Commentary - 2 Samuel 17:15-22

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we are witnessing the providential machinery of God in high gear. The foreground is filled with frantic human activity, spies, counter-spies, close calls, and life-or-death messages. But in the background, behind the curtain of human events, the Lord is meticulously working His purposes out. David’s prayer to turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness (2 Sam. 15:31) has been answered, but the answer must now be delivered and acted upon. This section of the narrative is the crucial link between God’s decree in the heavenly court and David’s deliverance on the earthly plane. It is a story of loyalty, courage, and the ordinary means God employs to achieve His extraordinary ends. Every character, from the high priests to a nameless servant-woman, plays a critical part in the outworking of God’s sovereign plan to preserve His anointed king.

The entire affair demonstrates that God’s providence is not a matter of detached, impersonal force. It is intensely personal and works through the faithful, and often risky, actions of His people. The loyalty of Hushai, the priests, their sons, and the woman at Bahurim stands in stark contrast to the treason of Absalom and the cynical pragmatism of Ahithophel. This is a story about how God honors covenant faithfulness, even when His people are scattered, hunted, and seemingly on the brink of being "swallowed up."

Outline

Context In 2 Samuel

This passage is the direct consequence of the events in the previous verses (2 Sam. 17:1-14). Ahithophel, the Judas of the Old Testament, had given shrewd, militarily brilliant counsel to Absalom: strike David now, while he is weary and weak. Had this counsel been followed, David’s cause would have been lost. But God had inserted Hushai, David’s loyal friend, as a double agent in Absalom’s court. Hushai’s counter-counsel, which appealed to Absalom’s vanity and fear, was designed to buy David time. The Lord ordained that Absalom and the elders of Israel prefer Hushai’s florid and foolish advice over Ahithophel’s deadly and effective plan (v. 14).

Now, the intelligence gained must be acted upon. Hushai does not know for certain that his counsel will hold. He understands the fickleness of usurpers and the immense danger David is still in. The spy network that David had established on his way out of Jerusalem (2 Sam. 15:35-36) is now activated. This is not just a spy thriller; it is the covenant God of Israel making good on His promises to David, using the loyal and courageous actions of His servants as the means.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 15 Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “This is what Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have counseled.”

Hushai does not waste a moment. The decision has been made in the council, and he immediately moves to get the word out. He is a man acting with faithful urgency. He reports both counsels, Ahithophel's and his own. This is crucial information. David needs to know not just what he should do, but also what his enemy had intended to do. He needs to understand the nature of the bullet he just dodged. Ahithophel’s plan was to strike the king only, a swift, targeted assassination. Hushai’s plan was a delaying tactic. By relaying both, Hushai gives David a full intelligence briefing, revealing the severity of the threat and the nature of the temporary reprieve God has granted him.

v. 16 “So now, send quickly and inform David, saying, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’ ”

Here is the actionable intelligence. "Send quickly." "Do not spend the night." "By all means cross over." The language is one of extreme urgency. Hushai knows that Absalom could change his mind. He knows that Ahithophel’s counsel was the strategically sound one, and a fool like Absalom might have a moment of clarity and revert to it. The danger is that David will be "swallowed up." This is a potent metaphor. It’s not just about military defeat; it’s about utter annihilation, like the earth opening up to swallow Korah. Hushai is not being dramatic; he is being realistic. The reprieve he has won is fragile, and David must use the window of opportunity to put the Jordan River between himself and Absalom’s forces.

v. 17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En-rogel, and a servant-woman would go and inform them, and they would go and inform King David, for they could not be seen entering the city.

Here we see the pre-arranged logistics of the spy network. Jonathan and Ahimaaz, sons of the high priests, are the runners. They are positioned outside the city at En-rogel, a well just south of the city walls. They are high-profile individuals, so for them to be seen entering and leaving Jerusalem would arouse immediate suspicion. The link between the priests in the city and the runners outside is a servant-woman. Notice how God uses the lowly and the overlooked. A servant-girl is the perfect courier; she can move about with far less scrutiny than a priest’s son. In God’s economy of espionage, everyone has a role. This is a beautiful picture of the body of Christ in action, different members with different functions, all working together for the preservation of the king.

v. 18 But a boy did see them and informed Absalom; so the two of them went quickly and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it.

