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Nach YomiII Samuel · שמואל ב׳Chapter 16

II Samuel 16

שמואל ב׳ פרק ט״ז

Section: נביאים · נביאים ראשונים | Book: II Samuel | Chapter: 16 of 24 | Day: 92 of 742

Date: May 14, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 16 unfolds in four sharply etched scenes that, taken together, constitute one of the most theologically dense passages in the David narrative. The fleeing king meets Tziva and is slandered into a hasty judgment; the same king, only verses later, absorbs Shimi’s curses with breathtaking equanimity; the usurping son enters Yerushalayim and is greeted by a planted spy whose loyalty formula is a masterpiece of double meaning; and the chapter closes with Aḥitofel issuing the counsel that will publicly fulfill Natan’s prophecy of chapter 12. Each scene is a study in language under pressure — in slander, curse, deception, and counsel — and the chapter’s deeper subject is how a man can read divine speech in the human voices arrayed against him.

The opening Tziva episode (vv. 1-4) is, on its surface, an act of generous timing. Tziva intercepts the exhausted royal cohort just past the summit of the Mount of Olives with a pair of saddled donkeys, two hundred loaves, a hundred raisin cakes, a hundred fig cakes (Rashi and Radak gloss קַיִץ as pressed dried figs), and a jar of wine. But his answer to David’s pointed question וְאַיֵּה בֶּן־אֲדֹנֶיךָ (‘and where is your master’s son?’) is a slander: Mefivoshet, he claims, has stayed in Yerushalayim hoping the House of Israel will return to him ‘the kingdom of my father’ (v. 3). Metzudat David supplies the manipulative logic Tziva is putting in Mefivoshet’s mouth — with David’s own son rising against him, the people will surely tire of David’s house and remember Shaul’s. David’s reaction is immediate and total: הִנֵּה לְךָ כֹּל אֲשֶׁר לִמְפִיבֹשֶׁת — everything is yours. Read in light of chapter 19, where Mefivoshet appears unkempt with a very different account, the moment is morally fraught. David is exhausted, ascending the mountain in tears, and he passes a sweeping verdict on the testimony of one interested party. The Sages and later authorities will see this as a hasty judgment under duress, partially undone in chapter 19 when David splits the estate — a quiet admission that the original ruling overshot its evidence.

The Shimi episode that follows (vv. 5-14) is the chapter’s theological heart. A Benjaminite kinsman of Shaul’s house emerges from Bachurim hurling stones, dust, and the most savage labels in the Hebrew Bible’s lexicon — אִישׁ הַדָּמִים and אִישׁ הַבְּלִיָּעַל — accusing David of having taken the blood of the house of Shaul (Radak names the suspicions: the death of Ish Boshet and the death of Avner). Avishai’s response is brittle and military: לָמָּה יְקַלֵּל הַכֶּלֶב הַמֵּת הַזֶּה אֶת אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ — let me cross over and remove his head. David’s refusal is one of his greatest moments. מַה לִּי וְלָכֶם בְּנֵי צְרֻיָה, he says, and then — כִּי ה׳ אָמַר לוֹ קַלֵּל אֶת דָּוִד. Rashi enlarges the line magnificently: is it conceivable that a man like Shimi, whom Rashi identifies as a head of the Sanhedrin, would dare to curse the king if not by divine command? Radak softens the metaphysics — the Lord stirred his spirit as a punishment for my sin — but the point is the same. David refuses to read Shimi’s voice horizontally as the slur of a partisan; he reads it vertically, as the rough instrument of providence. The verse that crowns the speech, אוּלַי יִרְאֶה ה׳ בְּעֵינִי וְהֵשִׁיב ה׳ לִי טוֹבָה תַּחַת קִלְלָתוֹ הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה (v. 12), is among the most moving in all of Tanakh; Rashi reads בְּעֵינִי as דִּמְעַת עֵינִי, the tears of my eye, while the kethiv בעוני and the ancient versions point to suffering. Either way, David has converted insult into atonement, viewing the curses as the working out of Natan’s words from chapter 12. Shimi’s accusation that ‘the Lord has returned upon you all the blood of the house of Shaul’ is a private, painful counterpart to the public fulfillment that will close the chapter.

