Reference: Ahithophel
American
A native of Giloh, originally one of David's most intimate and valued friends; but upon the defection and rebellion of Absalom, he espoused the cause of that prince, and became one of David's bitterest enemies. Being disappointed that Absalom did not follow his sagacious advice, and foreseeing the issue of the rebellion, he hanged himself, 2Sa 15:12; 17; Ps 55:12-14. Ahithophel seems to have been the grandfather of Bathsheba. 2Sa 23:34, compared with 2Sa 11:3.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it was answered again, that she was Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam and wife to Uriah the Hittite.
And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of a Maachathite; Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite;
If it were mine enemy that reviled me, I could bear it: or if one that ought me evil will did threaten me, I would hide myself from him. But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, and mine own familiar friend. read more. We took sweet counsel together, and walked in the house of God as friends.
Easton
brother of insipidity or impiety, a man greatly renowned for his sagacity among the Jews. At the time of Absalom's revolt he deserted David (Ps 41:9; 55:12-14) and espoused the cause of Absalom (2Sa 15:12). David sent his old friend Hushai back to Absalom, in order that he might counteract the counsel of Ahithophel (2Sa 15:31-37). This end was so far gained that Ahithophel saw he had no longer any influence, and accordingly he at once left the camp of Absalom and returned to Giloh, his native place, where, after arranging his wordly affairs, he hanged himself, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers (2Sa 17:1-23). He was the type of Judas (Ps 41:9).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude.
And one told David, saying, "Ahithophel is one of them that have conspired with Absalom." Then said David, "O LORD, turn the counsel of Ahithophel unto foolishness." When David was come to the top of the mount and had bowed himself unto God: behold, Hushai the Archite came against him with his coat torn and earth upon his head. read more. Unto whom David said, "If thou go with me thou shalt be a burden unto me. And if thou return to the city: then shalt thou say unto Absalom, 'I will be thy servant O king: thus long have I been thy father's servant, and now I am thine,' and destroy me the counsel of Ahithophel. And thou hast there with thee, Zadok and Abiathar the priests, unto which thou shalt show all that thou canst hear out of the king's house. And behold, ye have there with you their two sons: Ahimaaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son, by which ye shall send me all that ye can hear." And so Hushai, David's friend, gat him to the city. And Absalom also entered into Jerusalem.
Then Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me choose out, I pray thee, twelve thousand men. And I will up and follow after David by night. And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will fear him, that all the people that are with him shall flee. And so will I smite the king only, read more. and will bring again all the people unto thee. And when all these men which thou seekest are turned to thee, all the people shall have rest." And the saying pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel. Then said Absalom, "Call also Hushai the Archite and let us hear his sentence." When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him saying, "Ahithophel hath given such counsel: whether it be best we do after his saying, or not, tell thou." Then said Hushai to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. For," said Hushai, "thou knowest thy father and the men that are with him, how that they be strong men. And they be chafed in their minds, even as a bear robbed of her whelps. And thy father is a man practiced in war, and will not lie a nights among the common people. Behold, he lurketh now in some cave or in some other place. And thereto, though some of his men be overthrown at the first brunt, yet they that hear it will think the people that followeth Absalom be put to the worse. By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity. But my counsel is, that all Israel be gathered unto thee, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand of the sea in number, and that thou go to battle in thine own person. And we will come upon him in one place or other, where we shalt find him, and we will pitch a field against him, even as thick as the dew falleth on the ground. And there shall not one of them be left, neither he nor any of all that are with him. Moreover, if he take a town then shall all the men of Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one stone found upon another." And Absalom and all the men of Israel said that the counsel of Hushai the Archite was better than the counsel of Ahithophel - For it was even the LORD's determination to destroy the counsel of Ahithophel, which was good, that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. Then said Hushai unto Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Of this and that manner did Ahithophel and the elders of Israel counsel Absalom. And thus and thus have I counseled. Now therefore send quickly and show David, saying, 'Tarry not all night in the fields of the wilderness, but get thee over, lest the king be devoured and all the people that are with him.'" As for Jonathan and Ahimaaz, they stood by the well of Rogel, and a damsel went thither and told them. They went on their way and told King David, for they durst not be seen to come into the city. Nevertheless there was a lad saw them, which told it to Absalom. But they went both of them away quickly and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his yard, into which they went down. And the wife took and spread a coverlet on the top of the well and strawed thereon steeped barley to dry. And the thing was not spied. And when Absalom's servants came to the wife to the house and asked where one Ahimaaz and Jonathan were, the wife said unto them, "They be gone over the little brook of water." And when they had sought them and could not find them, then they returned to Jerusalem. And as soon as they were departed, the other came out of the well, and went and told King David and said unto him, "Up, and get you quickly over the water for such counsel hath Ahithophel given." Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they were come over Jordan by that it was day, that there lacked not one of them that was not come over Jordan. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and gat him home to his own house and to his own city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted, who did also eat my bread, hath lift up his heel against me.
Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted, who did also eat my bread, hath lift up his heel against me.
If it were mine enemy that reviled me, I could bear it: or if one that ought me evil will did threaten me, I would hide myself from him. But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, and mine own familiar friend. read more. We took sweet counsel together, and walked in the house of God as friends.
Fausets
(See ABSALOM.) Of Giloh, in the hill country of Judah. David's counselor, to whose treachery he touchingly alludes Ps 41:9; 55:12-14,20-21. His name means brother of foolishness, but his oracular wisdom was proverbial. David's prayer "turned his counsel" indeed into what his name indicated, "foolishness" (2Sa 15:31; Job 5:12-13; 1Co 1:20). Ahithophel was the mainspring of the rebellion. Absalom calculated on his adhesion from the first (2Sa 15:12); the history does not directly say why, but incidentally it comes out: he was father of Eliam (or by transposition Ammiel, 1Ch 3:5), the father of Bathsheba (2Sa 11:3; 23:34,39).
Uriah the Hittite and Eliam, being both of the king's guard (consisting of 37 officers), were intimate, and Uriah married the daughter of his brother officer. How natural Ahithophel's sense of wrong toward David, the murderer of his grandson by marriage and the corrupter of his granddaughter! The evident undesignedness of this coincidence confirms the veracity of the history. The people's loyalty too was naturally shaken toward one whose moral character they had ceased to respect. Ahithophel's proposal himself to pursue David that night with 12,000 men, and smite the king only, indicates the same personal hostility to David, deep sagacity and boldness. He failed from no want of shrewdness on his part, but from the folly of Absalom. His awful end shows that worldly wisdom apart from faith in God turns into suicidal madness (Isa 29:14). He was the type of Judas in his treachery and in his end. (See JUDAS.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it was answered again, that she was Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam and wife to Uriah the Hittite.
And it was answered again, that she was Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam and wife to Uriah the Hittite.
And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude.
And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude.
And one told David, saying, "Ahithophel is one of them that have conspired with Absalom." Then said David, "O LORD, turn the counsel of Ahithophel unto foolishness."
And one told David, saying, "Ahithophel is one of them that have conspired with Absalom." Then said David, "O LORD, turn the counsel of Ahithophel unto foolishness."
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of a Maachathite; Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite;
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of a Maachathite; Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite;
And these were born him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon: these four of Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel.
And these were born him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon: these four of Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel.
Which destroyeth the devices of the subtle, so that they are not able to perform the things that they take in hand;
Which destroyeth the devices of the subtle, so that they are not able to perform the things that they take in hand; which compasseth the wise in their own craftiness, and overthroweth the counsel of the wicked.
which compasseth the wise in their own craftiness, and overthroweth the counsel of the wicked.
Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted, who did also eat my bread, hath lift up his heel against me.
Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted, who did also eat my bread, hath lift up his heel against me.
If it were mine enemy that reviled me, I could bear it: or if one that ought me evil will did threaten me, I would hide myself from him.
If it were mine enemy that reviled me, I could bear it: or if one that ought me evil will did threaten me, I would hide myself from him. But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, and mine own familiar friend.
But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, and mine own familiar friend. We took sweet counsel together, and walked in the house of God as friends.
We took sweet counsel together, and walked in the house of God as friends.
Yea, they lay hands upon such as be at peace with him, and so they break his covenant.
Yea, they lay hands upon such as be at peace with him, and so they break his covenant. Their mouths are softer than butter, and yet have they battle in their mind: their words are smoother than oil, and yet be they very swords.
Their mouths are softer than butter, and yet have they battle in their mind: their words are smoother than oil, and yet be they very swords.
therefore will I also show unto this people a marvelous, terrible, and great thing - Namely this: I will destroy the wisdom of their wise, and the understanding of their learned men shall perish."
therefore will I also show unto this people a marvelous, terrible, and great thing - Namely this: I will destroy the wisdom of their wise, and the understanding of their learned men shall perish."
and by him to reconcile all things unto himself, and to set at peace by him through the blood of his cross both things in heaven and things in earth.
and by him to reconcile all things unto himself, and to set at peace by him through the blood of his cross both things in heaven and things in earth.
