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2 Samuel 17

2 Samuel book home•Chapter 17 of 24•29 verses

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2 Samuel 17 Overview

Ahithophel urges Absalom to let him pursue David immediately with a small force and kill only the king, but Hushai proposes waiting to assemble all Israel for a massive campaign. Absalom accepts Hushai’s advice because the LORD has appointed to defeat Ahithophel’s good military counsel in order to bring evil upon Absalom. Hushai’s warning reaches David through the priestly network, allowing David to cross Jordan, while Ahithophel goes home and takes his own life.

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17Chapter

29Verses

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Before you read 2 Samuel 17

Coming from

Chapter 16 ended with Absalom in Jerusalem and Ahithophel’s counsel carrying great weight in the new court.

In this chapter

The battle is first fought through counsel: Ahithophel gives the tactically stronger immediate plan, but Hushai deliberately appeals to Absalom’s pride and buys David time to escape.

Leads into

Chapter 18 records the actual battle in the forest of Ephraim, where Absalom’s forces are defeated and Joab kills Absalom despite David’s command to deal gently with him.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The narrator explicitly tells the reader why Hushai’s less efficient military plan wins: the LORD has purposed to defeat Ahithophel’s counsel. Divine sovereignty works through ordinary human motives—Hushai’s rhetorical skill, Absalom’s vanity, messengers, hiding places, and logistical support. Ahithophel’s suicide after his counsel is rejected likely reflects his recognition that Absalom’s cause is doomed and that his own political future is finished; the text does not commend his self-killing.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

The LORD’s sovereign purpose can operate through normal decisions and political calculations without eliminating human responsibility.

Truth 2

Hushai defeats better tactical advice by understanding Absalom’s pride and desire for visible personal leadership.

Truth 3

Faithful support often occurs through hidden, ordinary service—messengers, household courage, food, and intelligence networks all matter in David’s preservation.

Truth 4

Ahithophel’s great wisdom cannot save a cause that God has determined to overthrow.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

2 Samuel 15:31 records David’s prayer that the LORD would turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness; chapter 17 shows the answer unfolding through Hushai.

Connection 2

Psalm 41:9 and 55:12–14 describe betrayal by a close companion and have often been read in light of experiences like Ahithophel’s defection, while the New Testament ultimately applies betrayal themes to Judas in a greater setting.

Connection 3

Proverbs 21:30 states that there is no wisdom, understanding, or counsel against the LORD, a principle dramatically illustrated here.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

The narrator calls Ahithophel’s plan ‘good counsel’ in a strategic sense, not a morally good plan. It is effective advice for killing David.

Keep this clear 2

God’s purpose to defeat Ahithophel does not make Absalom’s rebellion or Hushai’s deceptive role a simple template for ordinary ethics; this is wartime intelligence during an unlawful coup.

Keep this clear 3

Ahithophel’s suicide is reported as the tragic end of his political collapse, not as an honorable solution to shame or failure.

Read 2 Samuel 17 watching for…

The speed and focus of Ahithophel’s proposal.

How Hushai deliberately makes David sound dangerous and unpredictable.

What aspect of Hushai’s plan would appeal to Absalom’s pride.

The narrator’s explicit explanation for Absalom’s decision.

How the warning actually reaches David.

The people who provide material support once David reaches Mahanaim.

Chapter outline5 sections

1-4Ahithophel advises an immediate attack on David 5-14Hushai gives different counsel, and the LORD defeats Ahithophel’s counsel 15-22The priests’ sons warn David, and he crosses Jordan 23Ahithophel returns home and kills himself 24-29David comes to Mahanaim and receives provisions

Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:

And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.

And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou.

And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.

Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.

Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.

And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.

So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.

And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

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2 Samuel 17:26

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