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2 Samuel 17:1. I will arise and pursue after David — It seems he was a soldier as well as a counsellor. Or, at least, he thought his counsel so sure of being successful that he offered himself to put it in execution. He was probably afraid, also, that if Absalom should command the men himself, natural affection might prevail with him to spare his father, and not take away his life; or, perhaps, even work an agreement between them, and so leave him in danger of being called to account for his rebellion.

2 Samuel 17:2-3. I will come upon him while he is weary — Before he has had time to breathe from the fatigues he has just gone through; and weak- handed — Before he has collected more forces. I will make him afraid — Strike a terror into him by this sudden attack, made in the night, when he is ill-provided. I will smite the king only — And proclaim pardon to all the rest. And I will bring back all the people — By this means I shall easily bring over their allegiance to thee. The man whom thou seekest is as if they all returned — The killing of David will effectually end the contest, and the whole nation will come in to thee, there being no other to whom they will submit, he being dead. So all the people shall be in peace — The single circumstance of taking and killing him will restore peace, and preserve both the people who are with thee, and those that are with David. They shall all be saved, and he alone destroyed. “The attentive reader will easily perceive that this advice well justifies the character given of Ahithophel in the Scripture; it was, in its several parts, admirably fitted both to the inclinations and interests of his pupil; he consigned him to his pleasures, and took all the danger to himself; and at the same time he relieved his little remains of humanity (if he had any) from the necessity of imbruing his hands in his father’s blood. His incest was, for the present, personal guilt enough; that act of outrage would make Abslom’s reconciliation with his father desperate; and while he indulged his evil appetite, Ahithophel, with a chosen band, would pursue and surprise David. Nothing could be more worldly wise, or more hellishly wicked; it was indeed, as the advice of an oracle, but very different from that dictated by the Spirit of God; and yet, horrid as it was, it pleased that vile son and his associates.” — Delaney.

2 Samuel 17:4. The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel — That such a wretch as Absalom should aim at his father’s throat is not strange. But that the body of the people, to whom David had been so great a blessing, should join with him in it, is amazing. But the finger of God was in it. Let not the best of parents, or the best of princes, think it strange if they are injured by those who should be their support and joy, when they (like David) have provoked God to turn against them.

2 Samuel 17:5. Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai — A wonderful effect of Divine Providence, influencing his heart, that he could not rest in Ahithophel’s counsel, though it was so evidently wise, and approved by the general consent of his whole party; and that he should desire Hushai’s advice, though neither his reputation for wisdom was equal to Ahithophel’s, nor had he yet given any one proof of his fidelity to Absalom. But there is no contending with that God who can arm a man against himself, and destroy him by his own mistakes and passions.

2 Samuel 17:7-8. The counsel of Ahithophel is not good at this time — Though he generally gives most wise and admirable counsel, yet he seems now to be under a mistake, and not sufficiently to consider all the present circumstances of this business. Thou knowest thy father and his men — Hushai, setting himself to oppose all the articles of Ahithophel’s advice, some openly, and others covertly, begins with giving a lively and dreadful description of the enemies Absalom had to deal with. That they be all mighty men — Of approved courage and strength, and not so easily vanquished as Ahithophel supposes. At all times they are terrible to the bravest foes, but much more so at this time; when they are chafed in their minds — Hebrew, bitter of soul, inflamed with rage; desperate, and therefore resolved to sell their lives at a dear rate. Being driven from their families, they are as so many enraged bears robbed of their whelps in the field — In the first furious efforts of their rage they will not fail to strike a terror into their assailants, and the panic will be easily diffused through the rest of the pursuing army, and will intimidate the bravest of them. Thy father is a man of war — A wise as well as brave prince and general, who, knowing of what importance it is to secure his person, and that your chief design is against his life, will, doubtless, use extraordinary care to keep out of your reach, which he may easily do.

2 Samuel 17:9-10. Behold, he is now hid in some pit — Having been often accustomed to that course, and well acquainted with all hiding-places from Saul’s time. In one of them, unknown to us, he will lurk with some of his chosen men, and lie in ambush for us; and when they see a fit opportunity, they will suddenly come forth and surprise some of our men, when they least expect it, and probably at first put them to flight. When some of them be overthrown — Namely, of Absalom’s men sent against David. At the first — Implying, that their good success at first would mightily animate David’s men to proceed vigorously in the fight, and intimidate Absalom’s army, and consequently would be both a presage and an occasion of their total defeat. Whosoever heareth it will say, &c. — They who first hear these ill tidings will propagate them, and strike terror with them into the rest of the army, whose fear will make them think the slaughter greater than it is. He also that is valiant shall utterly melt — For men, even the most valiant, are apt to form conjectures of the final issue by the beginning; and it is a great encouragement to men to fight, when they prosper at the first onset, and a great discouragement when they are worsted. All Israel knoweth that thy father is a valiant man, &c. — The known fame of the prodigious valour of thy father and his followers will easily gain credit to the report of their being victorious, and strike the stoutest of our men with dread, even Ahithophel himself, if he should go with them.

2 Samuel 17:11. Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee — As Ahithophel proposed all imaginable advantage to the evil cause he was engaged in, from expedition, upon the principle mentioned by Tacitus, that nothing determines civil discords so happily as despatch, Hushai, on the contrary, laid himself out to protract and to delay. His design was to gain David more time, that he might increase his army and make better preparation for the battle; and that the present heat of the people for Absalom might be cooled, and they might at last bethink themselves of their duty to David, and return to their former allegiance. For delay, as the same Tacitus observes, gives ill men time to repent, and the good to unite; with a view, therefore, to gain this delay, his advice to Absalom was, that he should wait till he had collected a far larger and more complete army. That all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba — An army made up of the bravest men of all the tribes, to which every thing must yield; and thereby to make sure though slow work. And that thou go to battle in thine own person — Intimating that his presence would put life and courage into his soldiers, who would be ambitious to show their skill and courage in defending his person, when they knew that all their actions were observed by him, who had the distribution of rewards and punishments in his hands; and intimating that the glory of the victory belonged to him alone, and that no body should pretend to rob him of it. “And whereas it was urged by Ahithophel, that he would smite the king only, as if all Absalom’s ends were to be attained by his death, Hushai intimates that the death of competitors was as necessary as that of the king, at least, the death of him who was divinely designed for the throne. And, therefore, he adds, that they should come upon David, where he could not be concealed, and whence he could not escape, nor any one of those that were with him.”

2 Samuel 17:12. We will light upon him as the dew falleth upon the ground — Plenteously, suddenly, irresistibly, and on all sides; for so the dew falls. This is very beautiful and expressive. “The dew in Palestine, as in several other climates, falls fast and sudden; and is therefore an apt emblem of an active and expeditious soldiery. And it was, perhaps, for this reason that the Romans called their light armed forces, rorarii. The dew falls upon every spot of the earth; not a blade of grass escapes it. A numerous army resembles it in this respect; it is able to search everywhere.” — Delaney.