Lives of Scripture

As David fled Jerusalem during Absalom's revolt, his friend Hushai the Archite came to join him in mourning, but David sent him back with a specific, dangerous assignment: infiltrate Absalom's court and "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel" from the inside (2 Samuel 15:32-34). Hushai presented himself to Absalom as a defector, and though Absalom questioned his sudden loyalty, accepted him into his council (16:16-19). When Ahithophel advised an immediate strike against the fleeing David -- sound counsel that would likely have crushed the rebellion quickly -- Hushai deliberately argued for delay, painting an exaggerated picture of David and his mighty men as ferocious and dangerous, and urging Absalom to gather all Israel first for an overwhelming force (17:5-13). Absalom and his men judged Hushai's counsel better than Ahithophel's, "for the LORD had ordained to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring calamity on Absalom" (17:14). Hushai immediately sent word to the priests Zadok and Abiathar to relay to David, urging him to cross the Jordan without delay (17:15-16), buying David the time he needed to regroup his forces. Hushai's quiet, risky loyalty behind enemy lines proved as decisive to David's survival as any battle fought afterward.