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The Blue Letter Bible

2 Samuel 17 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:1 -

Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out in pursuit of David tonight.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:2 -

“I will attack him while he is weary and discouraged,[fn] throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will scatter. I will strike down only the king

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:3 -

“and bring all the people back to you. When everyone returns except the man you’re looking for, all[fn] the people will be at peace.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:4 -

This proposal seemed right to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:5 -

Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite also. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:6 -

So Hushai came to Absalom, and Absalom told him, “Ahithophel offered this proposal. Should we carry out his proposal? If not, what do you say? ”

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:7 -

Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given this time is not good.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:8 -

Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men. They are warriors and are desperate like a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is an experienced soldier who won’t spend the night with the people.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:9 -

“He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves[fn] or some other place. If some of our troops fall[fn] first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:10 -

“Then, even a brave man with the heart of a lion will lose heart[fn] because all Israel knows that your father and the valiant men with him are warriors.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:11 -

“Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba ​— ​as numerous as the sand by the sea ​— ​be gathered to you and that you personally go into battle.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:12 -

“Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. Not even one will be left ​— ​neither he nor any of the men with him.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:13 -

“If he retreats to some city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag its stones[fn] into the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:14 -

Since the LORD had decreed that Ahithophel’s good advice be undermined in order to bring about Absalom’s ruin, Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than Ahithophel’s advice.”

David Informed of Absalom’s Plans
Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:15 -

Hushai then told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “This is what[fn] Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what[fn] I advised.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:16 -

“Now send someone quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the wilderness ford,[fn] but be sure to cross over the Jordan,[fn] or the king and all the people with him will be devoured.’ ”

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:17 -

Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, where a servant girl would come and pass along information to them. They in turn would go and inform King David, because they dared not be seen entering the city.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:18 -

However, a young man did see them and informed Absalom. So the two left quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:19 -

Then his wife took the cover, placed it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain on it so nobody would know anything.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:20 -

Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? ”

“They passed by toward the water,”[fn] the woman replied to them. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:21 -

After they had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed out of the well and went and informed King David. They told him, “Get up and immediately ford the river, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:22 -

So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one who had not crossed the Jordan.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:23 -

When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his house in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:24 -

David had arrived at Mahanaim by the time Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:25 -

Now Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in Joab’s place. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra[fn] the Israelite;[fn] Ithra had married Abigail daughter of Nahash.[fn] Abigail was a sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:26 -

And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:27 -

When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:28 -

brought beds, basins,[fn] and pottery items. They also brought wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,[fn]

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 17:29 -

honey, curds, sheep, goats, and cheese[fn] from the herd for David and the people with him to eat. They had reasoned, “The people must be hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”

CSB Footnotes
Lit and weak of hands
LXX reads to you as a bride returns to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, and all
Or pits, or ravines
Lit And it will be when a falling on them at
Lit melt
Lit drag it
Lit “Like this and like this
Lit and like this and like this
Some Hb mss; MT reads plains
the Jordan supplied for clarity
Or brook ; Hb obscure
Or Jether
Some LXX mss read Ishmaelite
Some LXX mss read Jesse
LXX reads brought 10 embroidered beds with double coverings, 10 vessels
LXX, Syr; MT adds roasted grain
Hb obscure
CSB

Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

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2 Samuel Chapter 17 — Additional Translations: