Bible Strands
2 Samuel 17:15
So Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “This is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, and this is what I have advised.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Hushai addresses priests Zadok and Abiathar immediately after Absalom and the men of Israel declare Hushai’s counsel superior to Ahithophel’s. He delivers this message at the moment he is about to send them to warn David to cross the fords before nightfall.
The words — וַ/יֹּ֣אמֶר (va/i.Yo.mer) means "and he said," introducing the direct report. כָּ/זֹ֣את (ka./Zot) translates literally as "like this" or "this," pointing to the specific advice being relayed.
The thread — The priests Zadok and Abiathar first appear in this narrative network at 2 Samuel 15:35, where David commissions Hushai to report to them from the royal court. Their function as intelligence couriers continues here as they receive Hushai’s warning to pass to David.
Why it lands — The text states that Hushai relays both Ahithophel’s plan and his own counterplan to the priests for transmission. It requires the reader to track how political survival depends on accurate, timely communication rather than on the moral worth of the counselors.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 15:35 Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace.