2 Samuel 17:7

7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

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 said Absalom, "Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith."

6 And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke unto him, saying, "Ahithophel hath spoken in this manner. Shall we do according to his word? If not, speak thou."

7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

8 For," said Hushai, "thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, 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 it will come to pass, when some of them are overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, `There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.'