2 Samuel 17
1 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Allow me to choose 12,000 men, and I will leave [with them] tonight to pursue David.
Dixit ergo Achitophel ad Absalom: Eligam mihi duodecim millia virorum, et consurgens persequar David hac nocte.
2 We will attack him while he is tired and discouraged, and cause him to be very frightened. All the soldiers who are with him will run away. We will kill only the king.
Et irruens super eum (quippe qui lassus est, et solutis manibus) percutiam eum: cumque fugerit omnis populus, qui cum eo est, percutiam regem desolatum.
3 Then we will bring back all his soldiers to you, like [SIM] a (bride/woman comes to her husband when she is married). You are wanting to kill only one man; so the other people will not be harmed.”
Et reducam universum populum, quomodo unus homo reverti solet: unum enim virum tu quaeris: et omnis populus erit in pace.
4 Absalom and all the Israeli leaders [who were with him] thought that what Ahithophel said would be good to do.
Placuitque sermo eius Absalom, et cunctis maioribus natu Israel.
5 But Absalom said, “Summon Hushai also, and we will hear what he suggests.”
Ait autem Absalom: Vocate Chusai Arachiten, et audiamus quid etiam ipse dicat.
6 So when Hushai arrived, Absalom told him what Ahithophel had suggested. Then he asked Hushai, “What do you think we should do? If you do not think that we should do what Ahithophel suggests, tell us [what you think that we should do].”
Cumque venisset Chusai ad Absalom, ait Absalom ad eum: Huiuscemodi sermonem locutus est Achitophel: facere debemus an non? quod das consilium?
7 Hushai replied, “This time what Ahithophel has suggested is not good advice.
Et dixit Chusai ad Absalom: Non est bonum consilium, quod dedit Achitophel hac vice.
8 You know that your father and the men who are with him are strong soldiers, and that now they are very angry, like [SIM] a mother bear whose cubs have been stolen from her. Furthermore, your father knows how to fight because he has fought in many battles. He will not stay with his troops during the night.
Et rursum intulit Chusai: Tu nosti patrem tuum, et viros, qui cum eo sunt, esse fortissimos et amaro animo, veluti si ursa raptis catulis in saltu saeviat: sed et pater tuus vir bellator est, nec morabitur cum populo.
9 Right now he is probably already hiding in one of the pits, or in some other place. [If his soldiers start to attack your soldiers, and] if they kill some of them, whoever hears about that will say ‘Many of the soldiers with Absalom have been killed!’
Forsitan nunc latitat in foveis, aut in uno, quo voluerit, loco: et cum ceciderit unus quilibet in principio, audiet quicumque audierit, et dicet: Facta est plaga in populo qui sequebatur Absalom.
10 Then your other soldiers, even if they are as fearless [SIM, IDM] as lions, they will become very afraid. Do not forget that everyone in Israel knows that your father is a great/strong soldier, and that the soldiers who are with him are also very brave/courageous.
Et fortissimus quisque, cuius cor est quasi leonis, pavore solvetur: scit enim omnis populus Israel fortem esse patrem tuum, et robustos omnes qui cum eo sunt.
11 “So what I suggest is that you summon all the Israeli soldiers, from Dan [in the far north] to Beersheba [in the far south]. They will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore [HYP]. And then you yourself lead us into the battle.
Sed hoc mihi videtur rectum esse consilium: Congregetur ad te universus Israel, a Dan usque Bersabee, quasi arena maris innumerabilis: et tu eris in medio eorum.
12 We will find [your father], wherever he is, and we will attack him [from all sides], like [SIM] dew covers all the ground. And neither he nor any of the soldiers who are with him will survive.
Et irruemus super eum in quocumque loco inventus fuerit: et operiemus eum, sicut cadere solet ros super terram: et non relinquemus de viris, qui cum eo sunt, ne unum quidem.
13 If he escapes into some city, all our soldiers will bring ropes and pull that city down into the valley. As a result, not one stone will be left there [on top of the hill where that city was]!”
Quod si urbem aliquam fuerit ingressus, circumdabit omnis Israel civitati illi funes, et trahemus eam in torrentem, ut non reperiatur ne calculus quidem ex ea.