Hastings
David's counsellor (2Sa 15:12; 1Ch 27:33), whose advice was deemed infallible (2Sa 16:23). Being Bathsheba's grandfather, he had been alienated by David's criminal conduct (2Sa 11:3; 23:34), and readily joined Absalom (2Sa 15:12). Ahithophel advised the prince to take possession of the royal harem, thus declaring his father's deposition, and begged for a body of men with whom he might at once overtake and destroy the fugitive monarch (2Sa 17:1-3). Hushai thwarted this move (2Sa 17:11). Disgusted at the collapse of his influence, and foreseeing that this lack of enterprise meant the failure of the insurrection, Ahithophel withdrew, set his affairs in order, and hanged himself (2Sa 17:23).
J. Taylor.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it was answered again, that she was Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam and wife to Uriah the Hittite.
And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude.
And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude.
And the counsel of Ahithophel which he counseled in those days, was as a man had asked counsel of God: even so was all the counsel of Ahithophel, both unto David and also unto Absalom.
Then Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me choose out, I pray thee, twelve thousand men. And I will up and follow after David by night. And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will fear him, that all the people that are with him shall flee. And so will I smite the king only, read more. and will bring again all the people unto thee. And when all these men which thou seekest are turned to thee, all the people shall have rest."
But my counsel is, that all Israel be gathered unto thee, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand of the sea in number, and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and gat him home to his own house and to his own city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of a Maachathite; Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite;
Morish
Ahith'ophel
A Gilonite, grandfather of Bathsheba, and a very wise counsellor of David, of whom it is said that all his counsel was "as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God." He joined in the rebellion of Absalom, and advised him to go in publicly to David's concubines, and to let him make an immediate attack on David. The latter counsel not being followed, and a preference being given to the advice of Hushai, who was acting for David, Ahithophel returned to his house, set his household in order, and hanged himself. 2Sa 15:12-34; 16:15-23; 17:1-23; 23:34. He has generally been taken as foreshadowing Judas of the N.T.: cf. Ps 41:9; 55:12.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Absalom sent also for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, and fetched him out of his city Giloh, when he sacrificed sacrifices. And there was wrought strong treason. And the people drew to Absalom in great multitude. And there came a messenger to David and said, "The hearts of the men of Israel are to follow Absalom." read more. Then said David unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, "Up, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart; lest he come suddenly and catch us and bring some mischief upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword." And the king's servants said to him, "Behold, thy servants are ready to whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint." And the king and all his household departed afoot. And he left behind him ten wives that were his concubines, to keep the house. And so the king and all the people went out afoot and tarried far from the house. And all his servants went by his side. And all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites, and all the Hittites, even six hundred men which were come afoot from Gath, went before the king. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, "Wherefore shouldest thou go with us also? Return and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger and art removed from thine own place. Thou camest but yesterday, and should I unquiet thee today to go with us? I will go whither I go. But return thou and carry again thy brethren. Mercy and truth be with thee." And Ittai answered the king and said, "As surely as the LORD liveth, and as surely as my lord the king liveth: in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there will thy servant be." Then said the king to Ittai, "Come and go forward." And Ittai the Gittite went forth - and all his men, and all the children that were with him. And all the country wept with a loud voice. And all the people went forward the straight way to the wilderness. And behold, Zadok and all the Levites were with him and bare the ark of the covenant of God. And when they had fetched down the Ark of God, Abiathar came up, until the people were all come over, out of the city. Then said the king unto Zadok, "Carry the Ark of God again into the city. If I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and show me both it and the tabernacle thereof also. But and if the Lord thus say - 'I have no pleasure in thee' - behold, here am I, let him do with me what seemeth best in his eyes." The king said also unto Zadok the priest, "Thou art a seer; return therefore into the city in peace. And take your two sons with you: Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. And see, I will tarry in the fields of the wilderness until there come some word from you to be told me." And so Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God again to Jerusalem, and they tarried there. And David went up on Mount Olivet and wept as he went, and had his head covered and went thereto barefoot. And all the people that was with him, had every man his head covered, and as they went, wept also. And one told David, saying, "Ahithophel is one of them that have conspired with Absalom." Then said David, "O LORD, turn the counsel of Ahithophel unto foolishness." When David was come to the top of the mount and had bowed himself unto God: behold, Hushai the Archite came against him with his coat torn and earth upon his head. Unto whom David said, "If thou go with me thou shalt be a burden unto me. And if thou return to the city: then shalt thou say unto Absalom, 'I will be thy servant O king: thus long have I been thy father's servant, and now I am thine,' and destroy me the counsel of Ahithophel.
