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2 Samuel 17:1

in 2 Samuel 17

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

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

KJV

Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:

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This verse in 2 Samuel 17

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
This night - The night of the day on which David fled, and Absalom entered into Jerusalem. Ahithophel’s idea was to fall upon David by surprise, and in the first confusion of the surprised army to seize and kill David only.

This site's exposition

Let me choose twelve thousand men

on 2 Samuel 17:1-3

Ahithophel asks for twelve thousand men and a strike that night. He means to “strike down only the king” and “bring all the people back to you as a bride returning to her husband”. Matthew Henry sets the plan beside the counsel of Caiaphas, one man dying for the nation.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON PHILIPPIANS 5 · Written before 407.

proposed

There is nothing so foreign to a Christian soul as haughtiness. Haughtiness, I say, not boldness nor courage, for these are congenial. But these are one thing, and that another; so too humility is one thing, and meanness, flattery, and adulation another. I will now, if you wish, give you examples of all these qualities. For these things which are contraries, seem in some way to be placed near together, as the tares to the wheat, and the thorns to the rose. But while babes might easily be deceived, they who are men in truth, and are skilled in spiritual husbandry, know how to separate what is really good from the bad. Let me then lay before you examples of these qualities from the Scriptures. What is flattery, and meanness, and adulation? Ziba flattered David out of season, and falsely slandered his master. Much more did Ahitophel flatter Absalom. But David was not so, but he was humble. For the deceitful are flatterers, as when they say, "O king, live for ever." Again, what flatterers the magicians are.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Let that one man die for the people, John xi. Kill the heir, and the inheritance shall be ours, Matt. xxi. But the counsel of them both was turned into foolishness.
Moreover, Ahithophel said unto Absalom,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But his dexterity was chiefly displayed in that part of his counsel which recommended a general levy throughout the country; and that Absalom should take command of it in person--thereby flattering at once the pride and ambition of the usurper. The bait was caught by the vainglorious and wicked prince.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Let me now choose out twelve thousand men - Had this counsel been followed, David and his little troop would soon have been destroyed; nothing but the miraculous interposition of God could have saved them. Twelve thousand chosen troops coming against him, in his totally unprepared state, would have soon settled the business of the kingdom. Ahithophel well saw that, this advice neglected, all was lost.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֲחִיתֹ֖פֶלAhithophel

    ʾachitofelH302 →20 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַבְשָׁלֹ֑םAbsalom

    ʾavshalomH53 →110 times

  • אֶבְחֲרָ֣הlet me choose

    ʾevcharahH977 →171 times

  • נָּ֗אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • שְׁנֵים־two [plus]

    sheneim-H8147 →768 times

  • עָשָׂ֥רten

    ʾasarH6240 →338 times

  • אֶ֙לֶף֙thousand

    ʾelefH505 →505 times

  • אִ֔ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • וְאָק֛וּמָהand I will arise

    veakumahH6965 →628 times

  • וְאֶרְדְּפָ֥הand I will pursue

    veerdefahH7291 →143 times

  • אַחֲרֵי־after

    ʾacharei-H310 →715 times

  • דָוִ֖דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • הַלָּֽיְלָה׃this night

    halayelahH3915 →233 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Isaiah 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.5 worksProverbs 4:16For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.4 worksPsalms 109:2–4For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.4 worksPsalms 4:8I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.4 worksPsalms 3:3–5But You, O LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.4 worksProverbs 1:16For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.3 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Samuel 15:28See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 4:8

    I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 3:24

      When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.

    • Psalms 3:5

      I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.

    • Job 11:18–19

      You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety.

    • Psalms 16:8–9

      I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:10

      He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

  • Through

    Proverbs 4:16

    For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 36:4

      Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

    • Micah 2:1

      Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

    • Isaiah 57:20

      But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 17 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON PHILIPPIANS 5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 17 →