3 Absalom would say, “Look, the law is on your side, but there is no representative of the king to hear your case.”
4 And he would add, “How I wish I were a judge! Then anyone who had a dispute or a claim could come to me, and I would give him justice.”
5 When the man approached Absalom to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out, take hold of him, and kiss him.
6 Absalom did this with every Israelite who came to the king for justice, and so he won their loyalty.
7 After four years Absalom said to King David, “Sir, let me go to Hebron and keep a promise I made to the Lord.
8 While I was living in Geshur in Syria, I promised the Lord that if he would take me back to Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron.”
9 “Go in peace,” the king said. So Absalom went to Hebron.