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.
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David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. read more. We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God's house with company.
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).
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Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
Someone told David, saying, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David said, "Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." It happened that when David had come to the top [of the ascent], where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn, and earth on his head. read more. David said to him, "If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me; but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father's servant in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.' Don't you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? Therefore it shall be, that whatever thing you shall hear out of the king's house, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, and Jonathan, Abiathar's son; and by them you shall send to me everything that you shall hear." So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him shall flee. I will strike the king only; read more. and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace." The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says." When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, "Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up." Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good." Hushai said moreover, "You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, 'There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!' Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person. So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one. Moreover, if he be gone into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn't one small stone found there." Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom. Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, 'Don't 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.'" Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female 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 boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there. The woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and spread out bruised grain on it; and nothing was known. Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman said to them, "They have gone over the brook of water." When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. It happened, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, "Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you." Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. read more. We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God's house with company.
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.)
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David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
Someone told David, saying, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David said, "Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness."
Someone told David, saying, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David said, "Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness."
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel;
and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel;
He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands can't perform their enterprise.
He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands can't perform their enterprise. He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend.
But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God's house with company.
We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God's house with company.
He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden."
therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden."
and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
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.
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David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him shall flee. I will strike the king only; read more. and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace."
But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.
When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, 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.
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Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. A messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom." read more. David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, "Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword." The king's servants said to the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses." The king went forth, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. The king went forth, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak. All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. Return to your own place. Whereas you came but yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you." Ittai answered the king, and said, "As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall is, whether for death or for life, even there also will your servant be." David said to Ittai, "Go and pass over." Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him. All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. Behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people finished passing out of the city. The king said to Zadok, "Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation; but if he say thus, 'I have no delight in you;' behold, here am I. Let him do to me as seems good to him." The king said also to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me." Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem; and they stayed there. David went up by the ascent of the [Mount of] Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people who were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. Someone told David, saying, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David said, "Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." It happened that when David had come to the top [of the ascent], where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn, and earth on his head. David said to him, "If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me; but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father's servant in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.'
Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. It happened, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, had come to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, "Long live the king! Long live the king!" read more. Absalom said to Hushai, "Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn't you go with your friend?" Hushai said to Absalom, "No; but whoever Yahweh, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him I will stay. Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn't I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father's presence, so will I be in your presence." Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give your counsel what we shall do." Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Go in to your father's concubines, that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong." So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house; and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him shall flee. I will strike the king only; read more. and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace." The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says." When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, "Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up." Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good." Hushai said moreover, "You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, 'There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!' Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person. So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one. Moreover, if he be gone into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn't one small stone found there." Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom. Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, 'Don't 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.'" Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female 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 boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there. The woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and spread out bruised grain on it; and nothing was known. Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman said to them, "They have gone over the brook of water." When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. It happened, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, "Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you." Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden 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."
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David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Go in to your father's concubines, that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong."
The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him shall flee. I will strike the king only; read more. and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace." The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says." When Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, "Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up." Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good." Hushai said moreover, "You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, 'There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!' Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person. So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one. Moreover, if he be gone into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn't one small stone found there." Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom. Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, 'Don't 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.'" Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female 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 boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there. The woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and spread out bruised grain on it; and nothing was known. Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman said to them, "They have gone over the brook of water." When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem. It happened, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, "Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you." Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, 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.