Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Ahithophel gives Absalom a crafty and useful counsel; but Hushai frustrates it, and, verse 15, arranges for it to be reported to David, that he may take counsel for his flight and cross the Jordan. Therefore, verse 22, David crosses it, Absalom follows. Then, verse 27, Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai bring provisions to David's camp.
Vulgate Text: 2 Kings 17:1-29
1. And Ahithophel said to Absalom: I will choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David this night. 2. And coming upon him — for he is weary and weak-handed — I will strike him; when all the people who are with him shall flee, I will strike the king alone. 3. And I will bring back all the people, as one man is wont to return; for you seek but one man, and all the people shall be in peace. 4. And his word pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel. 5. But Absalom said: Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he also says. 6. And when Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom said to him: Ahithophel has spoken in this manner; shall we do it or not? What is your counsel? 7. And Hushai said to Absalom: The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good. 8. And again Hushai said: You know your father and the men who are with him, that they are very brave, and bitter of soul, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the woods; moreover your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. 9. Perhaps now he is hidden in pits, or in some other place where he pleases; and when one of ours shall fall at the beginning, whoever hears it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people who followed Absalom. 10. And even the most valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall melt with fear; for all the people of Israel know that your father is a mighty man, and that all who are with him are valiant. 11. But this seems to me to be good counsel: let all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered; and you shall be in the midst of them. 12. And we shall come upon him in whatever place he shall be found; and we shall cover him, as the dew usually falls upon the ground; and we shall not leave of the men who are with him, not even one. 13. And if he shall enter into any city, all Israel shall bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into the river, so that there shall not be found even one small stone thereof. 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 ordained to frustrate the useful counsel of Ahithophel, that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. 15. And Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests: Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus did I counsel. 16. Now therefore send quickly and tell David, saying: Do not stay this night in the plains of the desert, but without delay cross over; lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up. 17. And Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed beside the fountain of Rogel; a handmaid went and reported to them, and they went to carry the news to King David; for they could not be seen, nor enter the city. 18. But a certain boy saw them, and told Absalom; but they, going at a quick pace, entered the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it. 19. And a woman took and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as if drying barley, and so the thing was not discovered. 20. And when the servants of Absalom came into the house, to the woman, they said: Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman answered them: They passed quickly over, having tasted a little water. But they who sought them, when they had not found them, returned to Jerusalem. 21. And when they had gone, they came up out of the well, and going on reported to King David, and said: Arise, and cross over the river quickly; for Ahithophel has given such counsel against you. 22. David therefore arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan, until it grew light; and not even one was left who had not crossed the river. 23. Now Ahithophel, seeing that his counsel was not followed, saddled his donkey, and arose and went to his house in his city; and putting his house in order, he hanged himself, and was buried in the tomb of his father. 24. And David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25. And Absalom appointed Amasa in the place of Joab over the army; now Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, the sister of Zeruiah, who was the mother of Joab. 26. And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead. 27. And when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28. brought him beds and tapestries and earthen vessels, wheat and barley and meal and parched grain, and beans and lentils and parched seeds, 29. and honey and butter, sheep and fatted calves; and they gave to David and the people who were with him to eat; for they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the desert.
Verse 1: Ahithophel's Counsel to Pursue David
1. I WILL PURSUE DAVID. — This was useful counsel. For if Ahithophel had immediately pursued the fleeing David with select soldiers, he would certainly have overwhelmed him unarmed, deserted, and unprepared: but when, at the advice of Hushai, a delay was interposed, David summoned his subjects from all sides, armed them, arranged them in battle order, and thus engaging the undisciplined people of Absalom, he overthrew him. For speed in wars is of the greatest value. Whence that saying of Julius Caesar: "I came, I saw, I conquered."
Thus Hushai here, by throwing delays into Absalom's rebellion, destroyed it. Politically, let princes learn here that rebellion and sedition must be prevented by every reason and means, and it must be ensured that it does not arise; but if it has already arisen and been formed, delays and hindrances must be thrown in its way.
Verse 11: Hushai's Counter-Counsel
11. LET ALL ISRAEL BE GATHERED TO YOU. — This was not what Hushai wanted, but he proposed this as a pretext for his advice, so that time would be given to David to flee and prepare for battle.
Verse 14: God Frustrates Ahithophel's Useful Counsel
13. ALL ISRAEL WILL SURROUND THAT CITY WITH ROPES. — This is a hyperbole signifying the greatness of the forces and army, as if to say: We will gather such a great number of people, such great forces, that we can surround the city with ropes and drag it to destruction.
14. BUT BY THE LORD'S WILL THE USEFUL COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL WAS FRUSTRATED. — By what means God did this, I explained in chapter XIV, verse 31.
Verse 15: Hushai Reports to the Priests
15. AND HUSHAI SAID TO ZADOK AND ABIATHAR THE PRIESTS — namely the chief priests, that is, the High Priests; there were therefore at that time two High Priests, namely Zadok descended from Eleazar the firstborn son of Aaron, and Abiathar descended from Eli and Ithamar the younger son of Aaron.
Verse 17: The Spies Jonathan and Ahimaaz
17. FOR THEY COULD NOT BE SEEN OR ENTER THE CITY — that is to say, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, David's scouts, did not dare to openly enter the city and show themselves in Jerusalem, because its gates were closely guarded by sentinels.
