Night in a cedar-beamed hall: low wooden benches around a cold hearth, cushions pushed aside, one clay oil lamp burning on a stone ledge, a dark wool cloak left lying on a bench; above, the plain shadowed wall and beams.

The Book of

2 Samuel 17

Absalom has the city and the wisest counselor in Israel. His advice is good. The LORD has purposed to defeat it.

29 verses≈ 6 min6 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–4King in HebronThe house of Saul falls
5–6JerusalemThe ark comes home
7–10A house foreverGod's promise to David
11–12David's sinBathsheba and Nathan
13–20The swordAmnon, Absalom and ShebaChapter 17
21–24Last wordsSongs, heroes and an altar

Hushai Counters Ahithophel’s Advice

Lamplight in a cedar-beamed hall at night: old gray-bearded Ahithophel leans forward on a bench, one hand raised as he speaks; Absalom, with long heavy dark hair and a crimson robe, sits listening on a plain carved chair; elders along the benches lean in.

Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. I will attack him while he is weak and weary; I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee; I will strike down only the king and bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband. You seek the life of only one man; then all the people will be at peace.”

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This proposal seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

Absalom

Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite as well, and let us hear what he too has to say.”

So Hushai came to Absalom, who told him, “Ahithophel has spoken this proposal. Should we carry it out? If not, what do you say?”

Hushai

Hushai replied, “This time the advice of Ahithophel is not sound.”

Hushai

And of all the men with him, not even one will remain.

If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.”

For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:14

Question

Quick question

Absalom heard two counsels in one night, one from Ahithophel and one from Hushai.

Whose advice did Absalom follow?

Hushai’s Warning Saves David

Two counsels

Whiteboard

Ahithophel’s plan was the good one, and Absalom chose the other. David had prayed that Ahithophel’s counsel would become foolishness, and the LORD answered through a friend, a proud prince and a few days’ delay.

So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised. Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”

Dawn at the spring of En-rogel in the Kidron valley: a servant girl with a clay water jar on her shoulder bends to speak low to two young men crouched among the rocks by the stone-lined pool; above, the small walled town on its ridge.

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, for they dared not be seen entering the city.

But a young man did see them and told Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

Midday in a walled farmhouse courtyard at Bahurim: a woman in a plain dyed wool dress and head covering spreads a woven cloth over the round stone mouth of a well and scatters grain on it from a basket; a grinding stone nearby, the gate shut.

Then the man’s wife took a covering, spread it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain over it so nobody would know a thing.

Absalom’s servants

When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

The woman at Bahurim

“They have crossed over the brook,” she replied.

The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed up out of the well and went to inform King David, saying, “Get up and cross over the river at once, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.”

Just before daybreak at a ford of the Jordan: a long line of people wading the shallow brown river among reeds and tamarisks, men with spears, women leading loaded donkeys, children on shoulders; gray-bearded King David stands on the far bank watching, the dark hills of Gilead behind under a pale sky.

So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one left who had not crossed the Jordan.

0:07

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Reflect

“The LORD had purposed”

David’s safety hung on a friend’s advice, a servant girl, and a woman with a covering and a handful of grain. Where have you seen God protect you through ordinary people? Write down one name, and thank Him for that person.

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Across the Jordan

David crossed the Jordan by night and went up to Mahanaim in Gilead, Ish-bosheth’s old capital, its site probable rather than certain. Food and bedding came from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Lo-debar and Rogelim. En-rogel, where the messengers waited, and Bahurim, where they hid, lay just outside Jerusalem.

When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

The wooded hills of Gilead in late afternoon, oak and terebinth on rounded slopes, the deep gorge of the Jabbok cutting through them and the Jordan valley hazy far below.

Then David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab. So the Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

Afternoon before the gate of Mahanaim: old white-bearded Barzillai with his staff, a younger man of Gilead and an Ammonite prince in a fringed robe have brought laden donkeys; sleeping mats, clay basins and jars, sacks of grain, baskets of lentils, honey, cheeses and a few sheep are set down before David's weary people.

When David came to Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim. They brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

Pray

No counsel against the LORD

No plan can stand when the LORD has purposed otherwise, and He hears His people when they pray in trouble. Thank Him for that. Pray for those who are weary, hungry and far from home tonight, and ask Him to give you open hands like the men of Gilead who met David at Mahanaim.

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2 Samuel 17

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A verse to carry with you

For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:14

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