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2 Samuel 17 · Grade 5

Ordained to Defeat Good Counsel

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Read and Think

Chapter 17 is a contest of advisers. Ahithophel, whose counsel was respected like the word of God, urged a swift strike: twelve thousand men pursuing David that very night while he was weary and weak-handed. Kill only the king, he said, and all the people would return in peace. It was shrewd, and it pleased Absalom and all the elders.

Yet Absalom called Hushai, David's secret friend. Hushai argued that David was an experienced man of war who would not lodge with the people, and that his men were as fierce as a bear robbed of her cubs. Any early setback would spread panic. Instead, Absalom should gather all Israel from Dan to Beersheba and lead them in person. The plan flattered Absalom and gave David time. The text states the deeper reason it won: Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to bring evil on Absalom.

Hushai passed word through Zadok and Abiathar to their sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz, who escaped capture by hiding in a well at Bahurim under a woman's covering of crushed grain. David crossed the Jordan before dawn. Ahithophel, seeing his counsel rejected, went home, set his house in order, and died. At Mahanaim, generous friends, including Barzillai the Gileadite, supplied David's people, saying the people were hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.

Show What You Know

  1. What did Ahithophel urge?

  2. How did Hushai describe David?

  3. Why did Hushai's plan really win?

  4. How did Jonathan and Ahimaaz escape capture?

  5. What did the generous friends say about the people?

Crossword

41352

Across

  1. The ____ of Hushai the Archite is better
  2. The people are hungry, ____, and thirsty.

Down

  1. David's friend who gave advice
  2. a man in Bahurim, who had a ____ in his court
  3. ____, butter, sheep, and cheese

Think About It

  1. Even good counsel failed because God had other plans. How does God's rule over human plans give you comfort?

  2. The friends at Mahanaim gave generously when David had nothing to offer. What does generous help to people in need look like today?

Memory Verse

“Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.”

2 Samuel 17:14 (WEB)

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Prayer

Dear God, thank You for sending people to help me. Help me . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

  • What can we learn from the generosity of Barzillai and his friends?
  • How did a woman's courage help save David?
  • What is one way you could live out this chapter this week?

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org. © 2026 The Daily Rooted. Free to print and copy for church and home use; not for resale. Original line art.