On the road out, David meets two men from Saul’s world: Ziba with donkeys, provisions, and a slander about Mephibosheth; and Shimei, throwing stones and curses — “come out, thou bloody man.” Abishai wants to take Shimei’s head off. David will not let him: let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Ahithophel gives Absalom the counsel that would have finished David that night — and Hushai, David’s man, talks him out of it.
A study in 2 Samuel 16-17 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 9 min read
Come Out, Thou Bloody Man
“And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came… Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son.”
2 Samuel 16:5-8
Shimei’s accusation is false — David never shed the blood of Saul’s house; he spared Saul twice when he could have killed him. But Shimei has been waiting for a day like this. Adversity does not build character so much as expose it: the man who was a quiet subject in David’s prosperity shows what he is the moment the king is down.
“In David’s prosperity Shimei had not shown by word or act that he was not a loyal subject. But in the affliction of the king this Benjamite revealed his true character… The spirit that leads man to triumph over, to revile or distress, one who is in affliction is the spirit of Satan.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 736
Let Him Curse, For The LORD Hath Bidden Him
“And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David… let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.”
2 Samuel 16:10-12
David does not claim Shimei is right, but he receives the abuse as something God has permitted for a reason. His own son is trying to kill him; a stray Benjamite throwing rocks is a small thing, and possibly a useful one — “it may be that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing.” Abishai’s instinct is to silence the critic; David’s is to let the insult do whatever refining work God means it to do.
As If A Man Had Enquired At The Oracle Of God
“And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father’s concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father… And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.”
2 Samuel 16:21-23
Ahithophel — David’s own former counsellor, and Bathsheba’s grandfather, avenging the family disgrace — is the sharpest political mind in Israel; his advice is weighed “as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God.” His first counsel to Absalom is a public act of incest with the royal harem, to burn every bridge back to David. It is brilliant and it is filthy, and it exactly fulfils Nathan’s word: “I will take thy wives before thine eyes… thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel.”
“Ahithophel had been held in high esteem for his wisdom, but he was destitute of the enlightenment which comes from God. ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’… and this, Ahithophel did not possess.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 739
The LORD Had Appointed To Defeat The Counsel Of Ahithophel
“And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom… And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died.”
2 Samuel 17:14-23
Ahithophel’s plan — strike tonight, kill the king only, bring everyone else home — would have worked. David had prayed on the Mount of Olives, “O LORD, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness,” and sent Hushai back to answer that prayer. Hushai flatters Absalom’s vanity into waiting to gather “all Israel,” and the moment passes. Ahithophel, seeing his advice rejected and the rebellion therefore doomed, goes home, sets his affairs in order, and hangs himself — the cleverest man in the land, without the one thing wisdom starts from.
“Had it been followed, David would surely have been slain, unless the Lord had directly interposed to save him. But a wisdom higher than that of the renowned Ahithophel was directing events.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 739
