2 Samuel · 29 verses
2 Samuel 17
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The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
A woman hides two messengers in a well, lays a cloth over its mouth, scatters grain across it, and points the search elsewhere.
The counsel that winsvv. 1–14
Ahithophel proposes a swift night attack: twelve thousand men, David struck while weary, and the rest of the people gathered back to Absalom “as a bride returning to her husband”—a surprisingly domestic image for a military operation. Absalom and Israel’s elders approve, but summon Hushai as well. Hushai rejects the plan and enlarges everything: all Israel from Dan to Beersheba, an army like sand on the seashore, dew descending on David, and even a city dragged down by ropes until no pebble remains. Absalom prefers this grander counsel. The chapter says that the LORD had purposed to thwart Ahithophel’s good counsel and bring disaster on Absalom.
The well, the river, and the suppervv. 15–29
Hushai sends word through Zadok and Abiathar that David must cross the Jordan. Jonathan and Ahimaaz wait at En-rogel, receiving intelligence from a servant girl, but a young man spots them. They flee to Bahurim, climb into a well, and are concealed by the well’s owner’s wife beneath a covering dusted with grain. Her answer sends Absalom’s servants searching in the wrong direction. Once safe, the messengers reach David, and by daybreak everyone has crossed the Jordan. Ahithophel, finding his advice disregarded, goes home, puts his affairs in order, and hangs himself. David reaches Mahanaim, while Absalom crosses with Israel and camps in Gilead. Then Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai arrive with an almost comically complete wilderness pantry: beds, basins, vessels, grain, beans, lentils, honey, curds, sheep, and cheese.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Sam 17:1Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David.
2 Sam 17:2I will attack him while he is weak and weary; I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee; I will strike down only the king
2 Sam 17:3and bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband. You seek the life of only one man; then all the people will be at peace.”
2 Sam 17:4This proposal seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
2 Sam 17:5Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite as well, and let us hear what he too has to say.”
2 Sam 17:6So Hushai came to Absalom, who told him, “Ahithophel has spoken this proposal. Should we carry it out? If not, what do you say?”
2 Sam 17:7Hushai replied, “This time the advice of Ahithophel is not sound.”
2 Sam 17:8He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.
2 Sam 17:9Surely by now he is hiding in a cave or some other location. If some of your troops fall first, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’
2 Sam 17:10Then even the most valiant soldier with the heart of a lion will melt with fear, because all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man who has valiant men with him.
2 Sam 17:11Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.
2 Sam 17:12Then we will attack David wherever we find him, and we will descend on him like dew on the ground. And of all the men with him, not even one will remain.
2 Sam 17:13If he retreats to a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not even a pebble can be found there.”
2 Sam 17:14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
2 Sam 17:15So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised.
2 Sam 17:16Now send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but be sure to cross over. Otherwise the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”
2 Sam 17:17Now 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, for they dared not be seen entering the city.
2 Sam 17:18But a young man did see them and told 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.
2 Sam 17:19Then the man’s wife took a covering, spread it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain over it so nobody would know a thing.
2 Sam 17:20When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They have crossed over the brook,” she replied. The men searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.
2 Sam 17:21After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed up out of the well and went to inform King David, saying, “Get up and cross over the river at once, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.”
2 Sam 17:22So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one left who had not crossed the Jordan.
2 Sam 17:23When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
2 Sam 17:24Then David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel.
2 Sam 17:25Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.
2 Sam 17:26So the Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
2 Sam 17:27When David came to Mahanaim, he was met by Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim.
2 Sam 17:28They brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, as well as wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,
2 Sam 17:29honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become hungry, exhausted, and thirsty in the wilderness.”
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 188 passages were voted onto 28 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 23Matthew 27:5So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
- 142 Samuel 15:34But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’
- 162 Samuel 15:28See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”
- 232 Kings 20:1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”
- 232 Samuel 15:12While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.
- 8Hosea 13:8Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.
- 11Genesis 22:17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- 141 Corinthians 1:19–20For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- 172 Samuel 15:36Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.”
- 271 Kings 2:7But show loving devotion to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, because they stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.
- 1Isaiah 59:7–8Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.
- 22 Samuel 16:14Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived, exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.
- 21 Kings 22:31Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
- 14Isaiah 8:10Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”
- 14Proverbs 19:21Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- 17Joshua 15:7Then the border went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, turning north to Gilgal, which faces the Ascent of Adummim south of the ravine. It continued along the waters of En-shemesh and came out at En-rogel.
Onward