2 Samuel 17:21

21 After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, "Go and cross the water quickly; for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you."

2 Samuel 17:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 17:21

And it came to pass after they were departed
The servants of Absalom:

that they came up out of the well;
the sons of the priests, being informed by the woman that they were gone; Josephus ^F19 says they were drawn up by the woman with a rope:

and went and told King David;
who was now in the plain of the wilderness, perhaps near Jericho, and not a great way from Jordan, to whom they related the whole of their message:

and said unto David;
as they were directed:

arise, and pass quickly over the water;
the river Jordan:

for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you;
to come with twelve thousand men, and fall upon him that very night; and it was not certain his counsel would be rejected; and therefore it was advisable for David to prepare against the worst.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. Hudson. not. in ib.

2 Samuel 17:21 In-Context

19 The man's wife took a covering, stretched it over the well's mouth, and spread out grain on it; and nothing was known of it.

20 When Absalom's servants came to the woman at the house, they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman said to them, "They have crossed over the brook of water." And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, "Go and cross the water quickly; for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you."

22 So David and all the people who were with him set out and crossed the Jordan; by daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order, and hanged himself; he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.