2 Samuel 17:7

7 Then Hushai said to Ab'salom, "This time the counsel which Ahith'ophel has given is not good."

2 Samuel 17:7 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 17:7

And Hushai said to Absalom
Having leave to give his opinion freely:

the counsel that Ahithophel hath given [is] not good at this time;
he owns that Ahithophel was a good counsellor, and that the counsel he gave was for the most part, if not always, good, but what he gave at this time was not so; the wisest of men may sometimes be mistaken. Abarbinel thinks he respects his former counsel, particularly that that was good, advising him to defile his father's bed, ( 2 Samuel 16:21 ) ; but this was not, for which he gives the following reasons.

2 Samuel 17:7 In-Context

5 Then Ab'salom said, "Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say."

6 And when Hushai came to Ab'salom, Ab'salom said to him, "Thus has Ahith'ophel spoken; shall we do as he advises? If not, you speak."

7 Then Hushai said to Ab'salom, "This time the counsel which Ahith'ophel has given is not good."

8 Hushai said moreover, "You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people.

9 Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits, or in some other place. And when some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Ab'salom.'