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

2 And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:

3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith.

6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou.

7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.

8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.

9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

10 And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.

11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.

13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.

15 Then said Hushai unto 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.

16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.

18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.

19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

20 And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

22 Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.

25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.

26 So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead.

27 And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

28 Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

<html><b>When they all return [to you].</b> To you. <b>[Except] the man you want.</b> You will do what you want with him and you will have him killed. And afterwords, all the people will have peace. This is a shortened verse.¹<i class=“footnote”>Missing the words that Rashi adds here to make sense of the words.</i></html>

<html><b>And in the eyes of all of the elders of Yisroel.</b> Wicked elders.</html>

<html><b>Your father is a man of war.</b> He knows the concepts of war, its strategy and the nature of someone setting a trap. He is sure you will run after him tonight to get to him therefore he will not rest with the other people.</html>

<html><b>Now, he is hiding.</b> When you reach the encampment of the people with him, he will not be there for us to kill. <b>When some of the men fall at the beginning [of their battles].</b> I told you that his men are strong and embittered souls and if they kill some of your people that will [mean] a defeat in this battle which is the first. A person will hear, [i.e., a person] from among all of Yisroel who come to join you, and will say, There was a disaster amongst Avsholom's people'.</html>

<html><b>Even if he is a soldier.</b> That person who hears [about the disaster] even if he is a soldier and his heart is like that of a lion his heart will surely melt in fear and trepidation. And he will no longer join you because he will say, “He [Avsholom] has already started to fall and he is being punished for [what he did to] his father and he will not succeed.</html>

<html><b>But I advise [as follows:]</b> Because this is my advice. <b>And you yourself should go to war.</b> At the head. [Yonoson translates:] “And then you should go at the head of everybody.”</html>

<html><b>And we will encamp upon him.</b> We will encamp upon him language [denoting] camping as [we find], “It camped within the entire boorder of Mitzraim”²<i class=“footnote”>Shemos 10:14.</i> [and] “Arom has camped opposite Ephraim.”³<i class=“footnote”>Yeshayohu 7:2.</i></html>

<html><b>In groups.</b> [Yonoson translates:] “Groups” as [we find], “A group of prophets.”⁴<i class=“footnote”>Shmuel I 10:5.</i> [and] “Groups of evildoers.”⁵<i class=“footnote”>Tehilim 119:61.</i> <b>Into the valley [below].</b> We will drag the city wall into the valley.</html>

<html><b>Cross over it.</b> The Yardein. <b>Because [my suggestion] may be rejected by the king.</b> That I did not advise him well and [instead] he will proceed according to the advice of Achitophel. <b>Rejected.</b> He will be told secretely and by a concealed method.</html>

<html><b>By the launderers' fountain.</b> [Yonason translates:] “By the launderers' fountain.” Launderers of woolen garments that bring them [the garments] there by kicking them with [their] foot.</html>

<html><b>The curtain.</b> Curtain. <b>Ground wheat.</b> Ground wheat as [we find], “Among the ground wheat.”⁶<i class=“footnote”>Mishlei 27:22.</i></html>

<html><b>Stream of water.</b> I do not know the translation of this word <span>מִיכַל</span>. In the Machberes⁷<i class=“footnote”>Notebook written by Menachem (one of the Rishonim).</i> [under the entry] <span>כַּל</span> [he writes] that its translation is according to the context. [Here] its as [if to say] streaming water of the river.</html>

<html><b>The daughter of Nochosh.</b> This is Yeshai, Dovid's father. Our Rabbis said that [Yeshai] died without sin [but only] because of the serpent's counsel.⁸<i class=“footnote”>Baba Besra 16. The serpent in the Gan Fden who suggested to Chavah to eat from the Tree of knowledge. That sin brought death into the world. That is why Yeshai died because he had no sin of his own to merit death.</i></html>

<html><b>Shovi, the son of Nochosh.</b> He is Chonun, the son of Nochosh.⁹<i class=“footnote”>Mentioned earlier in 10:1.</i></html>

<html><b>Mats.</b> Mats. <b>Utensils.</b> They are utensils for practical use. as [we find], “Silver utensils.”¹⁰<i class=“footnote”>Melochim II, 12:14.</i> <b>Toasted grain.</b> Types of toasted foods Our Rabbis said Barzilai brought two types of porridge to Dovid, one made of wheat and one made of lentils as described here flour and <span>קָלִי</span>, this one was made from wheat. Beans, lentils and <span>קָלִי</span> [this one] was made from types of beans.¹¹<i class=“footnote”>The word <span>קָלִי</span> appears twice in this verse. The first <span>קָלִי</span> written after <span>קֶמַח</span> refers to a porridge made from grain. The second <span>קָלִי</span> written after <span>עֲדָשִׁים</span> refers to a porridge made from lentils.</i> They used to dry them in ovens [having been put in] while they were [still] moist, they [thus] were permenantly sweet [then] they ground them and made from them a food that was called “porridge.”</html>

<html><b>And cow's cheese.</b> [Yonoson translates:] “And cheese made from milk.”</html>