The third movement (vv. 15-19) shifts to Yerushalayim, where Avshalom and Aḥitofel arrive with the men of Israel. Hushai the Archite, David’s planted agent, greets the prince with the doubled royal acclamation יְחִי הַמֶּלֶךְ! יְחִי הַמֶּלֶךְ! — and the doubling is the trick. The classical commentators read the formula as a calculated equivocation: each shout can be heard as cheering Avshalom and as praying for David. When Avshalom challenges his apparent disloyalty — זֶה חַסְדְּךָ אֶת רֵעֶךָ — Hushai answers in a sentence of luminous ambiguity. He will be loyal ‘to the one whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen’ (v. 18); Metzudat David lets the ambiguity stand by paraphrasing Hushai’s claim that his attachment to David was always for the throne, not the man. Verse 19 deepens the trap: לְמִי אֲנִי אֶעֱבֹד הֲלוֹא לִפְנֵי בְנוֹ, ‘before whose son if not his?’ — a phrase Avshalom reads as a tribute to filial succession but which the audience hears as a private oath to David himself. The whole scene is a dramatic counterweight to Shimi: where Shimi cursed truthfully (in the sense that his words contained an authentic divine charge), Hushai praises deceptively (in the sense that his words conceal his loyalty), and both serve God’s purpose.

The fourth scene (vv. 20-23) is the chapter’s prophetic punctuation. Aḥitofel, whose counsel the narrator famously rates as if a man had inquired of the word of God, advises Avshalom to publicly cohabit with David’s ten concubines on the rooftop of the palace. The political logic, sharpened by Rashi and Metzudat David, is that the supporters’ hands are still slack — they fear an eventual reconciliation between father and son — and only an act so unforgivable will harden them into commitment. The theological logic is older and more terrible: this is the precise fulfillment of Natan’s prophecy in chapter 12, ‘I will give your wives to your neighbor in your sight… before this sun.’ The very rooftop from which David first saw Bat Sheva becomes the rooftop on which his ten concubines are publicly violated, and the same word לְעֵינֵי that signaled David’s secret sin now signals its open punishment. Radak’s note — that even this counsel was technically sound, ‘and would have killed David had not God ordered it broken’ — prepares the chapter’s hinge into chapter 17, where Hushai’s voice will overturn Aḥitofel’s oracle and the sage of Gilo will go home to hang himself.

פרק ט״ז · Chapter 16

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וְדָוִ֗ד עָבַ֤ר מְעַט֙ מֵֽהָרֹ֔אשׁ וְהִנֵּ֥ה צִיבָ֛א נַ֥עַר מְפִיב��֖שֶׁת לִקְרָאת֑וֹ וְצֶ֨מֶד חֲמֹרִ֜ים חֲבֻשִׁ֗ים וַעֲלֵיהֶם֩ מָאתַ֨יִם לֶ֜חֶם וּמֵאָ֧ה צִמּוּקִ֛ים וּמֵ֥אָה קַ֖יִץ וְנֵ֥בֶל יָֽיִן׃

English:

David had passed a little beyond the summit when Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth came toward him with a pair of saddled donkeys carrying two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred cakes of raisin, one hundred cakes of figs,afigs Lit. “summer fruit.” and a jar of wine.

Just past the crest of the Mount of Olives (Metzudat David identifies 'the summit' as Har HaZeitim), David is met by Tziva, Mefivoshet's servant, bearing a remarkably calculated gift: saddled donkeys, bread, raisin and fig cakes, and wine. The provisions seem to be exactly what an exiled king and his retinue need, and the abundance signals that Tziva has come prepared not merely to comfort but to position himself. The very lavishness of the offering sets the stage for the slander that follows.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וּמֵאָה קַיִץ. (תרגום:) ״וּמְאָה מְנָן דְּבֵילְתָּא״:
One hundred portions of dried figs. Yonoson translates: "One hundred portions of dried figs."

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֧אמֶר הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אֶל־צִיבָ֖א מָה־אֵ֣לֶּה לָּ֑ךְ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר צִ֠יבָ֠א הַחֲמוֹרִ֨ים לְבֵית־הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ לִרְכֹּ֗ב (ולהלחם) [וְהַלֶּ֤חֶם] וְהַקַּ֙יִץ֙ לֶאֱכ֣וֹל הַנְּעָרִ֔ים וְהַיַּ֕יִן לִשְׁתּ֥וֹת הַיָּעֵ֖ף בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃

English:

The king asked Ziba, “What are you doing with these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for Your Majesty’s family to ride on, the bread and figs are for the attendants to eat, and the wine is to be drunk by any who are exhausted in the wilderness.”

