2 Samuel 17:1-29 Hushi’s Advice to Undermine Absalom

Hushi’s Advice to Undermine Absalom

2 Samuel 17:1-29       The Book of 2 Samuel [in Smaller Chunks]

[Also,] Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose 12,000 men, & I will [rise] [up] & pursue after David this night. And I will come upon him while he is [tired] & weak & [I] will make him afraid, & all the people with him shall flee.

I will [kill] only the man, whom you [seek,] king [David,] & I will bring back all the people to you, & [it] shall [soon] be, as if all the people returned [to you,] in peace. And [this] saying pleased Absalom, & all the elders of Israel.

Then, Absalom said, Call Hushai, the Archite, now, & [let's also] hear what he [says.] When Hushai [came] to Absalom, Absalom [said] to him, Ahithophel [has] spoken [this.] Shall we do [what he said?] If not, you [need to] speak [up.]

Hushai said to Absalom, The [advice] Ahithophel [has] given isn’t good at this time. Hushai said, You [know] your father & his men [are] mighty men, & [are enraged like] a bear robbed of her [cubs] in the field.

And your father is a man of war, & won’t lodge, [a.k.a. camp,] with the people. [See,] he is now [hidden] in some pit, or other place. And it will [happen,] when some of [the king's men are] overthrown, at [the beginning,] that [whoever hears] it will say, There is a slaughter among the people, [who] follow Absalom.

And [king David,] is also valiant, whose heart is [like the heart of a lion, & [his heart] shall [totally] melt. For all Israel [knows] that your father is a mighty man, & [those who are] with him are valiant men.

Therefore, I [suggest] that all Israel from Dan to BeerSheba [is] gathered to you, [like] the sand of the [seashore in number, so] that you go to battle [in] person.

So, we shall come upon him in some place, where he shall be found, [by us,] & we will [fall] upon him [like] the dew [falls upon] the ground, & there shall not be left, so much as 1 of all the men, [who] are there with him.

[Additionally,] if he [has gone] into a city, then all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, & we will [drag] it into the river, until not 1 small stone [is left unturned, until we find David.]

Absalom & all the men of Israel said, The [advice] of Hushai, the Archite, is better than [Ahithophel’s.] For the Lord [God] had [intended] to defeat [Ahithophel’s] good [advice, in order] that the Lord might bring [harm] upon Absalom.

Then, Hushai said to: Zadok & Abiathar, the priests, [This [is] [Ahithophel’s advice to] Absalom & the elders of Israel. And [this] [is what] I have [advised.] Therefore, now quickly, send & tell David, saying, [Don’t camp] [& spend] this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily [cross] over; lest the king & all the people with him [are] swallowed up, [a.k.a. overpowered.]

Now, Jonathan & Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they [dared] not be seen [coming] into the city. And a [woman] went & told them; & they went & told king David.

[Still,] a lad saw them, & told Absalom, but they both [got themselves] away quickly, & came to a man’s house in Bahurim, [who] had a well in his [courtyard,  where] they went down [into the well.]

And the woman took & spread a covering over the well’s mouth, & spread ground corn [on it,] [so that this] thing wasn’t known. And when Absalom’s servants came to the house, to the woman, they said, Where [are] Ahimaaz & Jonathan?

And the woman said to them, They [have] gone over the brook of water. And when they had [searched] & couldn’t find them, they returned to Jerusalem. And it [happened,] after they departed, that [Ahimaaz & Jonathan] came up, out of the well.

[They] went & told king David, & said, Arise & [cross] quickly over the water, [since] Ahithophel [has advised] against you. Then, David & all the people, [who] were with him arose, & they [crossed] over [the] Jordan; by the morning light, & there wasn’t 1 of them [who hadn’t] gone over [the] Jordan [River.]

And when Ahithophel saw that his [advice] wasn’t followed, he saddled his [mule,] & arose, & [got himself] home to his house, [in] his city, & put his household in order, & [hung] himself. [Ahithophel] died, & was buried in the [tomb] of his father.

Then, David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom, & all [his] men [from] Israel [crossed] over Jordan with him. And Absalom made Amasa [the] captain of the [army] instead of Joab. Amasa was [Ithra’s] son, an Israelite man, [who was intimate with] Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, & [was the] sister [of] Zeruiah, [who was] Joab’s mother.

So, Absalom & Israel pitched [tents] in the land of Gilead. And it [happened,] when David [came] to Mahanaim, that Shobi, the son of Nahash [from] Rabbah, of the children, [a.k.a. people,] of Ammon; Machir, [Ammiel’s] son, [from] Lodebar, & Barzillai, the Gileadite, [from] Rogelim, brought [the following items.]

[They] brought: beds, [basins, & clay containers,] & wheat, barley, flour, [dried corn,] beans, lentils & [dried grain,] honey, butter, & cheese [from:] sheep, &  [cow’s] [milk,] for: David, & the people [who] were with him, to eat. For they said, The people [are] [surely] hungry, [tired,] & thirsty, in the wilderness.