Absalom's offer to his supplicants—that if only he were made judge in the land, everyone who came to seek justice would be heard and vindicated—represents his explicit proposal of himself as a replacement for his father's judicial function. His promise that he would give every petitioner what they deserve and every case a just resolution establishes his claim to superior justice and his presentation of himself as the true guardian of the people's rights. The tone of Absalom's speech—sympathetic, accessible, promising that he will listen to all who come to him—creates a stark contrast to the distant and sometimes inaccessible king whose justice, Absalom suggests, is either unavailable or inadequate. The verse represents Absalom's explicit articulation of his intention to supplant his father and his proposal to the people of himself as their true judge.

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