Verses 15-23
Hushai Sends David A Message Telling Him To Flee Over The Jordan While He May, In Case Absalom Changes His Mind And Follows The Wise Counsel Of Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:15-23 ).
The incident that follows, as Hushai raced to get a message through to David, is clear evidence that the information in this account was obtained from an eyewitness, for while it undoubtedly adds to the human interest, there is no reason at all for it to be invented. It adds nothing to the essentials of the account. What it does, however, bring out is the extent of the loyalty still commanded by David among the common folk. It indicated that he had not been totally deserted.
Analysis.
a Then Hushai said to 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” (2 Samuel 17:15).
b Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, “Do not lodge this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him” (2 Samuel 17:16).
c Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En-rogel; and a maid-servant used to go and tell them, and they went and told king David, for they might not be seen to come into the city. But a lad saw them, and told Absalom, and they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there (2 Samuel 17:17-18).
d And the woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and strewed bruised grain on it, and nothing was observable (2 Samuel 17:19).
e And Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, and they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They are gone over the brook of water” (2 Samuel 17:20 a).
d And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 17:20 b).
c And it came about, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, “Arise all of you, and pass quickly over the water, for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you” (2 Samuel 17:21).
b Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the time of morning light there lacked not one of them who was not gone over the Jordan (2 Samuel 17:22).
a And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and got himself home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hung himself, and he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father (2 Samuel 17:23).
Note that in ‘a’ Hushai describes Ahithophel’s advice, and in the parallel we learn that when Ahithophel saw that that advice had not been followed he hung himself. In ‘b’ the message is for David to pass immediately over the Jordan, and in the parallel he does so. In ‘c’ Jonathan and Ahimaaz hide down a well, and in the parallel they come out from their hiding place in the well. In ‘d’ the well could not be found, and in the parallel the two men could not be found. Centrally in ‘e’ Absalom’s servants failed because they were misdirected by a mere woman who was loyal to David. So much for his resources.
‘ Then Hushai said to 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.” ’
Having left the presence of Absalom Hushai hurried to Abiathar and Zadok, his contacts in Jerusalem, and explained to them both what Ahithophel had advised, and what he had advised.
‘ Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, “Do not lodge this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.” ’
The he urged them to send an urgent message to David directing him not to stop with his people at the fords of Jordan, but to pass over them as quickly as possible by any means that they could in case Ahithophel’s advice was followed and they be trapped there, and all of them be swallowed up.
‘ Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En-rogel; and a maid-servant used to go and tell them, and they went and told king David, for they might not be seen to come into the city.’
This message was immediately taken by a maid servant, who had apparently constantly acted as a go-between, to Jonathan and Ahimaaz, who were staying by the spring of En-rogel at the south east corner of Jerusalem (see Joshua 15:7). This was lest they arouse suspicion by being observed sneaking in and out of the city in the direction which David might be assumed to have taken. Two messengers were necessary so as to ensure that at least one got through.
‘ But a lad saw them, and told Absalom, and they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.’
But all their precautions proved to be in vain, for a young lad spotted them and reported the fact back to Absalom. We can gather from the fact that he did this that Jonathan and Ahimaaz were already suspect, and that enquiries had already been made as to their whereabouts. Meanwhile the two men had hurried off with their message and had reached Bahurim just outside Jerusalem on the way to the fords of Jordan. It is clear that at that stage they suspected that they were being pursued and knew that they must find somewhere to hide. At Bahurim they knew of a man who was loyal to David and sought his help. This man had a well in his courtyard which could be covered up so that there was no obvious trace of it, and that was where the two hunted men took shelter.
‘ And the woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and strewed bruised grain on it, and nothing was observable.’
The woman of the house then put the covering on the well and strewed bruised grain (peeled barley - compare Proverbs 27:22) on it, the same kind of grain that was strewn around that area of the courtyard, with the result that nothing was visible. (Again the woman was the man for the job. Absalom’s pride would undoubtedly have been deeply injured at the thought of being outmanoeuvred by women (compare Judges 9:54), but in the Scriptures women are often YHWH’s means of deliverance and the point here is precisely in order to bring out that YHWH was outmanoeuvring Absalom by the means of ‘weak’ women. As ever He was using the weak things of the world to confound the mighty - 1 Corinthians 1:27).
‘ And Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house, and they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They are gone over the brook of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.’
When Absalom’s servants arrived at Bahurim they no doubt learned (by using their own methods) which house Jonathan and Ahimaaz had entered, and then they approached the woman of the house and asked her where the two men were. (Her husband had probably made himself scarce. Women were less vulnerable than men in such circumstances). She replied convincingly that they had gone over the nearby water-brook or ‘stream of water’. Accepting her word they searched diligently for the two men in the area that she had described, but on not finding them could only assume that they had escaped, and consequently returned to Jerusalem to report.
‘ And it came about, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, “Arise all of you, and pass quickly over the water, for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.” ’
As soon as the two messengers were sure that Absalom’s men had gone, they came out of the well and hurried off with their message to King David. And once in his presence they told him that they must all arise and quickly cross the water (harder than it sounds when you have a load of baggage wagons), explaining the advice that Ahithophel had given to Absalom. For no one could be sure in the end whose advice Absalom might follow. He might after all have been suspicious of Hushai and have been deceiving him about his intentions.
‘ Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the time of morning light there lacked not one of them who was not gone over the Jordan.’
So David and all who were with him worked hurriedly and urgently through the night so that by dawn all had crossed over. Had Ahithophel and his men in fact arrived that night it might well have been the end for many of them, hindered as David’s men were by having to protect the members of David’s household. But once over the fords, the fords themselves could be guarded by much smaller groups of mighty men, while the remainder could hopefully make their escape into the forests. They had therefore now at least been given a chance.
‘ And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and got himself home to his city, and set his house in order, and hung himself, and he died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.’
No one was more aware of this than Ahithophel, and observing that his shrewd advice had been ignored because of the subtlety of Hushai (and the hand of YHWH), and recognising with anguish what would now be the inevitable end of the rebellion, and what his own fate would consequently be, he saddled his ass and returned to his own city. His part in the rebellion was over, and his aim was to settle his affairs and then hang himself in the hope that this might prevent retribution on his family when the rebellion now inevitably failed. Note how the fact of his end is brought out in a sevenfold way emphasising its divine inevitability (seven is the number of divine perfection). ‘He saddled his ass -- arose -- got himself home to his city -- set his house in order - hung himself -- died -- and was buried.’ Such is the inevitable end of all who set themselves against the will of God.
There is, as will be observed, a remarkable parallel between this man who betrayed David, God’s Anointed one, and then as a consequence went away and committed suicide by hanging, and the one who would later betray our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Son of David, God’s greater Anointed One, who would also similarly commit suicide by hanging (Matthew 27:3-5), the first because he knew that he would face the judgment of David, the second because he knew that he would face the judgment of the risen Lord Himself.
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