David asks what the provisions are for, and Tziva carefully apportions them: donkeys for the royal household, food for the young attendants, wine for those exhausted in the wilderness. Radak observes that the king's wives needed mounts because they had fled in such haste they took no transport, recalling David's earlier urgent command to flee. Tziva's display of solicitude is deliberate — by appearing as the indispensable provider in David's hour of need, he prepares the ground to claim Mefivoshet's estate.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְאַיֵּ֖ה בֶּן־אֲדֹנֶ֑יךָ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר צִיבָ֜א אֶל־הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ הִנֵּה֙ יוֹשֵׁ֣ב בִּירוּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר הַיּ֗וֹם יָשִׁ֤יבוּ לִי֙ בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֖ת מַמְלְכ֥וּת אָבִֽי׃

English:

“And where is your master’s son?” the king asked. “He is staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied to the king, “for he thinks that the House of Israel will now give him back the throne of his grandfather.”

David asks after Mefivoshet ('your master's son'), and Tziva delivers his slander: Mefivoshet remained in Jerusalem hoping to be restored to Shaul's throne. Metzudat David fleshes out the alleged reasoning Tziva attributes to Mefivoshet — seeing the chaos in David's house, with brother killing brother and son rising against father (calamities that never befell Shaul's family), Mefivoshet supposedly concluded the people would now return the kingship to its original line. The accusation is a perfectly timed knife in David's back: at the moment of his deepest vulnerability, the grandson of Shaul whom he had taken in as a son is portrayed as conspiring against him.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ לְצִבָ֔א הִנֵּ֣ה לְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר לִמְפִיבֹ֑שֶׁת וַיֹּ֤אמֶר צִיבָא֙ הִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֵ֔יתִי אֶ��ְצָא־חֵ֥ן בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָ אֲדֹנִ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

The king said to Ziba, “Then all that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” And Ziba replied, “I bow low. Your Majesty is most gracious to me.”

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וּבָ֛א הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ דָּוִ֖ד עַד־בַּחוּרִ֑ים וְהִנֵּ֣ה מִשָּׁם֩ אִ֨ישׁ יוֹצֵ֜א מִמִּשְׁפַּ֣חַת בֵּית־שָׁא֗וּל וּשְׁמוֹ֙ שִׁמְעִ֣י בֶן־גֵּרָ֔א יֹצֵ֥א יָצ֖וֹא וּמְקַלֵּֽל׃

English:

As King David was approaching Bahurim, a member of Saul’s clan—a man named Shimei son of Gera—came out from there, hurling insults as he came.

As David nears Bachurim — a Benjaminite town that Radak identifies with Almavet — a kinsman of Shaul named Shimi ben Gera comes out cursing the fleeing king. The setting is loaded: David is now passing through Shaul's tribal heartland, where old loyalties never truly accepted his kingship. The doubled verb 'יֹצֵא יָצוֹא' (going out and going) suggests Shimi keeps emerging to curse him, transforming a single insult into a sustained public assault.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַיְסַקֵּ֤ל בָּֽאֲבָנִים֙ אֶת־דָּוִ֔ד וְאֶת־כׇּל־עַבְדֵ֖י הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ דָּוִ֑ד וְכׇל־הָעָם֙ וְכׇל־הַגִּבֹּרִ֔ים מִימִינ֖וֹ וּמִשְּׂמֹאלֽוֹ׃

English:

He threw stones at David and all King David’s courtiers, while all the troops and all the warriors were at his right and his left.

Shimi escalates from words to violence, hurling stones at David and his servants while the king's warriors flank him on both sides. Radak emphasizes the audacity: Shimi pelts the entire royal company with stones even though armed gibborim stand at David's right and left, men who could cut him down in an instant. The image starkly captures David's humiliation — a single Benjaminite is permitted to stone the anointed king of Israel, and David's mighty men do nothing because David himself restrains them.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וְכֹה־אָמַ֥ר שִׁמְעִ֖י בְּקַֽלְל֑וֹ צֵ֥א צֵ֛א אִ֥ישׁ הַדָּמִ֖ים וְאִ֥ישׁ הַבְּלִיָּֽעַל׃

English:

And these are the insults that Shimei hurled: “Get out, get out, you criminal, you villain!

