2 Samuel 16:15-17:23

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Absalom’s Advisers

¹⁵ Now Absalom and all the Israelites came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was also with him. ¹⁶ When David’s friend Hushai the Archite came to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”^(A)

¹⁷ “Is this your loyalty to your friend?” Absalom asked Hushai. “Why didn’t you go with your friend?”

¹⁸ “Not at all,” Hushai answered Absalom. “I am on the side of the one that the Lord, the people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. I will stay with him. ¹⁹ Furthermore, whom will I serve if not his son? As I served in your father’s presence, I will also serve in yours.”^(B)

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me your advice. What should we do?”

²¹ Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Sleep with your father’s concubines he left to take care of the palace.^(C) When all Israel hears that you have become repulsive to your father, everyone with you will be encouraged.” ²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.^(D)

²³ Now the advice Ahithophel gave in those days was like someone asking about a word from God^(E)—such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice. 17 ¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose 12,000 men, and I will set out in pursuit of David tonight. ² I will attack him while he is weak and weary, throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will scatter. I will strike down only the king ³ and bring all the people back to you. When everyone returns except the man you’re seeking, all^[a] the people will be at peace.” ⁴ This proposal seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

⁵ Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite also. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.”

⁶ So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him: “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say?”

⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given this time is not good.” ⁸ Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men. They are warriors and are desperate like a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier who won’t spend the night with the people. ⁹ He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves^[b] or some other place. If some of our troops fall^[c] first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then, even a brave man with the heart of a lion^(F) will melt because all Israel knows that your father and the valiant men with him are warriors. ¹¹ Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba—as numerous as the sand by the sea—be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle. ¹² Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left of all the men with him. ¹³ If he retreats to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.” ¹⁴ Since the Lord had decreed^(G) that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined^(H) in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.”

David Informed of Absalom’s Plans

¹⁵ Hushai then told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “This is what^[d] Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what^[e] I advised. ¹⁶ Now send someone quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the wilderness ford of the Jordan,^(I) but be sure to cross over, or the king and all the people with him will be destroyed.’”

¹⁷ 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, because they dared not be seen entering the city. ¹⁸ However, a young man did see them and informed 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. ¹⁹ Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.

²⁰ Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

“They passed by toward the water,”^[f] the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well and went and informed King David. They told him, “Get up and immediately ford the river, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.” ²² So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one who had not crossed the Jordan. ²³ When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his affairs in order^[g] and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.