2 Samuel 17:2-12

2 I will attack him while he is tired and discouraged. He will be frightened, and all his men will run away. I will kill only the king

3 and then bring back all his men to you, like a bride returning to her husband. You want to kill only one man; the rest of the people will be safe."

4 This seemed like good advice to Absalom and all the Israelite leaders.

5 Absalom said, "Now call Hushai, and let us hear what he has to say."

6 When Hushai arrived, Absalom said to him, "This is the advice that Ahithophel has given us; shall we follow it? If not, you tell us what to do."

7 Hushai answered, "The advice Ahithophel gave you this time is no good.

8 You know that your father David and his men are hard fighters and that they are as fierce as a mother bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier and does not stay with his men at night.

9 Right now he is probably hiding in a cave or some other place. As soon as David attacks your men, whoever hears about it will say that your men have been defeated.

10 Then even the bravest men, as fearless as lions, will be afraid because everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great soldier and that his men are hard fighters.

11 My advice is that you bring all the Israelites together from one end of the country to the other, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, and that you lead them personally in battle.

12 We will find David wherever he is, and attack him before he knows what's happening. Neither he nor any of his men will survive.

2 Samuel 17:2-12 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. [One ancient translation] like a bride . . . only one man; [Hebrew] like the return of the whole, so is the man you seek.