And there was great weeping in all the country when all the people went through; and the king himself was waiting in the Kidron valley and all the people went by him in the direction of the olive-tree on the edge of the waste land.

And David went up in the ascent of the olive trees, going up and weeping, and the head to him covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people which were with him covered each his head, and they went up, going up and weeping.

Absalom was riding on his mule when he happened to meet David’s soldiers. When the mule went under the tangled branches of a large oak tree, Absalom’s head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so he was suspended in midair.