2 Samuel 17:10-20

10 "And even the one who is valiant *, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, ¹will completely lose heart; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men.

11 "But I counsel that all Israel be surely gathered to you, ²from Dan even to Beersheba, ³as the sand that is by the sea in abundance, and that you personally go into battle.

12 "So we shall come to him in one of the places where * he can be found, and we will fall on him ⁴as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left.

13 "If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will ⁵drag it into the valley until * not even a small stone is found there."

14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For ⁶the LORD had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring calamity on Absalom.

Hushai's Warning Saves David

15 Then ⁷Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "This is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have counseled.

16 "Now therefore, send quickly and tell David, saying, '⁸Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all * means cross over, or else the king and all the people who are with him will be destroyed.' "

17 ⁹Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at ¹⁰En-rogel, and a maidservant would go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they could not be seen entering the city.

18 But a lad did see them and told Absalom; so the two of them departed quickly and came to the house of a man ¹¹in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.

19 And ¹²the woman took a covering and spread it over the well's mouth and scattered grain on it, so that nothing * was known.

20 Then Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house and said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" And ¹³the woman said to them, "They have crossed the brook of water." And when they searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

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2 Samuel 17:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 17

This chapter relates the advice Ahithophel gave to march out speedily with a number of men in pursuit of David, which at first seemed agreeable, 2Sa 17:1-4; but Hushai's opinion being asked, and he giving counsel to raise a larger army, which required time, and was taken to, hereby the counsel of Ahithophel was defeated, 2Sa 17:5-14; upon which he hanged himself, 2Sa 17:23; these different counsels being communicated by Hushai to the priests, they found means to transmit them to David, with an instruction to him to pass over Jordan immediately; which he did, and pitched in Gilead, and whither he was followed by Absalom, 2Sa 17:15-26; and where he met with a supply of provisions for his army from some eminent persons in and near that place, 2Sa 17:27-29.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 13

1. Joshua 2:9-11
2. 1 Samuel 3:20
3. Genesis 22:17; 1 Samuel 13:5
4. Psalms 110:3; Micah 5:7
5. Micah 1:6
6. 2 Samuel 15:31, 34; Psalms 9:15, 16
7. 2 Samuel 15:35, 36
8. 2 Samuel 15:28
9. 2 Samuel 15:27, 36
10. Joshua 15:7; Joshua 18:16
11. 2 Samuel 3:16; 2 Samuel 16:5
12. Joshua 2:4-6
13. Leviticus 19:11; Joshua 2:3-5; 1 Samuel 19:12-17

Footnotes 9

[a]. Lit "melt"
[b]. Lit "your face go"
[c]. Lit "settle down"
[d]. Or "wadi"
[e]. Lit "Thus and thus"
[f]. Lit "Thus and thus"
[g]. Lit "swallowed up"
[h]. Lit "there"
[i]. Lit "took and spread the covering"