Shimi's curse takes shape: 'Get out, get out, man of bloodshed (איש הדמים) and worthless man (איש הבליעל)!' Metzudat David explains the demand to 'leave your kingship' as accusing David of having engineered the deaths of Avner and Ish-Boshet to clear his path to the throne. Radak (citing Targum Yonatan) renders 'איש הדמים' as 'a man deserving of death.' This is the deepest cut: not a generic insult but the specific accusation that David's whole kingship rests on murdered Saulide blood.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

הֵשִׁיב֩ עָלֶ֨יךָ יְהֹוָ֜ה כֹּ֣ל ׀ דְּמֵ֣י בֵית־שָׁא֗וּל אֲשֶׁ֤ר מָלַ֙כְתָּ֙ תַּחְתָּ֔ו וַיִּתֵּ֤ן יְהֹוָה֙ אֶת־הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה בְּיַ֖ד אַבְשָׁל֣וֹם בְּנֶ֑ךָ וְהִנְּךָ֙ בְּרָ֣עָתֶ֔ךָ כִּ֛י אִ֥ישׁ דָּמִ֖ים אָֽתָּה׃

English:

GOD is paying you back for all your crimes against the family of Saul, whose throne you seized. GOD is handing over the throne to your son Absalom; you are in trouble because you are a criminal!”

Shimi's curse becomes a theological indictment: Hashem has returned upon David all the blood of Shaul's house, transferring the kingship to Avshalom as just retribution. Metzudat David glosses 'דמי בית שאול' as the punishment for Ish-Boshet's death, which Shimi attributes to David's counsel. The accusation weaponizes Avshalom's revolt — Shimi reads David's current crisis as theodicy, the proof that God himself agrees with the Benjaminite verdict on David's blood-guilt.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲבִישַׁ֤י בֶּן־צְרוּיָה֙ אֶל־הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לָ֣מָּה יְקַלֵּ֞ל הַכֶּ֤לֶב הַמֵּת֙ הַזֶּ֔ה אֶת־אֲדֹנִ֖י הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ אֶעְבְּרָה־נָּ֖א וְאָסִ֥ירָה אֶת־רֹאשֽׁוֹ׃ {ס}        

English:

Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why let that dead dog abuse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

Avishai ben Tzeruyah, David's nephew and one of his fiercest warriors, erupts in fury — calling Shimi a 'dead dog' and demanding permission to cross over and remove his head. Metzudat David hears in Avishai's protest the implicit retort: 'as if you killed Shaul and his sons!' The request crystallizes the political logic any normal king would follow: a public curser of the anointed monarch is a capital case, and silence here will embolden every other Benjaminite. David's response in the next verses will show why he is no normal king.

פסוק י״ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ מַה־לִּ֥י וְלָכֶ֖ם בְּנֵ֣י צְרֻיָ֑ה (כי) [כֹּ֣ה] יְקַלֵּ֗ל (וכי) [כִּ֤י] יְהֹוָה֙ אָ֤מַר לוֹ֙ קַלֵּ֣ל אֶת־דָּוִ֔ד וּמִ֣י יֹאמַ֔ר מַדּ֖וּעַ עָשִׂ֥יתָה כֵּֽן׃ {ס}        

English:

But the king said, “What has this to do with you,bWhat has this to do with you Lit. “What have I and you.” you sons of Zeruiah? He is abusing [me] only because GOD told him to abuse David; and who is to say, ‘Why did You do that?’”

David rebukes Avishai with a famous phrase — 'מה לי ולכם בני צרויה' — distancing himself from the violent instincts of Tzeruyah's sons and reframing Shimi's curse as divine commission. Rashi makes a striking point: Shimi was no commoner but the head of the Sanhedrin, and a man of that stature would never curse the anointed king unless commanded by God. David's logic is humbling — 'who can say to Hashem, why have You done this?' — converting public humiliation into accepted decree. This refusal to silence Shimi marks the turning point of the chapter: David passes the test of accepting affliction without lashing out.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
כֹּה יְקַלֵּל. כֵּן יְקַלֵּל: ה׳ אָמַר לוֹ. אֶפְשָׁר אָדָם כְּמוֹתוֹ שֶׁהוּא רֹאשׁ לְסַנְהֶדְרִין, יְקַלֵּל אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ אִם לֹא שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר לוֹ מֵאֵת הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא:
He should curse [me] like this. He should curse like this. God told him. Is it possible that a man like him who is head of the Sanhedrin would curse the king if he were not told [to do so] by God?