Verse 19: The Woman Hides the Spies
19. AS IF DRYING BARLEY. — Ptisana is a Greek word, meaning barley or wheat that has been husked. For ptisana is made from various grains, says Dioscorides, book II. In Columella, ptisana is a kind of porridge from barley meal, which has the greatest power of restoring strength and nourishing.
Verse 21: David Crosses the Jordan
21. ARISE AND CROSS THE RIVER QUICKLY — the Jordan. Hushai gives this counsel to David because, although he had overturned the counsel of Ahithophel, he feared lest Absalom change his mind and immediately send soldiers after David.
AND ABSALOM CROSSED THE JORDAN — not immediately, but after some days, as Hushai had advised, during which David prepared forces to resist him; whence he organized three strong battle lines, with which he defeated Absalom, as we shall hear in chapter XVIII, verses 1 and following.
Tropologically, let commanders learn from David here to rely on the help of their guardian and protecting Angels in dangers and battles, and to invoke their aid; for they bring victory, as here they brought it to David.
Verse 23: Ahithophel's Suicide
23. NOW AHITHOPHEL SEEING THAT HIS COUNSEL HAD NOT BEEN FOLLOWED, etc., DIED BY HANGING — lest he be captured by David and hanged as a traitor; he therefore anticipated and avoided an infamous and violent hanging by a spontaneous and voluntary hanging. For he, being prudent and shrewd as he was, foresaw that the warlike David, from the delay given him, would gather strong forces and defeat the rebel Absalom. So Procopius, Theodoret, and others. See here how true that saying: "Bad counsel is worst for the counselor."
Symbolically, Ahithophel the betrayer of David was a type of Judas the traitor, who likewise hanged himself with a noose, says Angelomus and Rupert.
Moreover, Elias in Tishbi translates the Hebrew as: he was suffocated; whence he thinks he was suffocated by a catarrh. But the Septuagint, Josephus, our version, and others consistently translate and assert that he hanged himself.
Verse 24: David Comes to Mahanaim
24. AND DAVID CAME TO THE CAMP. — The Hebrew and Septuagint have: he came to Mahanaim, that is, to the city called Mahanaim, that is, Camps, because Jacob fleeing from his brother Esau had there seen two companies, and as it were two camps of Angels fighting for him against his brother, Genesis XXXII, 1. And therefore David fleeing from his son Absalom withdrew to the same city, hoping that God would be present to him there, as He had been present to his grandfather Jacob.
Verse 25: Amasa the Son of Ithra
25. NOW AMASA WAS THE SON OF A MAN CALLED ITHRA (or Jether) FROM JEZREEL. — In 1 Chronicles II, 17, this man is called "Jether the Ishmaelite." I say therefore that Jether was an Ishmaelite by origin and race, but had migrated to Judea, namely to Jezreel, and there became a proselyte and was circumcised.
This is clear from the Vulgate translation, which in this passage calls him Ithra from Jezreel. Therefore his home was in Jezreel or Jezreeli.
WHO (Ithra or Jether) WENT IN TO (as a husband or consort) ABIGAIL THE DAUGHTER OF NAHASH (and from her begot Amasa), SISTER OF ZERUIAH, WHO WAS THE MOTHER OF JOAB. — Zeruiah and Abigail were sisters of David, Zeruiah was the mother of Joab, Abigail the mother of Amasa: therefore David was the uncle of both Joab and Amasa: and they among themselves were cousins, as is clear from 1 Chronicles II, 13. And for this reason their mothers are named here, not their fathers, to signify that they were nephews of David through their mothers.
Abigail is therefore called here the daughter of Nahash, that is, Jesse or Isai, who was the father of David: for he was called by another name Nahash, the symbolic reason for which the Hebrews give in St. Jerome's Hebrew Traditions: this Jesse, they say, was called Nahash, in Hebrew nachas, that is serpent, because he is said to have committed no mortal sin except that which he originally contracted from the ancient serpent. Such therefore did the father of King David, and through him of Christ, deserve to be.
This Jezreel is therefore different from Jezreel, the royal city and metropolis of the ten tribes, which was on the boundary of the tribes of Manasseh and Issachar, situated at the foot of Mount Gilboa to the west, in which Jezebel the wife of Ahab arranged for Naboth to be stoned, that she might seize his vineyard, and therefore she was killed there by Jehu and thrown to be devoured by dogs, 4 Kings IV, 8, 9 and following.
Verse 27: Provisions from Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai
27. AND WHEN DAVID HAD COME TO THE CAMP (the Hebrew and Septuagint have: to Mahanaim), SHOBI THE SON OF NAHASH FROM RABBAH OF THE CHILDREN OF AMMON. — Hear St. Jerome in the Hebrew Traditions: "This Shobi was the son of King Nahash, against whom Saul fought. This same Nahash also showed mercy to David when he fled from the face of Saul; when he died, David said: I will show mercy to Hanun as his father Nahash showed mercy to me. But when Hanun, who had done him an injury by shaving his servants, was killed by David, this Shobi was appointed by the same David in his brother's place, who is read to have come to David with the others, and to have offered him bedding, tapestries, earthen vessels, and the other things that are mentioned."