2 Samuel 17:1-8

1 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, `Let me choose, I pray thee, twelve thousand men, and I arise and pursue after David to-night,

2 and come upon him, and he weary and feeble-handed, and I have caused him to tremble, and all the people have fled who [are] with him, and I have smitten the king by himself,

3 and I bring back all the people unto thee -- as the turning back of the whole [is] the man whom thou art seeking -- all the people are peace.

4 And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.

5 And Absalom saith, `Call, I pray thee, also for Hushai the Archite, and we hear what [is] in his mouth -- even he.'

6 And Hushai cometh in unto Absalom, and Absalom speaketh unto him, saying, `According to this word hath Ahithophel spoken; do we do his word? if not, thou -- speak thou.'

7 And Hushai saith unto Absalom, `Not good [is] the counsel that Ahithophel hath counselled at this time.'

8 And Hushai saith, `Thou hast known thy father and his men, that they [are] heroes, and they are bitter in soul as a bereaved bear in a field, and thy father [is] a man of war, and doth not lodge with the people;

2 Samuel 17:1-8 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.