2 Samuel 17:1-14

Hushai's Counsel

1 Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Please let me choose 12,000 * * men that I may arise and pursue David tonight.

2 "¹I will come upon him while he is weary and exhausted * and terrify him, so that all the people who are with him will flee. Then ²I will strike down the king alone,

3 and I will bring back all the people to you. The return of everyone depends on the man you seek; then all the people will be at ³peace."

4 So the plan pleased * Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

5 Then Absalom said, "Now call ⁴Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say."

6 When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him, "Ahithophel has spoken thus *. Shall we carry out his plan? If not, you speak."

7 So Hushai said to Absalom, "⁵This time the advice that Ahithophel has given is not good."

8 Moreover, Hushai said, "You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men and they are fierce *, ⁶like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. And your father is an expert in warfare, and will not spend the night with the people.

9 "Behold, he has now hidden himself in one of the caves or in another place; and it will be when he falls on them at the first attack, that whoever hears it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.'

10 "And even the one who is valiant *, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, ⁷will 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, ⁸from Dan even to Beersheba, ⁹as 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 ¹⁰as 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 ¹¹drag 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 ¹²the LORD had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring calamity on Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:1-14 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.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Samuel 16:14
• 2. 1 Kings 22:31
• 3. Jeremiah 6:14
• 4. 2 Samuel 15:32-34
• 5. 2 Samuel 16:21
• 6. Hosea 13:8
• 7. Joshua 2:9-11
• 8. 1 Samuel 3:20
• 9. Genesis 22:17; 1 Samuel 13:5
• 10. Psalms 110:3; Micah 5:7
• 11. Micah 1:6
• 12. 2 Samuel 15:31, 34; Psalms 9:15, 16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "slack of hands"
• [b]. Lit "Like the return of the whole is the man whom you seek"
• [c]. Lit "word was pleasing in the sight of"
• [d]. Lit "is in his mouth--even he"
• [e]. Lit "him, saying"
• [f]. Lit "according to this word"
• [g]. Lit "do his word"
• [h]. Lit "advised"
• [i]. Lit "bitter of soul"
• [j]. Lit "man of war"
• [k]. Lit "pits"
• [l]. Lit "according to a falling among them"
• [m]. Lit "melt"
• [n]. Lit "your face go"
• [o]. Lit "settle down"
• [p]. Or "wadi"