Of course, the plan hits a snag. No plan in a fallen world is foolproof. A "boy," a youth loyal to the new regime, spots them. The word gets back to Absalom, and the chase is on. The providence of God does not mean a life free of complications and close calls. Often, it is in the midst of those very complications that God’s deliverance is most gloriously displayed. Jonathan and Ahimaaz flee to Bahurim, a village east of Jerusalem, the same place where Shimei had cursed David on his way out of the city. They find refuge in the house of a loyalist, a man who has a well in his courtyard. This well becomes their salvation. They go down into it, a picture of descending into a temporary tomb to escape death.

v. 19 And the woman took a covering and spread it over the well’s mouth and scattered crushed grain on it, so that nothing was known.

Enter another faithful woman, the wife of the man in Bahurim. Like Rahab hiding the spies in Jericho, she acts with quick-witted courage and cunning. She covers the well and disguises it by scattering grain over the top, as though it were a surface for drying grain. This is a righteous deception, a tactic of war against a treacherous and illegitimate authority. She is protecting the lives of the king’s messengers. Her simple, domestic act of spreading grain becomes an act of war, a blow struck for the cause of the rightful king. God delights in using the mundane to accomplish the magnificent.

v. 20 Then Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house and said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have crossed the brook of water.” And when they searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

The pursuers arrive. They ask the woman a direct question, and she gives them a direct misdirection. "They have crossed the brook of water." It is a lie, and in this context, it is a righteous one. She is choosing to be faithful to the higher law of protecting innocent life from murderous rebels. Her lie is an act of loyalty to King David, and by extension, to the Lord who anointed him. The servants of Absalom, being spiritually blind and not having the Lord’s favor, are easily deceived. They conduct a perfunctory search, find nothing, and return to Jerusalem, empty-handed. The woman’s faithfulness, like Hushai’s counsel, has bought the king more time.

v. 21 Now it happened after they went away, that they came up out of the well and went and informed King David; and they said to David, “Arise and cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you.”

Once the coast is clear, the messengers emerge from their hiding place. They come up out of the well, a kind of resurrection, and complete their mission. They find David and deliver the urgent message. Notice what they emphasize: "Arise and cross over the water quickly for thus Ahithophel has counseled against you." They highlight the threat from Ahithophel. Even though Hushai’s counsel was accepted, the mortal danger represented by Ahithophel’s original plan is the motivating factor. They are not to presume upon God’s favor but are to act decisively on the intelligence they have been given.

v. 22 Then David and all the people who were with him arose and crossed the Jordan; and by dawn not even one remained who had not crossed the Jordan.

David, a man of action when he needs to be, obeys immediately. There is no hesitation, no second-guessing. He and all the people with him, men, women, children, the weary and the frightened, undertake a forced march and a night crossing of the Jordan River. The operation is a complete success. "By dawn not even one remained." This is a testament to David’s leadership and the people’s trust in him. He has been warned of the danger, and he has acted. He now has a significant natural barrier between himself and his enemies. The immediate crisis has been averted, not by a bolt from the blue, but through a chain of loyal servants, risky actions, and the sovereign hand of God guiding every step.

Application

This narrative is a master class in the doctrine of providence. God is sovereign, yes, but He accomplishes His sovereign will through the means of human action. He answers David’s prayer to defeat Ahithophel’s counsel, but He uses Hushai’s clever tongue to do it. He decrees David’s safety, but He uses priests, a servant-girl, two runners, and a quick-thinking woman with a well and some grain to bring it about. We must not fall into the trap of a fatalistic passivity, thinking that because God is in control, we need do nothing. Nor should we fall into the trap of frantic activism, thinking it all depends on us.

The Christian life is one of faithful, courageous, and sometimes risky obedience, trusting that God will bless our efforts and weave them into His perfect plan. We are called to be loyal to our King, Jesus Christ, even when it is costly. We are to use the gifts and opportunities He gives us, whether they are the wisdom of a counselor or the cleverness of a housewife, for the advancement of His kingdom and the protection of His people.

And when we find ourselves in tight spots, with the enemy closing in, we should remember the well at Bahurim. God has endless ways of providing a hiding place, a means of escape, a moment of reprieve. Our job is to act on the intelligence He has given us in His Word, to move when He says move, and to trust that by the dawn, He will have brought us safely to the other side.