The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Samuel 17
1 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 tohim, 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 ButI counselthat allIsrael 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 ofIsrael 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.
1 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 tohim, 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 ButI counselthat allIsrael 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 ofIsrael 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.