Chapter Seventeen

The military council of Absalom. The counsel of Ahithophel and the counsel of Hushai. The crossing of David over the Jordan.

2 Samuel 17:8. And Hushai said further: You know your father and his men; they are mighty and fierce in spirit, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field, [and like a wild boar in the field,] and your father is a man of war; he will not lodge with the people. “Your father is a man of war” — skilled in warfare; knowing the possibilities of unexpected night attacks by enemies, he will not lodge with the people in an open place.

2 Samuel 17:14. And Absalom and all Israel said: The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the Lord had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring disaster on Absalom. “Thus the Lord ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel,” to bring (permit) disaster on Absalom. If Absalom had agreed with Ahithophel’s proposal, then the disorderly throng of David’s followers, exhausted by the impressions of the day and their hasty flight, would certainly have been completely defeated by the fresh, well-organized forces of Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:16. And now send word quickly and tell David: do not spend the night at the ford of the wilderness, but cross over at once, that the king and all the people who are with him may not perish. “Do not spend the night at the ford of the wilderness” of the Jordan, “but cross over at once” over that river.

2 Samuel 17:17. Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting by the En-rogel. And a maidservant went and told them, and they went and told King David; for they could not be seen going into the city. “They went and told,” that is, went to tell. The words “for they could not be seen going into the city” explain why Jonathan and Ahimaaz waited for the necessary information at the outskirts of the city, at the En-rogel.

2 Samuel 17:18. But a young man saw them and told Absalom; so both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it. “And a young man saw them” — from among the guards of Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:23. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and arose and went to his house, to his own city, and set his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the tomb of his father. See the note to 2 Sam 17:14.

2 Samuel 17:24. And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all Israel with him. Mahanaim — a city in the central part of the eastern Trans-Jordan, south of Jabesh-gilead.

2 Samuel 17:25. Absalom made Amasa commander of the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab. Just as Joab was, Amasa was also David’s nephew, only from a different sister.

2 Samuel 17:27. When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, The Jews of the eastern Trans-Jordan kept themselves aloof from the movements in the western Trans-Jordan and distinguished themselves by greater faithfulness to their given word or oath. Faithful to their oath to Saul, they remained faithful to his son Ish-bosheth until the force of events compelled them to swear to David. Having sworn to David, the Gileadites wished to remain faithful to him to the very last.