2Sa 17:1-5 | KingComments | STEP | Ahithophel gives further counsel. Of that counsel it is noted in by the Spirit of God that it was “the good counsel of Ahithophel”. He proposes to work with a number of men to ensure that David is killed. Then the whole people will be saved. He asks Absalom permission to put together an army. He wants to choose the men himself. There are not too few of them, as many as 12,000 men. However, there are not too many of them either. It is a mobile and decisive army. He determines the tactics himself and wants to pursue David with these men without losing time. With his astute mind, he realizes that David is tired and discouraged. This is the right moment for the attack on the life of the fugitive king. Ahithophel foresees that the people who are with David will flee when he appears with his special forces. That’s not bad, because it’s about David. If he can kill him, the whole people will return to Absalom and be at peace, for “the return of everyone depends on the man you seek”. This counsel of Ahithophel pleases “Absalom and all the elders of Israel”. By presenting the matter in this way Ahithophel suggests that Absalom is the rightful king from whom the people have deviated. He also makes it seem as if Absalom is the man who gives peace. The proclamation of this false peace, as well as the proclamation that Absalom is the rightful king, is also seen in the antichrist. What Ahithophel says about disabling David is very similar to the words Caiaphas spoke about disabling the Lord Jesus: “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” ( ). What is not fulfilled with David, is fulfilled with the Lord Jesus, but only to carry out God’s plan. The lie of Caiaphas becomes the truth of God. What the Lord Jesus did has consequences for all who belong to Him.

‏ 2 Samuel 17:1-5

Further Advice of Ahithophel

Ahithophel gives further counsel. Of that counsel it is noted in 2Sam 17:14 by the Spirit of God that it was “the good counsel of Ahithophel”. He proposes to work with a number of men to ensure that David is killed. Then the whole people will be saved. He asks Absalom permission to put together an army. He wants to choose the men himself. There are not too few of them, as many as 12,000 men. However, there are not too many of them either. It is a mobile and decisive army. He determines the tactics himself and wants to pursue David with these men without losing time.

With his astute mind, he realizes that David is tired and discouraged. This is the right moment for the attack on the life of the fugitive king. Ahithophel foresees that the people who are with David will flee when he appears with his special forces. That’s not bad, because it’s about David. If he can kill him, the whole people will return to Absalom and be at peace, for “the return of everyone depends on the man you seek”. This counsel of Ahithophel pleases “Absalom and all the elders of Israel”.

By presenting the matter in this way Ahithophel suggests that Absalom is the rightful king from whom the people have deviated. He also makes it seem as if Absalom is the man who gives peace. The proclamation of this false peace, as well as the proclamation that Absalom is the rightful king, is also seen in the antichrist.

What Ahithophel says about disabling David is very similar to the words Caiaphas spoke about disabling the Lord Jesus: “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (Jn 11:49-52). What is not fulfilled with David, is fulfilled with the Lord Jesus, but only to carry out God’s plan. The lie of Caiaphas becomes the truth of God. What the Lord Jesus did has consequences for all who belong to Him.

The Advice of Hushai

Despite the fact that Ahithophel’s counsel “pleases Absalom and all the elders of Israel”” (2Sam 17:4), Absalom does not want to bind himself to any particular advice and also wants to hear Hushai. This can only be from the LORD. Hushai seizes the opportunity offered to him. Very tactically, he starts by saying that the advice Ahithophel gave “this time … is not good”. To be able to say this, he will need a lot of persuasion. He has that. His persuasiveness lies in the knowledge he has of David, because David is his friend. Absalom knows that well. He believes he can now benefit from that knowledge for the plan to be made to eliminate his father.

It is therefore possible that Absalom wants to hear Hushai’s advice because, as a friend of David, he is even better informed about his plans and working method than Ahithophel. As the son of David, Absalom knows the weaknesses of David as a father, but he does not know him as a warrior. With great knowledge of David’s method and courage, Hushai shows that his proposal is better. Hushai speaks with conviction and great caution. He also flatters the insight of Absalom. He speaks of David’s leadership, his inspiring example, the hero he is to the people who are with him.

Hushai recommends that the whole people be gathered. The background of this advice is that it saves time and David can be warned. He emphasizes that only by a tremendous supremacy, David and his men can be defeated in a way that not one remains. In poetic language Hushai paints to Absalom how it will go when David withdraws into a city, believing that he is safe there. Because of the enormous superiority, the whole city will be demolished stone by stone, so there is nothing left of the protection of David.