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר דָּוִ֤ד אֶל־אֲבִישַׁי֙ וְאֶל־כׇּל־עֲבָדָ֔יו הִנֵּ֥ה בְנִ֛י אֲשֶׁר־יָצָ֥א מִמֵּעַ֖י מְבַקֵּ֣שׁ אֶת־נַפְשִׁ֑י וְאַ֨ף כִּֽי־עַתָּ֜ה בֶּן־הַיְמִינִ֗י הַנִּ֤חוּ לוֹ֙ וִֽיקַלֵּ֔ל כִּ֥י אָמַר־ל֖וֹ יְהֹוָֽה׃

English:

David said further to Abishai and all the courtiers, “If my son, my own issue, seeks to kill me, how much more the Benjaminite! Let him go on hurling abuse, for GOD has told him to.

David widens his theological response with a kal vachomer: 'My own son, who came forth from my loins, seeks my life — how much more this Benjaminite!' Metzudat David draws out the logic: a son's natural instinct is to spare his father, yet Avshalom hunts David's life, proving that the hand of Hashem is at work. If God can turn a son into a pursuer, then a Benjaminite kinsman of Shaul cursing him is well within the bounds of divine providence. David widens the circle of acceptance, refusing to distinguish between curses he can bear and curses he cannot.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

אוּלַ֛י יִרְאֶ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה (בעוני) [בְּעֵינִ֑י] וְהֵשִׁ֨יב יְהֹוָ֥ה לִי֙ טוֹבָ֔ה תַּ֥חַת קִלְלָת֖וֹ הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

English:

Perhaps GOD will look upon my punishmentcpunishment So kethib; qere “eye.” Ancient versions read “suffering.” and recompense me for the abuse [Shimei] has uttered today.”

David seals his theological response with hope: perhaps Hashem will see his affliction (or, per the kethiv, his tears) and return good in place of Shimi's curse. Rashi (citing Targum Yonatan) reads 'בעיני' as 'the tears of my eyes,' a poignant gloss that captures David's silent suffering under the stones and dust. Metzudat David explains that the very humiliation may become a vehicle of mercy — God may choose to repay this day's curse with future good. The verse completes David's transformation of disgrace into prayer: he accepts the curse, offers his tears, and entrusts the verdict to Heaven.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
יִרְאֶה ה׳ בְּעֵינִי. דִּמְעַת עֵינִי:
God will see [the tears] in my eyes. [Yonoson translates:] "The tears of my eyes."

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֧לֶךְ דָּוִ֛ד וַאֲנָשָׁ֖יו בַּדָּ֑רֶךְ {ס}        וְשִׁמְעִ֡י הֹלֵךְ֩ בְּצֵ֨לַע הָהָ֜ר לְעֻמָּת֗וֹ הָלוֹךְ֙ וַיְקַלֵּ֔ל וַיְסַקֵּ֤ל בָּאֲבָנִים֙ לְעֻמָּת֔וֹ וְעִפַּ֖ר בֶּעָפָֽר׃ {פ}

English:

David and his men continued on their way, while Shimei walked alongside on the slope of the hill, insulting him as he walked, and throwing stones at him and flinging dirt.

The verse paints an extended, almost cinematic image: David walks along the road below while Shimi parallels him on the slope, cursing, hurling stones, and flinging dust. Radak observes that the stones and dust never actually reached David because Shimi was too far away -- he was throwing 'in his direction' (לעומתו) rather than at him -- so the assault was largely symbolic, a sustained public humiliation. The doubled phrase 'flinging dust with dust' (ועפר בעפר) Radak takes as an intensifying repetition, underscoring how relentless the abuse was even though it accomplished little physically.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֥א הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ וְכׇל־הָעָ֥ם אֲשֶׁר־אִתּ֖וֹ עֲיֵפִ֑ים וַיִּנָּפֵ֖שׁ שָֽׁם׃

English:

The king and all who accompanied him arriveddarrived Some Septuagint mss. add “at the Jordan.” exhausted, and he rested there.

