2 Samuel 17:7

7 And Hushai said to 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 to him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do [after] his saying? if not, speak thou.

7 And Hushai said to 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 that follow Absalom.