Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in memory.” He called the pillar after his own name and it is called Absalom’s monument to this day.
“I have no son.” According to 2 Samuel 14:27, Absalom had three sons, so apparently by this later time in his life they had passed away. While tragic, that would not have been terribly unusual. Naomi lost both her sons in their teenage years after they were married but before they could have children (Ruth 1:3-5). In the ancient world children often died from various causes that they would not die from today.
