2 Samuel 17
2 Samuel 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to  1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon' (1 Kings 2:46). Text. This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 29 verses. Textual witnesses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSam; 100–50 BCE ) with extant verses 2–3, 23–25, 29. Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; formula_1; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; formula_1; 5th century). Analysis. The story of Absalom's rebellion can be observed as five consecutive episodes: God's role seems to be understated in the whole events, but is disclosed by a seemingly insignificant detail: 'the crossing of the Jordan river'. The Hebrew root word"' 'br", "to cross" (in various nominal and verbal forms) is used more than 30 times  in these chapters (compared to 20 times in the rest of 2 Samuel) to report David's flight from Jerusalem, his crossing of the Jordan river, and his reentry into Jerusalem. In 2 Samuel 17:16, stating that David should cross the Jordan (17:16), the verb" 'br" is even reinforced by a 'Hebrew infinitive absolute' to mark this critical moment: "king David is about to cross out of the land of Israel." David's future was in doubt until it was stated that God had rendered foolish Ahithophel's good counsel to Absalom (2 Samuel 17:14), thus granting David's prayer  (15:31), and saving David from Absalom's further actions. Once Absalom was defeated, David's crossing back over the Jordan echoes the Israelites' first crossing over the Jordan under Joshua's leadership (Joshua 1–4): Here God's role is not as explicit as during Joshua's crossing, but the signs are clear that God was with David, just as with Joshua. Hushai countered Ahitophel's advice (17:1–14). The previous section (2 Samuel 16:15–23) and this passage, comprising 2 Samuel 17:1–14, about Absalom ans his two advisors (Ahitophel and Hushai) together have the following structure: This section records the contest between  Hushai and Ahitophel to provide acceptable advice for Absalom, which was pivotal in the story of Absalom's rebellion. This was prepared by the task given by David to Hushai, that Hushai was to 'defeat... the counsel of Ahithophel' (15:34) and the conversations involving Hushai and the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar (15:24–29, 32–37), in contrast to the respectful introductions to Ahitophel and his counsel (15:12; 16:20–23). Ahithophel advised Absalom to take action against David quickly: a sudden night attack on David's weary companions, with swift action and minimal loss of life to kill David alone and return all  other fugitives to Jerusalem, as 'a young wife returns to her husband after a brief quarrel' (reading verse 30 in the Septuagint, rather than the Masoretic Text). For an unspecified reason Absalom wished to consult Hushai, who then made made full use of his persuasive powers in colorful words (verses 8–13) to counter Ahitophel's advice and buy time for David to regroup, using 3 arguments: Hushai's eloquent reasoning managed to impress Absalom and his advisers more than Ahitophel's counsel, which is emphasized in verse 14 to be YHWH's will as the decisive factor. Hushai's warning  saved David (17:15–29). Hushai left Absalom's council right after giving his counsel before Absalom announced the final decision. He quickly sent a message to David to cross the Jordan immediately (verse 16) avoiding the possibility of a sudden attack as recommended by Ahithophel. Despite being spotted by Absalom's servants, the messengers, involving the sons of Abiathar (Jonathan) and Zadok (Ahimaaz)) with the help of a girl informant, successfully transmitted the message to David who then safely crossed the Jordan River with his followers. Three pieces of supplemental information are included in verses 23–29:.