King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 11 notes
1Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:
2And 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:
3And 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.
Even though some had left with David, they still had interests in Israel: land, property, friends, wives, business partners etc. Their death will have repercussions and rippling effects.
So it would be good to have all of them back in one piece, and peace upon the land, even as Absalom reigned.
4And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
5Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.
Could that have been what happened in the first case, when Ahithophel gave that wicked advice to sleep with his father's concubines?
Maybe Hushai was not called for his opinion.
Even though from chapter 16 verse 20 it sounds like both advisors were present, but we see that after the first advice was given, Ahithophel was asked for more advice.
After which Hushai was called in, so though from chapter 16 verse 20 it sounds like both were present, we see from here that they more likely than not were called in, in order
6And 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.
7And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.
8For, 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.
Chafed in their minds... I like that expression.
Other verses say they are enraged.
9Behold, 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.
10And 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.
11Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
12So 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.
I can imagine Absalom recollecting the many victories and stories of David his father in the wilderness, stories he had heard since childhood.
I can imagine the counselors of Absalom agreeing with Hushai, that David can play the game of hide and seek all day long. He did it for 13 years with Saul.
Absalom wouldn't want to play that game with David. His reign was new, and so long as David was alive, his reign would never be cemented. This was not the time for the kingdom to be fragile.
All these disloyal servants wanted David dead so they know they are secure.
If not, some of the people might eventually default to the side of David, and now the kingdom will be divided.
Interestingly enough — when David came back he just continued his reign with these same officers in place — no mention is made of him destroying any.
He continued working even with all these disloyal officers... the games and agendas in the corridors of power.
Leading people is no joke; even the most robust and strong systems are so fragile. One moment David was king, the next moment he wasn't, and next he is back as king with these same people saluting him.
I am sure a few heads rolled, especially of the obviously disloyal ones; why else did Ahithophel take his life?
13Moreover, 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.
Hushai justified his advice of gathering the whole army, which of course will buy time for David to escape.
Also, if a counter argument is raised that gathering the whole of Israel is an overkill, he argued that if he gets into a particular walled city, the entire army can then fight that city without needing to remobilise.
This campaign was meant to kill David and his men at all cost, regardless.
But Hushai knew he was lying 🤥, and yet it made more sense than Ahithophel's counsel.
14And 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.
15Then 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.
16Now 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.
17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel; 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.
A wench — a female servant
18Nevertheless 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.
19And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
This is all too familiar and is as when Rahab the prostitute of Jericho hid the spies.
Though she used a different technique.
Joshua 2:5-6 KJV
And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. [6] But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
20And 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.
21And 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.
22Then 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.
As at this time, it was not known yet what the decision of the king 👑 was.
Maybe Ahithophel was still lobbying very hard to ensure his counsel was taken and implemented.
It was not known what the final decision of the king would be.
Ahithophel's life depended on this counsel being taken, and he knew the consequences.
So likely he lobbied hard, but alas, time was spent; David and his men escaped.
It was too late.
In the wisdom of the gods it was over. In the wisdom of God it was over, and Ahithophel — the man who had access to the wisdom of God — knew so too...
He walked off, shoulders slumped. He gathered his house 🏡 hold, put his house in order.
Divided his inheritance — ended his life — he was not ready to become a fugitive running 🏃 everywhere when David returned as king 👑.
It was over.
The 😔 ending of the man of wisdom.
His wisdom killed him.
He was too wise for his own good.
23And 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.
With such cold, calculated, almost cruel focus and straightness. He understood the implication of his decision, he foresaw what was about to happen, he weighed all the angles and possible outcomes.
And he chose the best, or the least worst option — to preserve his posterity by putting his house in order and end his life. Maybe he risked himself and his entire family being ostracised or worse killed for his disloyalty, so he did it himself and saved them.
That man had understanding.
24Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
Was that not where Jacob met the host of angels? 😇
Genesis 32:1-2 KJV
And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. [2] And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
25And 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.
26So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.
27And 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 Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
28Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,
29And 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.
They were connecting themselves strategically, though their intentions were right and not for manipulation, for there was no guarantee of success. But when success did come, David rewarded his family.
It is like politics of today: when you stick your neck out for any aspirant, he rewards you when he comes into power, because of the risk you took. If he failed to come into power, you will be wrecked for a long time; you and your family will be ill treated by the opponent who won.