2 Samuel 17:7

7 Then Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time 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 Absalom said, Now call Hushai, the Archite, also, and let us likewise hear what he says.

6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, Thus spoke Ahithophel; shall we follow his word or not? Speak thou.

7 Then Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.

8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and now their souls are bitter, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war and will not lodge with the people.

9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit or in some other place, and if some of thy men are overthrown at the beginning, whoever hears of it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.