2 Samuel 17

2Sa 17:1-14.

AHITHOPHEL'S

COUNSEL

OVERTHROWN BY

HUSHAI.

1-11. Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom--The recommendation to

take prompt and decisive measures before the royalist forces could be

collected and arranged, evinced the deep political sagacity of this

councillor. The adoption of his advice would have extinguished the

cause of David; and it affords a dreadful proof of the extremities to

which the heartless prince was, to secure his ambitious objects,

prepared to go, that the parricidal counsel "pleased Absalom well, and

all the elders of Israel." It was happily overruled, however, by the

address of Hushai, who saw the imminent danger to which it would expose

the king and the royal cause. He dwelt upon the warlike character and

military experience of the old king--represented him and his adherents

as mighty men, who would fight with desperation; and who, most

probably, secure in some stronghold, would be beyond reach, while the

smallest loss of Absalom's men at the outset might be fatal to the

success of the conspiracy. But his dexterity was chiefly displayed in

that part of his counsel which recommended a general levy throughout

the country; and that Absalom should take command of it in

person--thereby flattering at once the pride and ambition of the

usurper. The bait was caught by the vainglorious and wicked prince.

12. we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground--No image

could have symbolized the sudden onset of an enemy so graphically to an

Oriental mind as the silent, irresistible, and rapid descent of this

natural moisture on every field and blade of grass.

13. all Israel shall bring ropes to that city--In besieging a town,

hooks or cranes were often thrown upon the walls or turrets, by which,

with ropes attached to them, the besiegers, uniting all their force,

pulled down the fortifications in a mass of ruins.

14. The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of

Ahithophel--The reasons specified being extremely plausible, and

expressed in the strong hyperbolical language suited to dazzle an

Oriental imagination, the council declared in favor of Hushai's advice;

and their resolution was the immediate cause of the discomfiture of the

rebellion, although the council itself was only a link in the chain of

causation held by the controlling hand of the Lord.

2Sa 17:15-22.

SECRET

INTELLIGENCE

SENT TO

DAVID.

16. send quickly, and tell David--Apparently doubting that his advice

would be followed, Hushai ordered secret intelligence to be conveyed to

David of all that transpired, with an urgent recommendation to cross

the Jordan without a moment's delay, lest Ahithophel's address and

influence might produce a change on the prince's mind, and an immediate

pursuit be determined on.

17. by En-rogel--the fuller's well in the neighborhood of Jerusalem,

below the junction of the valley of Hinnom with that of Jehoshaphat.

18. and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his

court--The court was that of the house, and the well an empty

cistern. All the houses of the better class are furnished with such

reservoirs. Nothing could more easily happen than that one of these

wells, in consequence of a deficiency of water, should become dry and

it would then answer as a place of retreat, such as David's friends

found in the man's house at Bahurim. The spreading of a covering over

the well's mouth for the drying of corn is a common practice.

2Sa 17:23-29.

AHITHOPHEL

HANGS

HIMSELF.

23. when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed--His vanity

was wounded, his pride mortified on finding that his ascendency was

gone; but that chagrin was aggravated by other feelings--a painful

conviction that through the delay which had been resolved on, the cause

of Absalom was lost. Hastening home, therefore, he arranged his private

affairs, and knowing that the storm of retributive vengeance would fall

chiefly upon him as the instigator and prop of the rebellion, he hanged

himself. It may be remarked that the Israelites did not, at that time,

refuse the rites of sepulture even to those who died by their own

hands. He had an imitator in Judas, who resembled him in his treason,

as well as in his infamous end.

24. Then David came to Mahanaim--in the high eastern country of

Gilead, the seat of Ish-bosheth's government.

Absalom passed over Jordan--It is not said how long an interval

elapsed, but there must have been sufficient time to make the intended

levy throughout the kingdom.

25. Amasa--By the genealogy it appears that this captain stood in

the same relation to David as Joab, both being his nephews. Of course,

Amasa was Absalom's cousin, and though himself an Israelite, his father

was an Ishmaelite

(1Ch 2:17).

Nahash--is thought by some to be another name of Jesse, or according

to others, the name of Jesse's wife.

27-29. when David was come to Mahanaim--The necessities of the king

and his followers were hospitably ministered to by three chiefs, whose

generous loyalty is recorded with honor in the sacred narrative.

Shobi--must have been a brother of Hanun. Disapproving, probably, of

that young king's outrage upon the Israelite ambassadors, he had been

made governor of Ammon by David on the conquest of that country.

Machir--(See

2Sa 9:4).

Supposed by some to have been a brother of Bath-sheba, and

Barzillai--a wealthy old grandee, whose great age and

infirmities made his loyal devotion to the distressed monarch

peculiarly affecting. The supplies they brought, which (besides beds

for the weary) consisted of the staple produce of their rich lands and

pastures, may be classified as follows: eatables--wheat, barley, flour,

beans, lentils, sheep, and cheese; drinkables--"honey and butter" or

cream, which, being mixed together, form a thin, diluted beverage,

light, cool, and refreshing. Being considered a luxurious refreshment

(So 4:11),

the supply of it shows the high respect that was paid to David by his

loyal and faithful subjects at Mahanaim.

29. in the wilderness--spread out beyond the cultivated tablelands

into the steppes of Hauran.