Absalom

Absalom was the third son of King David, renowned for his striking physical appearance and his ambitious, ultimately fatal rebellion against his father. After his full sister Tamar was raped by their half-brother Amnon, David failed to act and Absalom took revenge by having Amnon killed, then fled to Geshur for three years (2 Samuel 13). Upon returning to Jerusalem, he systematically undermined David's administration and eventually launched an open rebellion that drove David from the capital. His coup was defeated and he himself was caught by his hair in an oak tree and killed by Joab against David's explicit orders (2 Samuel 18:9–15). David's grief—'O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!'—(2 Samuel 18:33) is one of Scripture's most poignant expressions of parental anguish.