2 Samuel 17
1 And Achitophel said to Abessalom,
Let me now choose out for myself twelve thousand men, and I will arise and
follow after David this night: 2 and I
will come upon him when he is weary and weak-handed,
and I will strike him with terror; and all the people with him shall flee, and
I will smite the king only of all.
3 And I will bring back all the people
to thee, as a bride returns to her husband: only thou seekest the life of one
man, and all the people shall have peace.
4 And the saying
was right in the eyes of Abessalom, and in the eyes
of all the elders of Israel.
5 And Abessalom said, Call now also
Chusi the Arachite, and let us hear what is in his
mouth, even in his also. 6 And Chusi
went in to Abessalom, and Abessalom spoke to him, saying, After this manner
spoke Achitophel: shall we do according to his word? but if not, do thou
speak.
7 And Chusi said to Abessalom, This
counsel which Achitophel has counselled this one time
is not good.
8 And Chusi said, Thou knowest thy
father and his men, that they are very mighty, and bitter in their spirit, as
a bereaved bear in the field, [aHeb. and Alex. omit the wods in italics.and as a wild boar in the plain]: and thy father
is a man of war, and will not give the people rest.
9 For, behold, he is now hidden in one
of the hills or in some other place: and it shall
come to pass when he falls upon them at the beginning, that
some one will certainly hear, and say, There has been
a slaughter among the people that follow after Abessalom.
10 Then even he
that is
bGr. a son of strength.strong, whose heart is as the heart of a lion,—it shall utterly melt: for all
Israel knows that thy father is mighty, and they that
are with him are mighty men.
11 For thus I have surely given
counsel, that all Israel be generally gathered to thee from Dan even to
Bersabee, as the sand that is upon the sea-shore for multitude: and that thy
presence
cGr. going.go in the midst of them. 12 And we
will come upon him in one of the places where we shall find him, and we will
encamp against him, as the dew falls upon the earth; and we will not leave of
him and of his men so much as one.
13 And if he shall have taken refuge
with his army in a city, then shall all Israel take ropes to that city, and we
will draw it even into the river, that there may not be left there even a
stone.
14 And Abessalom, and all the men of
Israel said, The counsel of Chusi the Arachite
is better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the
Lord ordained to disconcert the good counsel of Achitophel, that the Lord
might bring all evil upon Abessalom.
15 And Chusi the Arachite said to
Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus Achitophel counselled Abessalom
and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
16 And now send quickly and report to
David, saying, Lodge not this night in Araboth of the wilderness: even go and
make haste, lest one
dAlex. καταπίῃ.swallow up the king, and all the people with him.
17 And Jonathan and Achimaas stood by
the well of Rogel, and a maid-servant went and reported to them, and they go
and tell king David; for they might not be seen to enter into the city.
18 But a young man saw them and told
Abessalom: and the two went quickly, and entered into the house of a man in
Baurim; and he had a well in his court, and they went down into it.
19 And a woman took a covering, and
spread it over the mouth of the well, and
eSee Num. 11. 32; Jer. 8. 2.spread out ground corn upon it to dry, and the thing was not known.
20 And the servants of Abessalom came
to the woman into the house, and said, Where
are Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman said to
them, They are
fOr, lately gone over.gone a little way beyond
gOr, the small streams.the water. And they sought and found them not, and returned to Jerusalem.
21 And it came to pass after they
were gone, that they came up out of the pit, and went on their way; and
reported to king David, and said to David, Arise ye and go quickly over the
water, for thus has Achitophel counselled concerning you.
22 And David rose up and all the
people with him, and they passed over Jordan till the morning light; there was
not one missing who did not pass over Jordan.
23 And Achitophel saw that his
counsel was not followed, and he saddled his ass, and rose and departed to his
house into his city; and he gave orders to his household, and
hComp. the Greek with Mat. 27. 5.hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
24 And David passed over to Manaim:
and Abessalom crossed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
25 And Abessalom appointed Amessai in
the room of Joab over the host. And Amessai was the son of a man
iGr. and his name, etc.whose name was Jether of Jezrael: he went in to Abigaia the daughter of Naas,
the sister of Saruia the mother of Joab.
26 And all Israel and Abessalom
encamped in the land of Galaad.
27 And it came to pass when David
came to Manaim, that Uesbi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the sons of Ammon,
and Machir son of Amiel of Lodabar, and Berzelli the Galaadite of Rogellim,
28 brought ten embroidered beds,
(with double coverings,) and ten caldrons, and earthenware, and wheat, and
barley, and flour, and meal, and beans, and pulse,
29 and honey, and butter, and sheep,
and cheeses of kine: and they brought them to David and to his people with him
to eat; for one said, The people
is faint and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.