2 Samuel 17

Two counselors give Absalom rival plans for crushing David. Ahithophel’s is swift and wise, but Hushai’s delaying plan wins, because the LORD had decided to overturn the better advice. David’s friends rescue him, Ahithophel ends his own life, and kind men across the Jordan feed the weary king.

2 Samuel 17:1-3

Ahithophel urges an immediate night strike with twelve thousand men. His aim is to catch David tired and frightened, kill only the king, and bring the people back peacefully. It is shrewd, swift and focused, which is why it was so dangerous.

BSA: weak (“weak and feeble, weary”): He wants to strike while David’s strength is spent, before the king can regroup. peace (“shalom, completeness, wellness, and friendship”): He promises wholeness for the nation, yet it would be bought with the death of God’s anointed.

See also: 2 Samuel 16:23.

2 Samuel 17:4

The plan pleased Absalom and the elders. Nobody present raised an objection. Humanly speaking it looked like the end of David, and the rebels felt sure of success.

2 Samuel 17:5-7

Absalom does not act at once but also calls Hushai, who has pretended to join him. Hushai opens carefully, saying only that Ahithophel’s advice is not good ’this time’. He avoids insulting the famous counselor and stays in Absalom’s good graces.

BSA: sound (“good, pleasant, beneficial”): Hushai says the plan is not good for Absalom, which is the opposite of what is true.

See also: 2 Samuel 15:32-34.

2 Samuel 17:8-10

Hushai plays on Absalom’s fears. David is a lifelong fighter, fierce as a bear robbed of her cubs, and he will not sleep among the troops. One early defeat would spread panic, and even the bravest men would lose heart.

BSA: fierce (“bitter, chafed in their minds”): David’s men are pictured as embittered and dangerous, like an animal enraged by loss. melt (“utterly melt, become like water”): Courage would drain out of even the strongest men.

Hebrew: מַר (mar, H4751) — “bitter, embittered.” The word describes men whose spirits are sharp and raw, like a mother bear that has lost her young. It paints David’s men as dangerous when cornered.

2 Samuel 17:11-13

Hushai proposes delay: summon all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and let Absalom lead them himself. His image of dew falling everywhere, and of dragging a whole city into the valley, is dramatic boasting. It appeals to Absalom’s vanity, and every day of delay helps David.

BSA: yourself (“personally, as the leader”): Hushai flatters Absalom by placing him at the head of the army.

See also: Judges 7:12.

2 Samuel 17:14

Absalom and Israel prefer Hushai’s counsel, but the writer tells us the real cause. The LORD had purposed to frustrate Ahithophel’s good counsel. God was answering David’s prayer and working behind human choices.

BSA: thwart (“frustrate, make void”): God cancels a plan that would otherwise have succeeded. purposed (“ordained, decreed”): The outcome was set by God and was no accident.

See also: 2 Samuel 15:31; Proverbs 21:30.

2 Samuel 17:15-16

Hushai at once tells the priests both plans and urges David to cross the Jordan that night. He knows Absalom may still change his mind. Speed is life or death, since the king and his people could be swallowed up.

BSA: swallowed up (“destroyed, consumed”): The danger is total ruin if the king lingers on the near side.

2 Samuel 17:17

The priests’ sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz wait at En-rogel, just outside Jerusalem. A servant girl brings them news, so they need not be seen in the city. It is a quiet chain of ordinary people serving the true king.

BSA: servant girl (“a maidservant, a female slave”): A person of little standing becomes a vital link in saving David.

2 Samuel 17:18-20

A young man spots them and tells Absalom, so they flee to Bahurim and hide in a well. The woman of the house covers it and spreads grain over it. When pursuers come, she misleads them, and God uses her bold courage to protect his anointed.

BSA: covering (“a screen, a veil”): A simple household cloth becomes a hiding place that saves two lives.

See also: Joshua 2:4-6.

2 Samuel 17:21-22

The messengers climb out and tell David that Ahithophel’s plan is against him. David acts at once. His whole company crosses the Jordan during the night, and by daybreak not one remains behind.

BSA: at once (“quickly, with haste”): The urgency matches Hushai’s warning that delay could be fatal.

2 Samuel 17:23

Ahithophel sees that his advice was rejected and knows what it means for the rebellion. He goes home, puts his house in order, and takes his own life. This is a sad end for a man who had once been David’s trusted counselor and then turned against him.

BSA: affairs (“household, family”): He settled his house like a man planning his death.

See also: Psalm 55:12-14; Matthew 27:5.

2 Samuel 17:24-26

David reaches Mahanaim, an old city east of the Jordan with a name meaning ’two camps’. Absalom follows with Israel and appoints his cousin Amasa as commander in Joab’s place. The two armies camp in Gilead, and the family quarrel has become open war.

BSA: Mahanaim (“a place of two camps, east of the Jordan River”): The name recalls Jacob meeting God’s angels there, a place of refuge.

See also: Genesis 32:1-2.

2 Samuel 17:27-29

At Mahanaim three men bring David bedding, food and utensils. Shobi, Machir and Barzillai come from different backgrounds, and one is from Ammon. They see that David’s people are hungry, tired and thirsty, and they supply real needs. God provides for his servant through the generosity of others.

BSA: hungry (“faint with hunger, or starving”): David’s people were close to collapse, so the help was truly timely. wilderness (“the desert, or open field”): They had come through rough country, and now kindness meets them at its edge.

See also: 2 Samuel 19:32; Matthew 25:35.