Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
- KJV And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
- NKJV Then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- NASB Now someone informed David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “Lord, please make the advice of Ahithophel foolish.”
- NLT When someone told David that his adviser Ahithophel was now backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, let Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Learning that Ahithophel has joined the rebels, David prays God will turn his counsel to foolishness. He responds to the threat with believing prayer.
Overview
Hearing that his shrewd counselor Ahithophel sides with Absalom, David lifts a brief, pointed prayer asking God to thwart that counsel. His instinct in crisis is to appeal to the Lord. This prayer, soon answered through Hushai, shows God's sovereign power to frustrate the wisdom of the wise (1 Corinthians 1:19-20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 2 Sam 17:14Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.
- 2 Sam 17:23When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
- Ps 41:9Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
- Jas 3:15Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
- Job 5:12He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- 1 Cor 1:20Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
- 1 Cor 3:18–20Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- Isa 19:11–25The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- 2 Sam 16:23Now in those days the advice of Ahithophel was like the consultation of the word of God. Such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.
- Job 12:16–20True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
- 2 Sam 15:12While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.
- Ps 3:1A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me!
- Isa 19:3Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.
- Ps 109:3They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
- Matt 26:14–15Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
- John 13:18I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: ‘The one who shares My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’
- Jer 8:8–9How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?
- Ps 55:12For it is not an enemy who insults me; that I could endure. It is not a foe who rises against me; from him I could hide.
- Ps 55:14–15We shared sweet fellowship together; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 15:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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