Text -- 2 Samuel 17:1-3 (NET)

The Death of Ahithophel

17:1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night. 17:2 When I catch up with him he will be exhausted and worn out. I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king 17:3 and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone. The entire army will return unharmed.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Sa 17:2

¹ tn Heb “and I will come upon him.”

² tn Heb “exhausted and slack of hands.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 17:3

¹ tc Heb “like the returning of all, the man whom you are seeking.” The LXX reads differently: “And I will return all the people to you the way a bride returns to her husband, except for the life of the one man whom you are seeking.” The other early versions also struggled with this verse. Modern translations are divided as well: the NAB, NRSV, REB, and NLT follow the LXX, while the NASB and NIV follow the Hebrew text.

² tn Heb “all of the people will be safe.”