David and his entourage finally arrive at Bachurim utterly drained -- the word עֲיֵפִים captures both physical exhaustion from the steep climb and the emotional exhaustion of having absorbed Shimi's verbal assault. Rashi, Metzudat David, and Radak all identify 'there' as Bachurim, the very town from which Shimi had emerged, which gives the rest a bittersweet quality: the king finds respite at the edge of the territory of the man who had just cursed him. The pause marks a structural breath in the narrative before the scene shifts to Yerushalayim and Avshalom's triumphal entry.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וַיִּנָּפֵשׁ שָׁם. בְּבַחוּרִים:
And they rested there. In Bachurim.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וְאַבְשָׁל֗וֹם וְכׇל־הָעָם֙ אִ֣ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בָּ֖אוּ יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וַאֲחִיתֹ֖פֶל אִתּֽוֹ׃

English:

Meanwhile Absalom and all the troops, Israel’s force, arrived in Jerusalem, together with Ahithophel.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁר־בָּ֞א חוּשַׁ֧י הָאַרְכִּ֛י רֵעֶ֥ה דָוִ֖ד אֶל־אַבְשָׁל֑וֹם וַיֹּ֤אמֶר חוּשַׁי֙ אֶל־אַבְשָׁל֔וֹם יְחִ֥י הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ יְחִ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶ��ְ׃

English:

When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came before Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ אֶל־חוּשַׁ֔י זֶ֥ה חַסְדְּךָ֖ אֶת־רֵעֶ֑ךָ לָ֥מָּה לֹא־הָלַ֖כְתָּ אֶת־רֵעֶֽךָ׃

English:

But Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”

Avshalom immediately challenges Hushai's loyalty -- Metzudat David paraphrases his sting: 'Is this the kindness you show your friend David, abandoning him on his day of trouble? Why didn't you go with him?' The question is dangerous, because if Avshalom concludes that Hushai is a plant, the entire counter-mission David sent him on (15:32-37) collapses. The narrative tension is sharp: the survival of David's last source of intelligence at court depends on Hushai's next sentence.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר חוּשַׁי֮ אֶל־אַבְשָׁלֹם֒ לֹ֕א כִּי֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר בָּחַ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה וְהָעָ֥ם הַזֶּ֖ה וְכׇל־אִ֣ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (לא) [ל֥וֹ] אֶהְיֶ֖ה וְאִתּ֥וֹ אֵשֵֽׁב׃

English:

“Not at all!” Hushai replied. “I am for the one whom GOD and these troops and all the rest of Israel’s force has chosen, and I will stay with him.

Hushai's reply is a masterpiece of strategic ambiguity: 'No -- the one whom Hashem and this people and all Israel have chosen, to him I will belong and with him I will sit.' Metzudat David explains his framing: my loyalty is to whoever holds the kingship, and I am only telling you that I serve the legitimate king. Radak notes the kri/ktiv tension -- the written לא ('not') versus the read לו ('to him') -- which itself encodes the doubleness: in his heart he means David, while letting Avshalom hear it as a pledge to himself. The line is the linchpin of David's entire counter-conspiracy.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

וְהַשֵּׁנִ֗ית לְמִי֙ אֲנִ֣י אֶעֱבֹ֔ד הֲל֖וֹא לִפְנֵ֣י בְנ֑וֹ כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר עָבַ֙דְתִּי֙ לִפְנֵ֣י אָבִ֔יךָ כֵּ֖ן אֶהְיֶ֥ה לְפָנֶֽיךָ׃ {פ}

English:

Furthermore, whom should I serve, if not David’seDavid’s Heb. “his.” son? As I was in your father’s service, so I will be in yours.”

Hushai's second argument seals the performance: 'And whom should I serve, if not before his son? As I served before your father, so will I be before you.' Metzudat David and Radak both note that Hushai phrases this as a second independent justification -- even granting affection for David personally, royal service naturally flows to the son, not to the rival house of Shaul. Crucially, the pivotal phrase 'before his son' (לפני בנו) never names whose son, leaving open in Hushai's own mind that he serves the rightful Davidic line, while Avshalom hears the obvious flattering reading.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְשָׁל֖וֹם אֶל־אֲחִיתֹ֑פֶל הָב֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם עֵצָ֖ה מַֽה־נַּעֲשֶֽׂה׃

English:

Absalom then said to Ahithophel, “What do you advise us to do?”

Avshalom turns to Aḥitofel for guidance with the plural 'you all give counsel' -- which Metzudat David reads as addressed to Aḥitofel and the assembled elders, while Radak alternatively takes it as a stylized honorific or as referring to Aḥitofel together with the sages around him. Either way, the moment is decisive: having seized the city, the new regime must now make a move that will consolidate what has been won. The question hands Aḥitofel center stage and sets up his first piece of fateful counsel.

