Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, August 16th, 2025
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
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Read the Bible

Revised Standard Version

2 Samuel 17:4

And the advice pleased Ab'salom and all the elders of Israel.

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.
THE MESSAGE
Absalom thought it was an excellent strategy, and all the elders of Israel agreed.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So the plan pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

Contextual Overview

1 Moreover Ahith'ophel said to Ab'salom, "Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is weary and discouraged, and throw him into a panic; and all the people who are with him will flee. I will strike down the king only, 3 and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man, and all the people will be at peace." 4 And the advice pleased Ab'salom and all the elders of Israel. 5 Then Ab'salom said, "Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say." 6 And when Hushai came to Ab'salom, Ab'salom said to him, "Thus has Ahith'ophel spoken; shall we do as he advises? If not, you speak." 7 Then Hushai said to Ab'salom, "This time the counsel which Ahith'ophel has given is not good." 8 Hushai said moreover, "You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. 9 Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits, or in some other place. And when some of the people fall at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, 'There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Ab'salom.' 10 Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men.

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
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Genesis 13:16
I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your descendants also can be counted.
Genesis 16:10
The angel of the LORD also said to her, "I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude."
Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.
Genesis 17:11
You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Genesis 17:18
And Abraham said to God, "O that Ish'mael might live in thy sight!"
Genesis 22:17
I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies,
Genesis 32:12
But thou didst say, 'I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"
Genesis 35:11
And God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.
Genesis 48:19
But his father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."

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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