1Ahithophel's counsel is defeated by Hushai's according to God's appointment. 15Hushai sendeth intelligence secretly to David, who in haste passeth over Jordan. 23Ahithophel hangeth himself. 25Amasa is made captain of Absalom's host. 27David's friends furnish him with provisions at Mahanaim.
1MOREOVER Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:
2And I will come upon him while he is weary and 1weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
1 See 2 Sam. 4 on verse 1.
3And I will bring back all the people unto thee: 2the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in 3peace.
2 As if he would say: It is only about David; the people you would rather draw to yourself. Now when I shall have killed David, there will be an end of the business, then shall I easily bring the people to you; yes, his death is in every degree the returning of all the people, who will be satisfied and accept you for their king, when David is but dispatched. Other, when they all return (he is yet the man whom thou seekest) so shall all the people be satisfied.
3 Hebr. shall be peace. Compare 1 Sam. 25:6; 2 Sam. 20:9; Job 21:9, etc.
4And the 4saying 5pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
4 Or, this word, this advice.
5 Or, was right in Absalom's eyes, seemed to him to be right and good.
5Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise 6what he saith.
6 Hebr. what he likewise hath in his mouth.
6And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken 7after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak 8thou.
7 Hebr. according to this very word, that is, thus, in this very manner.
8 Give thou also thine advice.
7And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good 9at this time.
9 As if he had said, he is otherwise a wise counselor, but herein he has failed.
8For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafeda in their 10minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge 11with the people.
a Hebr. bitter of soul. Judges 18:25.
10 Hebr. soul; as Judges 18:25. That is, bitterly incensed.
11 But withdraws himself from them and hide and secure himself somewhere in some secret and unknown place, as he often did in his banishment in Saul’s time.
9Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other 12place: and it will come to pass, when some 13of them be overthrown at the first, that 14whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that 15follow Absalom.
12 Which have been known to him since the days of Saul.
13 Among those who pursue David. Other, by them, that is, might be slain by David’s soldiers.
14 Hebr. the hearing shall hear and say.
15 Hebr. are after Absalom.
10And he also that is 16valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall 17utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.
16 Hebr. a son or child of valor, courage. See 2 Sam. 3 on verse 34. Also in the following.
17 Hebr. melting melt, that is, be quite discouraged and disheartened. See Deut. 1 on verse 28.
11Therefore I counsel that all Israel be 18generally gathered unto thee, from 19Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own 20person.
18 Or, be gathered in all haste.
19 The two uttermost borders in the north and south.
20 Hebr. face.
12So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will 21light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
21 Or, besiege him, or, be against him.
13Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the 22river, until there be not one small stone 23found there.
22 That is, into the ditch.
23 Namely, lying upon another; he wants to say: We will easily and entirely destroy the city.
14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had 24appointed to defeat the 25good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring 26evil upon Absalom.
24 That is, so willed, ordained, appointed, and by His Divine Providence so ordered for the good of David. Compare 2 Sam. 16:10, 11, 12 and see Lev. 25 on verse 21; Amos 6:11; 9:3; Nahum 1:14. Likewise Psalm 33:9; 111:9; 148:5.
25 As more useful for Absalom to surprise David and to give him no breathing time at all; although this counsel was in itself most unjust.
26 The deserved punishment, whereof mention is made in the following chapter.
15¶Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
16Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but 27speedily pass 28over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.
27 Hebr. passing over pass over.
28 Namely, across the Jordan, as is shown in the following verses.
17Now 29Jonathan and Ahimaaz 30stayed by En-rogel; for they 31might not be seen to come into the city: and a 32wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.
29 See 2 Sam. 15:27, 28.
30 That is, they hid themselves there and waited for tidings to carry them unto David. See of this place Joshua 15:7; 18:16.
31 That is, they dared not to come into the city and then go out again to David for fear of creating any suspicion.
32 Or, a maid servant, who, without the least suspicion, might be sent to a fountain, either to wash something or to fetch water.
18Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his 33court; whither they went down.
33 Understand an open place at his house.
19And the woman took and spread a covering over 34the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
34 Hebr. face.
20And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the 35brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
35 Or, water ferry.
21And it came to pass, after 36they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the 37water: for 38thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.
36 Absalom’s servants.
37 The Jordan, as follows.
38 As is mentioned above.
22Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there 39lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.
39 They all passed over by night so that by morning there was not one left on the other side.
23¶And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his 40city, and 41put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
40 Called above Giloh, 2 Sam. 15:12.
41 Or, gave order, put in order, took order, settled his house in order, disposed of it, that is, his household and goods; which is as much to say: he declared his last will and made his testament. Compare 2 Kings 20:1; Isa. 38:1.
24Then David came to 42Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
42 See 2 Sam. 2 on verse 8.
25¶And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was 43Ithra an Israelite, that 44went in to 45Abigail the daughter of 46Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.
43 Hebr. Jithra, the Israelite, otherwise called Jether, 1 Chron. 2:17, where he is called an Ishmaelite; from which is gathered by some that he was an Ishmaelite by descent, but being converted, was included with the people of God, and in that regard called an Israelite. Others think that he was an Israelite by descent, but that he had dwelled and conversed among the Ishmaelites and from that was likewise so called.
44 That is, who had lain with her. See Gen. 6 on verse 4.
45 Hebr. Abigal. This woman was David’s sister, as also Zeruiah was. See 1 Chron. 2:16, 17.
46 As some perceive, the wife of Jesse, David’s father. Others are of the opinion that Jesse himself was otherwise called Nahas. Hebr. Nachasch.
26So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of 47Gilead.
47 Where also Mahanaim was located to compass David about on all sides, according to Hushai’s counsel.
27¶And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that 48Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and 49Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and 50Barzillaib the Gileadite of Rogelim,
48 Hebr. Schobi. Some perceive that this was a brother of Hanun, of whom mention is made in 2 Sam. 10:1, etc., and that David, having deposed Hanun or it may be that he also put him to death, when he took Rabbah (2 Sam. 12:30, 31) made this brother as king in his stead, who showed for this his thankfulness there to David.
49 See 2 Sam. 9:4, 5.
50 See 2 Sam. 19:31, 32, etc.
b 2 Sam. 19:31, 32; 1 Kings 2:7.
28Brought beds, and basons, and 51earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and 52parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,c
51 Hebr. vessels of the maker, that is, of the potter.
52 Namely, the beans and lentils.
c vegetables, beans
29And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they 53said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, 54in the wilderness.
53 Namely, within themselves, that is, thought; hearing of David’s flight from Jerusalem and speedy passage through the wilderness, that without a doubt they would have been in need of all things there; therefore they brought this provision to them to refresh them.
54 Or, of the wilderness.