# 2 Samuel 17 📖: Hushai Defeats Ahithophel's Counsel [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-2 Samuel Overview]] | [[2 Samuel 16]] | [[2 Samuel 18]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Death of Ahithophel [[#Verse 01.]] Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out 12,000 men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night.  [[#Verse 02.]] When I catch up with him he will be exhausted and worn out. I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king  [[#Verse 03.]] 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. The entire army will return unharmed.” [[#Verse 04.]] This seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders of Israel.  [[#Verse 05.]] But Absalom said, “Call for Hushai the Arkite, and let’s hear what he has to say.”  [[#Verse 06.]] 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?” [[#Verse 07.]] Hushai replied to Absalom, “Ahithophel’s advice is not sound this time.”  [[#Verse 08.]] 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. Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army. [[#Verse 09.]] 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, whoever hears about it will say, ‘Absalom’s army has been slaughtered!’  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 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!  [[#Verse 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!” [[#Verse 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 to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom. [[#Verse 15.]] Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel to do, and here is what I have advised.  [[#Verse 16.]] Now send word quickly to David and warn him, “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the wilderness tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 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. [[#Verse 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 searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. [[#Verse 21.]] After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.” [[#Verse 22.]] So David and all the people who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River. By dawn there was not one person left who had not crossed the Jordan. [[#Verse 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 of his father. [[#Verse 24.]] Meanwhile David had gone to Mahanaim, while Absalom and all the men of Israel had crossed the Jordan River.  [[#Verse 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 Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.) [[#Verse 26.]] The army of Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead. [[#Verse 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 [[#Verse 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,  [[#Verse 29.]] honey, curds, flocks, and cheese. For they said, “The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Ahithophel advised a quick strike that night with 12,000 men to kill only the king (17:1-2). 2. Hushai used vivid images: David's men as fierce as a bear robbed of her cubs (17:8), and an army falling on them like dew (17:12). 3. Hushai's plan to gather all Israel from Dan to Beersheba appealed to Absalom's pride (17:11). 4. Jonathan and Ahimaaz were sons of the priests Abiathar and Zadok (15:36). 5. The messengers waited at En Rogel (17:17), a spring just south of Jerusalem. 6. A woman covered the well where they hid and spread grain over it (17:19), similar to Rahab hiding the spies (Joshua 2:6). 7. Ahithophel's betrayal and death are often compared to Judas (Matthew 27:3-5). 8. Amasa, Absalom's new commander, was David's nephew and Joab's cousin (17:25; 1 Chronicles 2:16-17). 9. Shobi son of Nahash (17:27) was likely a brother of Hanun, the Ammonite king who had insulted David (10:1-4). 10. Machir of Lo Debar (17:27) was the man who had sheltered Mephibosheth (9:4). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One through whom God overturns the schemes of the wicked. The Lord frustrated Ahithophel's good advice to bring disaster on Absalom (17:14). At the cross, God's hidden wisdom overturned the plans of the rulers of this age (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The Lord had decided to frustrate Ahithophel's advice (17:14). How does God's sovereignty comfort you when plans against you seem strong? 2. A woman in Bahurim hid David's messengers in a well (17:19). How can ordinary people play key roles in God's plan? 3. Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai brought food because David's people were hungry, tired, and thirsty (17:27-29). Who needs that kind of practical care from you? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 14: The Lord had decided to frustrate Ahithophel's good advice. - 📖 verse 23: Ahithophel sets his house in order and takes his own life. - 📖 verses 27-29: Friends bring supplies to David and his weary people. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Psalm 33#Verse 10.|Psalm 33:10-11]] - The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations. - 🔗 [[Proverbs 21#Verse 30.|Proverbs 21:30]] - No wisdom can succeed against the Lord. - 🔗 [[Matthew 27#Verse 03.|Matthew 27:3-5]] - Judas, the betrayer, hangs himself. - 🔗 [[1 Corinthians 02#Verse 07.|1 Corinthians 2:7-8]] - The rulers did not understand God's wisdom. - 🔗 [[Joshua 02#Verse 04.|Joshua 2:4-6]] - Rahab hides the spies. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[2 Samuel 17 - SOAP|Leave the Impossible With God]] ## 📂 Internal Notes