And Absalom and all the people of the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. And as soon as he was come, Hushai the Archite went unto Absalom and said unto him, "God save the king, God save the king." read more. And Absalom said again to Hushai, "Is this the kindness thou owest to thy friend? Why wentest thou not with him?" And Hushai said unto Absalom, "Nay, not so: but whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will I dwell. And furthermore, unto whom shall I do service but even to his son? And as I was servant before with thy father, even so shall I be with thee." Then spake Absalom to Ahithophel, "Give counsel what is best for us to do." And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Get thee in unto thy father's concubines which he hath left to keep the house. For when all Israel shall hear that thou hast made thy father to stink, then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong." And so they pitched Absalom a tent upon the top of the house. And he went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. And the counsel of Ahithophel which he counseled in those days, was as a man had asked counsel of God: even so was all the counsel of Ahithophel, both unto David and also unto Absalom.
Then Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me choose out, I pray thee, twelve thousand men. And I will up and follow after David by night. And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will fear him, that all the people that are with him shall flee. And so will I smite the king only, read more. and will bring again all the people unto thee. And when all these men which thou seekest are turned to thee, all the people shall have rest." And the saying pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel. Then said Absalom, "Call also Hushai the Archite and let us hear his sentence." When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him saying, "Ahithophel hath given such counsel: whether it be best we do after his saying, or not, tell thou." Then said Hushai to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. For," said Hushai, "thou knowest thy father and the men that are with him, how that they be strong men. And they be chafed in their minds, even as a bear robbed of her whelps. And thy father is a man practiced in war, and will not lie a nights among the common people. Behold, he lurketh now in some cave or in some other place. And thereto, though some of his men be overthrown at the first brunt, yet they that hear it will think the people that followeth Absalom be put to the worse. By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity. But my counsel is, that all Israel be gathered unto thee, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand of the sea in number, and that thou go to battle in thine own person. And we will come upon him in one place or other, where we shalt find him, and we will pitch a field against him, even as thick as the dew falleth on the ground. And there shall not one of them be left, neither he nor any of all that are with him. Moreover, if he take a town then shall all the men of Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one stone found upon another." And Absalom and all the men of Israel said that the counsel of Hushai the Archite was better than the counsel of Ahithophel - For it was even the LORD's determination to destroy the counsel of Ahithophel, which was good, that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. Then said Hushai unto Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Of this and that manner did Ahithophel and the elders of Israel counsel Absalom. And thus and thus have I counseled. Now therefore send quickly and show David, saying, 'Tarry not all night in the fields of the wilderness, but get thee over, lest the king be devoured and all the people that are with him.'" As for Jonathan and Ahimaaz, they stood by the well of Rogel, and a damsel went thither and told them. They went on their way and told King David, for they durst not be seen to come into the city. Nevertheless there was a lad saw them, which told it to Absalom. But they went both of them away quickly and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his yard, into which they went down. And the wife took and spread a coverlet on the top of the well and strawed thereon steeped barley to dry. And the thing was not spied. And when Absalom's servants came to the wife to the house and asked where one Ahimaaz and Jonathan were, the wife said unto them, "They be gone over the little brook of water." And when they had sought them and could not find them, then they returned to Jerusalem. And as soon as they were departed, the other came out of the well, and went and told King David and said unto him, "Up, and get you quickly over the water for such counsel hath Ahithophel given." Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they were come over Jordan by that it was day, that there lacked not one of them that was not come over Jordan. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and gat him home to his own house and to his own city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of a Maachathite; Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite;
Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted, who did also eat my bread, hath lift up his heel against me.
If it were mine enemy that reviled me, I could bear it: or if one that ought me evil will did threaten me, I would hide myself from him.
Smith
Ahith'ophel
(brother of foolishness), a native of Giloh, was a privy councillor of David, whose wisdom was highly esteemed, though his name had an exactly opposite signification.
