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2 Samuel 16:18

18 "Not at all," Hushai answered Absalom. "I am on the side of the one that the Lord, the people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. I will stay with him.

2 Samuel 16:18 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 16:18

And Hushai said to Absalom
In answer to his questions:

nay, but whom the Lord, and his people, and all the men of Israel
choose:
here again he speaks very ambiguously; for this circumlocution, or descriptive character of the king of Israel, better agrees with David, whom he might bear in mind, than with Absalom; for the Lord had chosen David, and he was anointed by his order, and all the people of Israel had chosen and anointed him likewise; but as for Absalom, it was only a part of them that had declared for him, nor was there any evidence of the Lord's choosing him; though Hushai undoubtedly would be under stood of him, and as interpreting the voice of the people to be the voice of God:

his will I be, and with him will I abide;
though he designed no such thing, which was a great piece of dissimulation and hypocrisy; and if he meant David, it was a piece of deceit and equivocation: there is a various reading in the first clause; we follow the marginal reading, (wl) , "to him" or "his", but the textual reading is (al) , "not": and both may be taken in by rendering the words by an interrogation, "shall I, or should I not be his" F4? I will; that is, be his servant, faithfully obey his commands, be closely attached to him, and continue with him as a loyal subject.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (hyha al) "non ero", Montanus; "non essem ejus?" Junius & Tremellius.

2 Samuel 16:18 In-Context

16 When David's friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, "Long live the king! Long live the king!"
17 "Is this your loyalty to your friend?" Absalom asked Hushai. "Why didn't you go with your friend?"
18 "Not at all," Hushai answered Absalom. "I am on the side of the one that the Lord, the people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. I will stay with him.
19 Furthermore, whom will I serve if not his son? As I served in your father's presence, I will also serve in yours."
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give [me] your advice. What should we do?"
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