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2 Samuel 17
New English Translation

The Death of Ahithophel

17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out 12,000 men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night. 2 When I catch up with[a] him he will be exhausted and worn out.[b] I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king 3 and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone.[c] The entire army will return unharmed.”[d]

4 This seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders[e] of Israel. 5 But Absalom said, “Call for[f] Hushai the Arkite, and let’s hear what he has to say.”[g] 6 So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?”

7 Hushai replied to Absalom, “Ahithophel’s advice is not sound this time.”[h] 8 Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men—they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs.[i] Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army. 9 At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first,[j] whoever hears about it will say, ‘Absalom’s army has been slaughtered!’ 10 If that happens even the bravest soldier—one who is lion-hearted—will virtually melt away. For all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are brave. 11 My advice therefore is this: Let all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba—in number like the sand by the sea—be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle. 12 We will come against him wherever he happens to be found. We will descend on him like the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of the men who are with him will be spared alive—not one of them! 13 If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!”

14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel.” Now the Lord had decided[k] to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.

15 Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the leaders[l] of Israel to do, and here is what I have advised. 16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him,[m] “Don’t spend the night at the fords[n] of the wilderness tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over,[o] or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.”[p]

17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En Rogel. A female servant would go and inform them, and they would then go and inform King David. It was not advisable for them to be seen going into the city. 18 But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it. 19 His wife then took the covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain over it. No one was aware of what she had done.

20 When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men[q] searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

21 After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan[r] climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream[s] quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.”[t] 22 So David and all the people who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River.[u] By dawn there was not one person left who had not crossed the Jordan.

23 When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and returned to his house in his hometown. After setting his household in order, he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the grave[v] of his father.

24 Meanwhile David had gone to Mahanaim, while Absalom and all the men of Israel had crossed the Jordan River. 25 Absalom had made Amasa general in command of the army in place of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of an Israelite man named Jether, who had married[w] Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.) 26 The army of Israel[x] and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28 brought bedding, basins, and pottery utensils. They also brought food for David and all who were with him, including wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,[y] 29 honey, curds, flocks, and cheese.[z] For they said, “The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert.”[aa]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 17:2 tn Heb “and I will come upon him.”
  2. 2 Samuel 17:2 tn Heb “exhausted and slack of hands.”
  3. 2 Samuel 17:3 tc Heb “like the returning of all, the man whom you are seeking.” The LXX reads differently: “And I will return all the people to you the way a bride returns to her husband, except for the life of the one man whom you are seeking.” The other early versions also struggled with this verse. Modern translations are divided as well: the NAB, NRSV, REB, and NLT follow the LXX, while the NASB and NIV follow the Hebrew text.
  4. 2 Samuel 17:3 tn Heb “all of the people will be safe.”
  5. 2 Samuel 17:4 tn Heb “elders.”
  6. 2 Samuel 17:5 tc In the MT the verb is singular, but in the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate it is plural.
  7. 2 Samuel 17:5 tn Heb “what is in his mouth.”
  8. 2 Samuel 17:7 tn Heb “Not good is the advice which Ahithophel has advised at this time.”
  9. 2 Samuel 17:8 tc The LXX (with the exception of the recensions of Origen and Lucian) repeats the description as follows: “Just as a female bear bereft of cubs in a field.”
  10. 2 Samuel 17:9 tn Heb “that he falls on them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] at the first [encounter]; or “that some of them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] fall at the first [encounter].”
  11. 2 Samuel 17:14 tn Heb “commanded.”
  12. 2 Samuel 17:15 tn Heb “elders.”
  13. 2 Samuel 17:16 tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”
  14. 2 Samuel 17:16 tc The MT reads “the rift valleys (עֲרָבוֹת, ʿaravot) of the wilderness.” The plural form typically refers to the gently sloping plains at the basin of the rift valley just north of the Dead Sea (while the larger rift valley extends from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba). Many translations render as the “fords” (NASB, ESV, NIV, NRSV) assuming the reversal of two letters as עֲבָרוֹת (ʿavarot, “fords, crossing”).
  15. 2 Samuel 17:16 tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”
  16. 2 Samuel 17:16 tn Heb “swallowed up.”
  17. 2 Samuel 17:20 tn Heb “they”; the referents (Absalom’s men) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
  18. 2 Samuel 17:21 tn Heb “they”; the referents (Ahimaaz and Jonathan) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
  19. 2 Samuel 17:21 tn Heb “the water.”
  20. 2 Samuel 17:21 tn Heb “for thus Ahithophel has devised against you.” The expression “thus” is narrative shorthand, referring to the plan outlined by Ahithophel (see vv. 1-3). The men would surely have outlined the plan in as much detail as they had been given by the messenger.
  21. 2 Samuel 17:22 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text here or in v. 24, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
  22. 2 Samuel 17:23 tc The Greek recensions of Origen and Lucian have here “house” for “grave.”
  23. 2 Samuel 17:25 tn Heb “come to.”
  24. 2 Samuel 17:26 tn Heb “and Israel.”
  25. 2 Samuel 17:28 tc The MT adds “roasted grain” וְקָלִי (veqali) at the end of v. 28, apparently accidentally repeating the word from its earlier occurrence in this verse. With the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and an Old Latin ms the translation deletes this second occurrence of the word.
  26. 2 Samuel 17:29 tn Heb “cheese of the herd,” probably referring to cheese from cow’s milk (rather than goat’s milk).
  27. 2 Samuel 17:29 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
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2 Samuel 17
World English Bible

17 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. 2 I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only, 3 and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace.”

4 The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. 5 Then Absalom said, “Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let’s hear likewise what he says.”

6 When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up.”

7 Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.” 8 Hushai said moreover, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. 9 Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’ 10 Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. 11 But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person. 12 So we will come on him in some place where he will be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground, then we will not leave so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him. 13 Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there.”

14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom. 15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way. 16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Don’t lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.’”

17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David. For they might not be seen to come into the city. 18 But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there. 19 The woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and spread out crushed grain on it; and nothing was known. 20 Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

The woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook of water.”

When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. 21 After they had departed, they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, “Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you.”

22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan. 23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father. 24 Then David came to Mahanaim. Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25 Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26 Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. 27 When David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, 28 brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, roasted grain, 29 honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

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