(B.C. 1055-1023.) He was the grandfather of Bathsheba. Comp.
with 2Sam 23:34 Ahithophel joined the conspiracy of Absalom against David, and persuaded him to take possession of the royal harem,
and recommended an immediate pursuit of David. His advice was wise; but Hushai advised otherwise. When Ahithophel saw that Hushai's advice prevailed, he despaired of success, and returning to his own home "put his household in order and hanged himself."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it was answered again, that she was Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam and wife to Uriah the Hittite.
And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Get thee in unto thy father's concubines which he hath left to keep the house. For when all Israel shall hear that thou hast made thy father to stink, then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong."
And the counsel of Ahithophel which he counseled in those days, was as a man had asked counsel of God: even so was all the counsel of Ahithophel, both unto David and also unto Absalom.
Then Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me choose out, I pray thee, twelve thousand men. And I will up and follow after David by night. And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will fear him, that all the people that are with him shall flee. And so will I smite the king only, read more. and will bring again all the people unto thee. And when all these men which thou seekest are turned to thee, all the people shall have rest." And the saying pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel. Then said Absalom, "Call also Hushai the Archite and let us hear his sentence." When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him saying, "Ahithophel hath given such counsel: whether it be best we do after his saying, or not, tell thou." Then said Hushai to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. For," said Hushai, "thou knowest thy father and the men that are with him, how that they be strong men. And they be chafed in their minds, even as a bear robbed of her whelps. And thy father is a man practiced in war, and will not lie a nights among the common people. Behold, he lurketh now in some cave or in some other place. And thereto, though some of his men be overthrown at the first brunt, yet they that hear it will think the people that followeth Absalom be put to the worse. By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity. But my counsel is, that all Israel be gathered unto thee, from Dan to Beersheba, as the sand of the sea in number, and that thou go to battle in thine own person. And we will come upon him in one place or other, where we shalt find him, and we will pitch a field against him, even as thick as the dew falleth on the ground. And there shall not one of them be left, neither he nor any of all that are with him. Moreover, if he take a town then shall all the men of Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one stone found upon another." And Absalom and all the men of Israel said that the counsel of Hushai the Archite was better than the counsel of Ahithophel - For it was even the LORD's determination to destroy the counsel of Ahithophel, which was good, that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. Then said Hushai unto Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Of this and that manner did Ahithophel and the elders of Israel counsel Absalom. And thus and thus have I counseled. Now therefore send quickly and show David, saying, 'Tarry not all night in the fields of the wilderness, but get thee over, lest the king be devoured and all the people that are with him.'" As for Jonathan and Ahimaaz, they stood by the well of Rogel, and a damsel went thither and told them. They went on their way and told King David, for they durst not be seen to come into the city. Nevertheless there was a lad saw them, which told it to Absalom. But they went both of them away quickly and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his yard, into which they went down. And the wife took and spread a coverlet on the top of the well and strawed thereon steeped barley to dry. And the thing was not spied. And when Absalom's servants came to the wife to the house and asked where one Ahimaaz and Jonathan were, the wife said unto them, "They be gone over the little brook of water." And when they had sought them and could not find them, then they returned to Jerusalem. And as soon as they were departed, the other came out of the well, and went and told King David and said unto him, "Up, and get you quickly over the water for such counsel hath Ahithophel given." Then David arose and all the people that were with him, and they were come over Jordan by that it was day, that there lacked not one of them that was not come over Jordan. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass and arose and gat him home to his own house and to his own city, and put his household in order and hanged himself and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai the son of a Maachathite; Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite;
Watsons
AHITHOPHEL, a native of Giloh, who, after having been David's counsellor, joined in the rebellion of Absalom, and assisted him with his advice. Hushai, the friend of David, was employed to counteract the counsels of Ahithophel, and to deprive Absalom, under a pretence of serving him, of the advantage that was likely to result from the measures which he proposed. One of these measures was calculated to render David irreconcilable, and was immediately adopted; and the other to secure, or to slay him. Before the last counsel was followed, Hushai's advice was desired; and he recommended their assembling together the whole force of Israel, putting Absalom at their head, and overwhelming David by their number. The treacherous counsel of Hushai was preferred to that of Ahithophel; with which the latter being disgusted he hastened to his house at Giloh, where he put an end to his life. He probably foresaw Absalom's defeat, and dreaded the punishment which would be inflicted on himself as a traitor, when David was resettled on the throne, A.M. 2981. B.C. 1023. 2Sa 15:17.