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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

2 Samuel 17:4

Absalom thought it was an excellent strategy, and all the elders of Israel agreed.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ahithophel;   Citizens;   Council;   Diplomacy;   Friendship;   Government;   Spies;   War;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ahithophel;   Amasa;   Hushai;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Absalom;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Elder;   Family Life and Relations;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Ahithophel;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Elder;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Samuel, Books of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ahithophel ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Absalom;   Elder;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ahith'ophel;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Elder;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
This proposal seemed right to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
Hebrew Names Version
The saying pleased Avshalom well, and all the Zakenim of Yisra'el.
King James Version
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
Lexham English Bible
The word was right in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
English Standard Version
And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
New Century Version
This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the leaders of Israel.
New English Translation
This seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders of Israel.
Amplified Bible
So the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
New American Standard Bible
And the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the Elders of Israel.
Legacy Standard Bible
And the word was right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
Contemporary English Version
Absalom and all the leaders of the tribes of Israel agreed that Ahithophel had a good plan.
Complete Jewish Bible
What he said pleased Avshalom and all the leaders of Isra'el.
Darby Translation
And the saying was right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
Easy-to-Read Version
This plan seemed good to Absalom and all the leaders of Israel.
George Lamsa Translation
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
Good News Translation
This seemed like good advice to Absalom and all the Israelite leaders.
Literal Translation
And the thing was pleasing in Absalom's eyes, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Absalom thought that good, and so dyd all the Elders in Israel.
American Standard Version
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
Bible in Basic English
And the saying was pleasing to Absalom and to the responsible men of Israel.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the saying pleased Absalom wel and al the elders of Israel.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
King James Version (1611)
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the Elders of Israel.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the saying was right in the eyes of Abessalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
English Revised Version
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
This proposal seemed good to Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the word of him plesyde Absolon, and alle the grete men in birthe of Israel.
Young's Literal Translation
And the thing is right in the eyes of Absalom, and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
Update Bible Version
And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the saying, pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
World English Bible
The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
New King James Version
And the saying pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
New Living Translation
This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.
New Life Bible
The plan pleased Absalom and all the leaders of Israel.
New Revised Standard
The advice pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the saying was right in the eyes of Absolom, - and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And his saying pleased Absalom, and all the ancients of Israel.
Revised Standard Version
And the advice pleased Ab'salom and all the elders of Israel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

Contextual Overview

1Next Ahithophel advised Absalom, "Let me handpick twelve thousand men and go after David tonight. I'll come on him when he's bone tired and take him by complete surprise. The whole army will run off and I'll kill only David. Then I'll bring the army back to you—a bride brought back to her husband! You're only after one man, after all. Then everyone will be together in peace!" 4 Absalom thought it was an excellent strategy, and all the elders of Israel agreed. 5 But then Absalom said, "Call in Hushai the Arkite—let's hear what he has to say." 6 So Hushai came and Absalom put it to him, "This is what Ahithophel advised. Should we do it? What do you say?" 7Hushai said, "The counsel that Ahithophel has given in this instance is not good. You know your father and his men, brave and bitterly angry—like a bear robbed of her cubs. And your father is an experienced fighter; you can be sure he won't be caught napping at a time like this. Even while we're talking, he's probably holed up in some cave or other. If he jumps your men from ambush, word will soon get back, ‘A slaughter of Absalom's army!' Even if your men are valiant with hearts of lions, they'll fall apart at such news, for everyone in Israel knows the kind of fighting stuff your father's made of, and also the men with him. 11"Here's what I'd advise: Muster the whole country, from Dan to Beersheba, an army like the sand of the sea, and you personally lead them. We'll smoke him out wherever he is, fall on him like dew falls on the earth, and, believe me, there won't be a single survivor. If he hides out in a city, then the whole army will bring ropes to that city and pull it down and into a gully—not so much as a pebble left of it!" 14 Absalom and all his company agreed that the counsel of Hushai the Arkite was better than the counsel of Ahithophel. ( God had determined to discredit the counsel of Ahithophel so as to bring ruin on Absalom.)

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the saying: 1 Samuel 18:20, 1 Samuel 18:21, 1 Samuel 23:21, Esther 5:14, Romans 1:32

pleased Absalom well: Heb. was right in the eyes of Absalom, 2 Chronicles 30:4, Esther 1:21

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 20:7 - It is well Esther 2:4 - the thing Isaiah 8:10 - counsel

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
I'll make you a great nation and bless you. I'll make you famous; you'll be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I'll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you."
Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."
Genesis 17:18
Recovering, Abraham said to God, "Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!"
Genesis 35:11
God continued, I am The Strong God. Have children! Flourish! A nation—a whole company of nations!— will come from you. Kings will come from your loins; the land I gave Abraham and Isaac I now give to you, and pass it on to your descendants.
Genesis 48:19
But his father wouldn't do it. He said, "I know, my son; but I know what I'm doing. He also will develop into a people, and he also will be great. But his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will enrich nations." Then he blessed them both: Israel will use your names to give blessings: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. In that he made it explicit: he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all elders of Israel. That were of the privy council; for it was a well contrived scheme to surprise David his men by night, in the condition they were in; nothing like seizing an opportunity, and making quick dispatch in executing a villainous design; only it is strange that Absalom could so easily come into a scheme to take away the life of so indulgent a father, which is only to be accounted for by his ambition; but it is stranger still that the elders of Israel should be pleased with it, and agree to and determine upon the death of a prince, who had so many years ruled them with justice and equity, clemency and mercy; and fought their battles for them, and raised their nation to such a pitch of glory it never had before.


 
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