or they will not follow you any more, and it will be the worst mess you have found yourself in. David did. The men of Judah were willing to have David come back as king, so they went back, but there was still conflict between the Northern Tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Judah. Sheba from the tribe of Benjamin, Saul's tribe, declared, "We have no share in David, no part in Jesse's son! Every man to his tent, O Israel" (20:1)! David made Absalom's commander of the Army, Amasa, his commander of the army, in an attempt to bring the sides together, but it also was a way of demoting Joab for killing his son and confronting the king. On the way to get Sheba, Joab met Amasa and killed him. Once they found Sheba, the city he was hiding in, cut of his head and threw it to Joab. By the time the men returned to Jerusalem, Joab was the commander of the army in the sight of the men, and David reinstated him.
