2 Samuel 17

Chapter context

What is happening in 2 Samuel 17?

Davidic covenantsin and judgmentmercykingship

2 Samuel 17 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as David’s adultery and judgment. Second Samuel narrates David’s consolidation of rule, the covenant promise to his house, his sin with Bathsheba, and the convulsions that follow within his family and kingdom. Read this chapter with the wider themes of Davidic covenant, sin and judgment, and mercy in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: ² 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: ³ 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. ⁴ And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. ⁵ Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith. ⁶ 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. ⁷ And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ 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. ²² 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. ²³ 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. ²⁴ Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. ²⁷ 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, ²⁸ Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse, ²⁹ 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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Glossary

Absalom Person v. 1, 4-7, 9, 14-15, 18, 24-26: Father of peace; i. e., “peaceful” David’s son by Maacah ( 2 Sam. 3:3 ; comp. 1 Kings 1:6 ). He was noted for his personal beauty and for the extra-ordinary profusion of the hair of his head ( 2 Sam. 14:25 ,26).
Ahithophel Person v. 1, 6-7, 14-15, 21, 23: Brother of insipidity or impiety, a man greatly renowned for his sagacity among the Jews. At the time of Absalom’s revolt he deserted David ( Ps. 41:9 ; 55:12-14 ) and espoused the cause of Absalom ( 2 Sam. 15:12 ).
David Person v. 1, 16-17, 21-22, 24, 27, 29: Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25 .
Beersheba Place v. 11: Well of the oath, or well of seven, a well dug by Abraham, and so named because he and Abimelech here entered into a compact ( Gen. 21:31 ). On re-opening it, Isaac gave it the same name ( Gen. 26:31-33 ). Modern identification: Tel Beer Sheva.
Dan Place v. 11: Woodland Dan, a place probably somewhere in the direction of Dan, near the sources of the Jordan ( 2 Sam. 24:6 ). The LXX. and the Vulgate read “Dan-ja’ar”, i. e., “Dan in the forest. ”. Modern identification: Tel Dan.
City People v. 13, 17, 23: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Abiathar Person v. 15: Father of abundance, or my father excels, the son of Ahimelech the high priest. He was the tenth high priest, and the fourth in descent from Eli.
Zadok Person v. 15: Righteous. (1. ) A son of Ahitub, of the line of Eleazer ( 2 Sam. 8:17 ; 1 Chr. 24:3 ), high priest in the time of David ( 2 Sam. 20:25 ) and Solomon ( 1 Kings 4:4 ).
Jordan Place v. 16, 21-22, 24: Biblical river. Modern identification: Jordan River.
Ahimaaz Person v. 17, 20: Brother of anger = irascible. (1. ) The father Ahinoam, the wife of Saul ( 1 Sam. 14:50 ). (2. ) The son and successor of Zadok in the office of high priest ( 1 Chr. 6:8 , 53).
En-rogel Place v. 17-18: Biblical spring. Modern identification: Bir Ayub.
Jonathan Person v. 17, 20: Whom Jehovah gave, the name of fifteen or more persons that are mentioned in Scripture. The chief of these are, (1. ) A Levite descended from Gershom ( Judg. 18:30 ). His history is recorded in 17:7-13 and 18:30.
Bahurim Place v. 18: Young men, a place east of Jerusalem ( 2 Sam. 3:16 ; 19:16 ), on the road to the Jordan valley. Modern identification: Ras Tumeim.
Jerusalem Place v. 20: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Mahanaim Place v. 24, 27: Two camps, a place near the Jabbok, beyond Jordan, where Jacob was met by the “angels of God,” and where he divided his retinue into “two hosts” on his return from Padan-aram ( Gen. 32:2 ). Modern identification: Tell edh Dhahab el Gharbi.
Abigail Person v. 25: Father (i. e., “leader”) of the dance, or “of joy. ” (1. ) The sister of David, and wife of Jether an Ishmaelite ( 1 Chr. 2:16 , 17). She was the mother of Amasa ( 2 Sam. 17:25 ).
Amasa Person v. 25: Burden. (1. ) The son of Abigail, a sister of king David ( 1 Chr. 2:17 ; 2 Sam. 17:25 ). He was appointed by David to command the army in room of his cousin Joab.
Joab Person v. 25: Jehovah is his father. (1. ) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, and “captain of the host” during the whole of David’s reign ( 2 Sam. 2:13 ; 10:7 ; 11:1 ; 1 Kings 11:15 ).
Zeruiah Person v. 25: Stricken of the Lord, David’s sister, and the mother of Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.
Gilead Place v. 26-27: Biblical region. Modern identification: Tell edh Dhahab esh Sherqiyeh.
Ammiel Person v. 27: People of God. (1. ) One of the twelve spies sent by Moses to search the land of Canaan ( Num. 13:12 ). He was one of the ten who perished by the plague for their unfavourable report ( Num. 14:37 ).
Ammon Place v. 27: Biblical region. Modern identification: Amman.
Barzillai Person v. 27: Of iron. (1. ) A Meholathite, the father of Adriel ( 2 Sam. 21:8 ). (2. ) A Gileadite of Rogelim who was distinguished for his loyalty to David. He liberally provided for the king’s followers ( 2 Sam. 17:27 ).
Lo-debar Place v. 27: No pasture, ( 2 Sam. 17:27 ), a town in Gilead not far from Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok (9:4, 5). It is probably identical with Debir ( Josh. 13:26 ). Modern identification: Tel Dover.
Rabbah Place v. 27: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Amman.
Rogelim Place v. 27: Fullers, a town of Gilead, the residence of Barzillai the Gileadite ( 2 Sam. 17:27 ; 19:31 ), probably near to Mahanaim. Modern identification: Zaharet.