2 Samuel 15:31

And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
told	הִגִּ֣יד hi.Gid	H5046	properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
David	וְדָוִד֙ ve.da.Vid	H1732	David · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Ahithophel	אֲחִיתֹ֥פֶל 'a.chi.To.fel	H302	Achithophel · proper noun, a man's name
conspirators	בַּקֹּשְׁרִ֖ים ba.ko.she.Rim	H7194	to tie · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Absalom	אַבְשָׁל֑וֹם 'av.sha.Lom	H53	Abshalom · proper noun, a man's name
David	דָּוִ֔ד da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD	יְהוָֽה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
counsel	עֲצַ֥ת 'a.Tzat	H6098	advice · noun, common feminine singular construct
Ahithophel	אֲחִיתֹ֖פֶל 'a.chi.To.fel	H302	Achithophel · proper noun, a man's name
foolishness	סַכֶּל sa.kel-	H5528	to be silly · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Samuel 17:14 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 app…
2 Samuel 17:23 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 pu…
Psalms 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
James 3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Job 5:12 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
2 Samuel 15:12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the consp…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 15:31–end

Nothing, it seems, appeared to David more threatening in Absalom's plot than that Ahithophel was in it; for one good head, in such a design, is worth a thousand good hands. Absalom was himself no politician, but he had got one entirely in his interest that was, and would be the more dangerous because he had been all along acquainted with David's counsels and affairs; if therefore he can be baffled, Absalom is as good as routed and the head of the conspiracy cut off. This David endeavours to do. I. By prayer. When he heard that Ahithophel was in the plot he lifted up his heart to God in this short prayer: Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness, Sa2 15:31. He had not opportunity…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 15:31

David said, Turn, O Lord, . . . the counsel of Ahithophel--this senator being the mainstay of the conspiracy.

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 15:31

Turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness - Ahithophel was a wise man, and well versed in state affairs; and God alone could confound his devices.

John Gill on 2 Samuel 15:31

And one told David,.... That came either from Hebron or from Jerusalem: Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom; Absalom sent for him, and it seems he came to him, and continued with him, see 2 Samuel 15:12, and David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness; either suffer him to give foolish counsel, or confound the schemes projected by him, and let them not be carried into execution; for God can, and sometimes does, disappoint crafty counsellors, that they cannot perform what they devise, but they are taken in their own craftiness, and their counsel is carried headlong, Job 5:12; this prayer was answered, 2 Samuel 17:14.

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 15:30-31

Ahithophel and Hushai. - Sa2 15:30, Sa2 15:31. When David was going by the height of the olive-trees, i.e., the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, with his head covered, and barefooted, as a sign of grief and mourning (see Est 6:12; Eze 24:17), and with the people who accompanied him also mourning, he received intelligence that Ahithophel (see at Sa2 15:12) was with Absalom, and among the conspirators. הגּיד ודוד gives no sense; for David cannot be the subject, because the next clause, "and David said," etc., contains most distinctly an expression of David's on receiving some information. Thenius would therefore alter הגּיד into the Hophal הגּד, whilst Ewald (131, a) would change it into ה…

The Church Fathers

Was it not by Absalom's own will that he chose to follow advice that proved detrimental to him, though he only did so because the Lord had heard his father's prayer to this effect?
— Augustine of Hippo, ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 20.41

Thus, then, the Lord knew how to bring to nothing the counsels of nations. We learned in the time of Ahithophel how he cast away the counsels of the princes, when David prayed, saying, "Infatuate the counsel of Ahithophel." Therefore, when you hear someone making great threats and announcing that he will bring upon you all sorts of ill treatment, losses, blows or death, look up to the Lord who brings to nothing the counsels of nations and rejects the devices of the people.
— Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 32.6

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ahimaaz — Brother of anger = irascible. (1.) The father Ahinoam, the wife of Saul (1 Sam. 14:50). (2.) The son and successor of Zadok in the office of high priest (1 Chr. 6:8, 53). On the occasion of the…
Ahithophel — 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 (2…
Prayer — Is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant, ejaculatory or…
Ahithophel · Joins Absalom — Joins Absalom
Zadok · Absalom’ s usurpation; returns with the ark of the covenant at David’ s command — Absalom’ s usurpation; returns with the ark of the covenant at David’ s command

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Samuel 15:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 15:31–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 15:31

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 15:31

John Gill on 2 Samuel 15:31

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 15:30-31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Samuel 15:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 15:31–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Samuel 15:31

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 15:31

John Gill on 2 Samuel 15:31

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 15:30-31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 15:31

Rashi on 2 Samuel 15:31