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲחִיתֹ֙פֶל֙ אֶל־אַבְשָׁלֹ֔ם בּ֚וֹא אֶל־פִּֽלַגְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִנִּ֖יחַ לִשְׁמ֣וֹר הַבָּ֑יִת וְשָׁמַ֤ע כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ כִּֽי־נִבְאַ֣שְׁתָּ אֶת־אָבִ֔יךָ וְחָ֣זְק֔וּ יְדֵ֖י כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתָּֽךְ׃

English:

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Have intercourse with your father’s concubines, whom he left to mind the palace; and when all Israel hears that you have dared the wrath of your father, all who support you will be encouraged.”

Aḥitofel's counsel is shockingly bold: take your father's concubines publicly, so that all Israel hears that you have made yourself utterly odious to your father (נִבְאַשְׁתָּ) -- and then your supporters will be emboldened. Rashi and Metzudat David both supply the political logic: until now, Avshalom's followers have held back, fearing that father and son might still reconcile and that the king would punish those who joined the revolt; an irrevocable public outrage burns that bridge and locks them in. The advice is morally horrifying but politically shrewd, and it is the very act that fulfills Natan's prophecy in chapter 12 that David's wives would be taken 'before this sun.'
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וְחָזְקוּ יְדֵי כָּל אֲשֶׁר אִתָּךְ. כִּי עַתָּה יָדָם רָפָה לַעֲזֹר לְךָ, שֶׁאוֹמְרִים בְּלִבָּם הַבֵּן יִתְחָרֵט אֵצֶל אָבִיו, וָאָנוּ נִהְיֶה שְׂנוּאִים לַמֶּלֶךְ:
And you will strengthen the hands of all those who are with you. Because at present their hands are feeble in their ability to help you because they are saying [to themselves] in their hearts, "The son will change towards [and reconcile with] his father and we will be hated by the king.1For having joined a conspiracy against him.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וַיַּטּ֧וּ לְאַבְשָׁל֛וֹם הָאֹ֖הֶל עַל־הַגָּ֑ג וַיָּבֹ֤א אַבְשָׁלוֹם֙ אֶל־פִּֽלַגְשֵׁ֣י אָבִ֔יו לְעֵינֵ֖י כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

English:

So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and Absalom lay with his father’s concubines with the full knowledgefwith the full knowledge Lit. “before the eyes.” of all Israel.—

A tent is pitched on the palace rooftop -- the very rooftop from which David first saw Bat-Sheva (11:2) -- and Avshalom goes in to his father's concubines 'before the eyes of all Israel.' Metzudat David and Radak both note that 'before the eyes' does not mean physically watching the act itself but rather that the entry into the tent was conducted in full public view, leaving no doubt about what occurred inside. The moment is the precise fulfillment of Natan's curse from 12:11-12: 'I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with them in the sight of this sun... before all Israel and before the sun.' What David did secretly, the prophet had said, would be done to him in broad daylight.

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

וַעֲצַ֣ת אֲחִיתֹ֗פֶל אֲשֶׁ֤ר יָעַץ֙ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֔ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר יִשְׁאַל־[אִ֖ישׁ] בִּדְבַ֣ר הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים כֵּ֚ן כׇּל־עֲצַ֣ת אֲחִיתֹ֔פֶל גַּם־לְדָוִ֖ד גַּ֥ם לְאַבְשָׁלֹֽם׃ {ס}        

English:

In those days, the advice that Ahithophel gave was accepted like an oracle sought from God; that is how all the advice of Ahithophel was esteemed both by David and by Absalom.

The chapter closes with one of the most arresting comments in Tanakh: Aḥitofel's counsel in those days was 'as if a man had inquired of the word of God' -- both for David and for Avshalom. Metzudat David explains the comparison: just as someone asking a divine oracle is sure the answer is true, so Aḥitofel's advice was reliably effective at securing its desired outcome; that is why even the next counsel he gives (to pursue David at once) was strategically correct, and only Hashem's intervention, working through Hushai, would frustrate it. Radak unpacks the ktiv/kri (איש written but not pronounced) and notes the midrashic reading that Aḥitofel was almost like an angel -- a chilling note that frames the crisis to come: David's survival will require nothing less than divine override of near-prophetic political genius.

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