2 Samuel 17:1-14. Ahithophel's counsel defeated by Hushai 1. _this night_ The night following David's flight and Absalom's entrance into Jerusalem. Ahithophel's advice, given no doubt at the council described in ch. 2 Samuel 16:20, was excellent. The success of the rebellion would be ensured by str... [ Continue Reading ]
_will make him afraid_ The word describes the _panic_caused by a sudden night attack, in the confusion of which David might easily be seized.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the man_, &c. Lit. _As the returning of all is the man whom thou seekest_. The return of all the people to thee will be ensured by the removal of David. If that is effected, there will be no civil war. Ahithophel's use of the term "return" is a subtle flattery, implying that David's followers were... [ Continue Reading ]
_the elders of Israel_ Who were sitting in council with Absalom. For the various functions of the elders, see note on 1 Samuel 8:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_let us hear likewise what he saith_ LET US HEAR WHAT HE TOO HAS TO SAY, as well as Ahithophel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The counsel_, &c. THE COUNSEL WHICH AHITHOPHEL HATH COUNSELLED THIS TIME IS NOT GOOD: in contrast to his previous counsel (ch. 2 Samuel 16:21), which Hushai pretends to approve.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For, said Hushai_ AND HUSHAI SAID. _chafed in their minds_ Lit. _bitter of soul_: embittered and exasperated. Cp. Judges 18:25; 1 Samuel 22:2. _as a bear robbed of her whelps_ Proverbial for its ferocity. Cp. Proverbs 17:12; Hosea 13:8. The Syrian bear is said to be particularly ferocious. See 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_in some pit, or in some_other _place_ Omit _other_. By _pit_is meant a cave or natural hiding-place; by _place_an artificially strengthened position. _when some of them be overthrown_ Or, WHEN HE (David) FALLETH UPON THEM (his assailants).... [ Continue Reading ]
_be generally gathered_ Generally = -as a whole": as we might say, "that there be a general gathering of all Israel." _from Dan even to Beer-sheba_ See note on 1 Samuel 3:20. _the sand_, &c. A common figure for an innumerable multitude. Cp. Genesis 22:17; Genesis 41:49; 1 Samuel 13:5; Psalms 78:27... [ Continue Reading ]
_as the dew_ As the innumerable drops of dew settle on the ground unseen and unheard, so will our vast army completely overwhelm him without perceptible effort.... [ Continue Reading ]
_into the river_ INTO THE RAVINE. Hushai intentionally indulges in an extravagant hyperbole in order to describe the irresistible power of the force that would be gathered, if he means to suggest the idea of dragging a city bodily down from the rock on which, like most fortified cities, it was built... [ Continue Reading ]
Hushai saw that it was essential to gain time, "in order," to quote the words of Tacitus, "to give the disaffected time to repent, and the loyal time to unite: crimes gain by hasty action, better counsels by delay." (Tac. _Hist._i. 32.) His scheme was cleverly devised to appeal to Absalom's vanity a... [ Continue Reading ]
Hushai sends word to David by Jonathan and Ahimaaz 16. _Lodge not this night_ A prudent precaution, for Absalom might change his mind, and follow Ahithophel's counsel after all. _in the plains of the wilderness_ Perhaps we should read _at the fords of the wilderness_. See note on ch. 2 Samuel 15:2... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jonathan and Ahimaaz_ Hushai had evidently communicated David's plan to Zadok and Abiathar, and commissioned the young men to be in waiting at a convenient place. _En-rogel_ That is, "The Fuller's Fountain," probably the modern "Fountain of the Virgin," in the valley of the Kidron, just outside th... [ Continue Reading ]
_a well_ A cistern, dry at the time. The existence of numerous rock-cut cisterns with narrow mouths at _Almît_, the probable site of Bahurim, illustrates the incident. See Pal. Expl. Fund _Quarterly Statement_, Jan. 1881, p. 45.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a covering_ THE COVERING, either the usual cover of the cistern, or, as the general use of the word suggests, the curtain which hung in the doorway. See Exodus 26:36 (E. V. _hanging_). _ground corn_ Bruised or husked wheat, which she spread out as if to dry. The mode of its preparation is referred... [ Continue Reading ]
_The brook of water_ The word _Michal_, translated _brook_, is found here only. It may have been some local name. The woman sent the pursuers off in the wrong direction, and then at once despatched Jonathan and Ahimaaz. Compare the deceit practised by Rahab (Joshua 2:4 ff.), and by Michal (1 Samuel... [ Continue Reading ]
The suicide of Ahithophel 23. _to his city_ Giloh. See ch. 2 Samuel 15:12. _put his household in order_ Lit. _gave charge concerning his house_: arranged his affairs and made his will. Cp. 2 Kings 20:1. _hanged himself_ Like Judas (Matthew 27:5). It is the first deliberate suicide on record, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Progress of the Rebellion 24. _to Mahanaim_ See note on ch. 2 Samuel 2:8. It was chosen for David's head-quarters as the most important and strongest city in the trans-Jordanic country, which was evidently the least disaffected. _And Absalom passed over Jordan_ Before this a considerable interval... [ Continue Reading ]
_Amasa_ It has been supposed by some that he is the same as _Amasai_who came to David at Hebron (1 Chronicles 12:16-18). But if so, would not the fact of his relationship to David have been mentioned there? _Ithra an Israelite_ Called in 1 Chronicles 2:17 _Jether the Ishmeelite. Jether_and _Ithra_a... [ Continue Reading ]
Loyal reception of David at Mahanaim 27. _when David was come to Mahanaim_ The narrative is continued from 2 Samuel 17:24. What follows happened immediately on David's arrival there. _Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah_ It is natural to suppose that Shobi was a brother of Hanun (ch. 2 Samuel 10:1),... [ Continue Reading ]
_beds, and basons_ The Sept. reads "ten beds with coverlets and ten bowls." _parched_corn … _parched_pulse] If the text is sound, this is the right explanation: but it is strange that the same word should be twice repeated in one sentence to denote different articles. The Sept. omits the second.... [ Continue Reading ]
_butter_ Curdled milk is probably meant, called _leben_by the modern Arabs, and greatly esteemed as a refreshing drink. Cp. Judges 5:25. _cheese of kine_ So the Targum explains a word which occurs here only. The Vulg. gives _fat calves_, which agrees better with the position of the word after _shee... [ Continue Reading ]