2 Samuel 17 — “Counsel in the Shadows, Providence in the Light”
We re-enter the drama we traced yesterday: David, God’s anointed, is on the run; Absalom, the charming son, has seized Jerusalem. Chapter 17 is less a battlefield report and more a war of words. Swords will eventually clash, but first come strategies whispered in palace halls, relayed by priests’ sons, hidden in a countryside well.
In the Ancient Near East a ruler’s “counselor” was as lethal—or lifesaving—as a spear. Assyrian tablets speak of “chief advisers” whose plans determined whether a kingdom stood or fell. The biblical author invites us to watch two advisers—Ahithophel and Hushai—duel for a king’s heart, while God quietly turns the tide.
Cross-references: Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 8:10; 1 Corinthians 1:25.
Hushai’s counterplan must reach David fast. The relay: Hushai → Zadok
& Abiathar (priests) → Ahimaaz & Jonathan (their sons) →
David.
• At Bahurim the young men hide in a dry cistern; a woman spreads grain
over its mouth—simple domestic work masking a life-or-death
secret.
• Near-Eastern archaeology unearths many bottle-shaped cisterns exactly
fit for such concealment. Walls often bore soot from cooking
fires—perfect camouflage.
Spiritual echo: God uses the ordinary (a housewife’s quick thinking, a well, grain spread for drying) to advance His kingdom. See 1 Corinthians 1:27.
When Ahithophel learns his advice is ignored, “he set his house in order and hanged himself.” Many Western readers hurry past, yet ancient hearers would pause. Suicide after political disgrace appears in Hittite and Greek records; it was a final act to avoid public shame on one’s household.
Church fathers—from Chrysostom to Augustine—saw Ahithophel
foreshadowing Judas:
• Both betray an anointed king.
• Both die by hanging.
• Both exhibit worldly wisdom yet lack saving trust.
Meditate alongside Matthew 27:3-5; Psalm 41:9 (David’s lament that Jesus quotes, John 13:18).
Crossing the Jordan by night, David reaches Mahanaim (“Two Camps”), once Jacob’s refuge (Genesis 32). Geography matters: archaeological surveys place it near modern Tell edh-Dhahab, a walled, multi-spring center ideal for regrouping.
There three unlikely helpers bring beds, bowls, wheat, lentils,
honey, curds, sheep, and “cheese of cows’ milk” (a firm white cheese
still made east of the Jordan).
• Shobi—son of Nahash, an Ammonite.
• Makir—of Lo Debar, who sheltered crippled Mephibosheth (2 Sam
9).
• Barzillai—an elderly Gileadite noble.
The text drips with ḥesed (חֶסֶד)—loyal, covenant love that crosses ethnic and tribal lines. In a world tearing apart under Absalom’s ambition, quiet acts of mercy stitch the kingdom back together.
Cross-reference: Hebrews 13:2; Luke 10:34-35 (the Samaritan’s supplies).
Historic voices:
• John Calvin: “God’s providence employs even devilish counsel for the
church’s good.”
• Charles Spurgeon: “The Lord turned Ahithophel’s counsel into
foolishness; He can do the same with the craft of hell this very
hour.”
• Where am I tempted to trust slick plans over seeking God? Pray
Psalm 25:4-5.
• Who needs a “Mahanaim-care-package” from me—supplies, a call,
shelter?
• Have I confused cleverness with wisdom? Revisit James 1:5.
• Carry silent workers (the unnamed woman at the well) in intercession;
unseen service moves history.
Suggested hymn: “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” (William Cowper, 1774). Its verses mirror the hidden providence threading 2 Samuel 17.
Sovereign Lord,
You break the proud and lift the humble.
Unseen, You guide whispers and footfalls, wheat spread on a well, and
the beating of a rebel’s heart.
Grant us heaven-born wisdom, courage to act, and compassion to supply
Your exiled ones.
Turn every counsel against Your kingdom into praise, until Christ
returns in glory.
Amen.