The Frustration of Wisdom: Wisdom, Counsel, and Divine Will in 2 Samuel 17:1-23

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) Centered on a son's attempted usurpation of his father's throne, the narrative of Absalom's rebellion in 2 Sam 15:1-19:5 involves issues of family dynamic and generational conflict, and thus thematically resonates with other ancient tales such as Enuma Elish, the Shahname, and the Greek myths of Oedipus and Zeus. In these stories, the vigorous, younger sons attempt, usually forcibly and successfully, to take the throne of their aged, otiose fathers. In this enterprise, fate, which neither participant can escape, is usually on the side of the young aspirant. The inevitable defeat of the father, though foretold, is rarely avoided.1 Interestingly, in contrast to these other myths, the narrative of Absalom's rebellion does not conclude with the victory of the young challenger. Instead, Absalom is summarily defeated and killed, and David reinstated as king. Indeed, the closest to the idea of fate that we have in the Hebrew Bible, divine will, actually favors and predestines the triumph of David over Absalom (2 Sam 17:14). That the outcome skews from the expected, that David and not Absalom survives, whether historically accurate or not, literarily speaking, conveys interesting and complex statements about fate, or God's will. These subtle, intricate messages concerning divine will are evident in the story of the dueling counselors in 2 Sam 17:1-12, the focus of this paper. This story, which acts as the preamble to the defeat of Absalom during his rebellion against his father, David, dramatically illustrates the power of language, especially as it intersects and interacts with the planned will of God. In this article, I will argue that a careful analysis of the language of 2 Sam 17:1-23 reveals deeper theological meanings and struggles; this story not only wrestles with the nature of proper advice giving but also questions the nature of wisdom, divine will, and human volition. I. Summary and Thesis This story initially appears simple: Hushai, a longtime advisor of David, agrees to enter as a spy into Absalom's camp (2 Sam 15:32-37). Absalom, at this point, is guided by Ahithophel, his father's old advisor and Bathsheba's grandfather (2 Sam 11:3; 23:34), who shrewdly advises him, first, to sleep with David's concubines (2 Sam 16:22-23), thereby irrevocably terminating Absalom's relationship with his father, and then quickly to pursue and kill David (2 Sam 17:1-3). Hushai, David's spy counselor, now enters the scene and advises Absalom to wait until a large troop can be gathered to attack, thereby giving David time to escape. Hushai's eloquent advice is favored over Ahithophel's succinct, rather flavorless counsel, and Absalom is summarily defeated. Hushai's advice thus precipitates Absalom's downfall. The narrator adds a theological twist to this tale, first, by having David pray for the frustration of Ahithophel's advice (2 Sam 17:31), and then by presenting Yahweh's affirmative answer to his prayer in 2 Sam 17:14: "The Lord had decreed that Ahithophel's sound advice be nullified, in order that the Lord might bring ruin upon Absalom."2 While this story, which comes at an important juncture in the larger narrative of Absalom's rebellion, immediately preceding the fall of Absalom, appears straightforward and simple, a careful analysis of the language of 2 Sam 17:1-23 reveals deeper theological complexities and struggles. These deeper struggles are reflected in the subtle usage of language, an element that has generally escaped detection by biblical scholars. While scholars have noted the beauty of Hushai's advice-a "masterpiece of oriental eloquence,"3 and an "example of highly cultivated rhetoric, of a precious use of language"4-in contrast to the straightforward speech of Ahithophel, few scholars have fully elucidated the significance of the speeches' stylistic differences. Indeed, only Shimon Bar-Efrat and J. P. Fokkelman have done a thorough examination of the rhetorical aspects of the two counsels. …