Absalom ran into some of David's men while he was riding on his mule. As the mule went under the twisted branches of a large oak tree, Absalom's hair got caught in the tree. The mule he was riding kept going, leaving him hanging between earth and sky.
The rest ran away to the town of Aphek, where a wall collapsed on 27,000 of those that remained. Ben-hadad also ran to the town and hid in an inside room.
As they ran away from the Israelites down the slope from Beth-horon, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them from the skies all the way to Azekah. More were killed by the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.