14 Absalom and all the other Israeli men [who were with him] said, “What Hushai suggests is better than what Ahithophel suggested.” The reason that happened was that Yahweh had determined that if they would accept the good advice that Ahithophel had given them, [they would have been able to defeat/kill David]. But [as a result of their doing what Hushai suggested], Yahweh would cause a disaster to happen to Absalom.
Dixitque Absalom, et omnes viri Israel: Melius est consilium Chusai Arachitae, consilio Achitophel: Domini autem nutu dissipatum est consilium Achitophel utile, ut induceret Dominus super Absalom malum.
15 Then Hushai told the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, what both he and Ahithophel had suggested to Absalom and the Israeli leaders.
Et ait Chusai Sadoc, et Abiathar sacerdotibus: Hoc et hoc modo consilium dedit Achitophel Absalom, et senioribus Israel: et ego tale et tale dedi consilium.
16 Then he said to them, “Send [a message] quickly to David. Tell him to not stay at the place where people walk across the river, near the desert. Instead, he and his soldiers must cross [the Jordan River] immediately, in order that they will not be killed/wiped out.”
Nunc ergo mittite cito, et nunciate David, dicentes: Ne moreris nocte hac in campestribus deserti, sed absque dilatione transgredere: ne forte absorbeatur rex, et omnis populus qui cum eo est.
17 [The priest’s two sons, ] Jonathan and Ahimaaz, were waiting at En-Rogel [Spring], outside Jerusalem. They did not [dare to] enter the city, because if someone saw them, [he would report it to Absalom]. [While they were at En-Rogel, ] a female servant [of the two priests] would frequently go to them and report to them [what was happening], and then they would go and report it to King David.
Ionathas autem et Achimaas stabant iuxta Fontem rogel: abiit ancilla et nunciavit eis: et illi profecti sunt, ut referrent ad regem David nuncium: non enim poterant videri, aut introire civitatem.
18 But a young man saw them, and went and reported it to Absalom. [They found out what the young man had done, ] so both of them left quickly and went to stay in the house of a man in Bahurim. That man had a well in his courtyard; so the two men went down into the well [to hide].
Vidit autem eos quidam puer, et indicavit Absalom: illi vero concito gradu ingressi sunt domum cuiusdam viri in Bahurim, qui habebat puteum in vestibulo suo, et descenderunt in eum.
19 The man’s wife took a cloth/mat and covered the well, and scattered grain on top of it in order that no one would know [that two men were hiding inside it].
Tulit autem mulier, et expandit velamen super os putei, quasi siccans ptisanas: et sic latuit res.
20 Some of Absalom’s soldiers [found out where the two men had gone. So they] went to the house, and asked the woman, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” She replied, “They crossed the river.” So the soldiers [crossed the river and] searched for them. But they could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.
Cumque venissent servi Absalom in domum, ad mulierem dixerunt: Ubi est Achimaas et Ionathas? Et respondit eis mulier: Transierunt festinanter, gustata paululum aqua. At hi qui quaerebant, cum non reperissent, reversi sunt in Ierusalem.
21 After they had gone, the two men came out of the well and went and reported to King David [what had happened and] what Ahithophel had suggested. Then they said to him, “Cross the river quickly!”
Cumque abiissent, ascenderunt illi de puteo, et pergentes nunciaverunt regi David, et dixerunt: Surgite, et transite cito fluvium: quoniam huiuscemodi dedit consilium contra vos Achitophel.
22 So David and all his soldiers quickly started to cross the Jordan [River], and by dawn they had all crossed to the other side.
Surrexit ergo David, et omnis populus qui cum eo erat, et transierunt Iordanem, donec dilucesceret: et ne unus quidem residuus fuit, qui non transisset fluvium.
23 When Ahithophel realized that Absalom was not going to do what he suggested, he put a saddle on his donkey and returned to his own town. He gave [to his family] instructions about his possessions, and then he hanged himself [because he knew that Absalom would be defeated and that he would be considered a traitor and be killed]. His body was buried in the tomb where his ancestors [had been buried].
Porro Achitophel videns quod non fuisset factum consilium suum, stravit asinum suum, surrexitque et abiit in domum suam et in civitatem suam: et disposita domo sua, suspendio interiit, et sepultus est in sepulchro patris sui.
24 David [and his soldiers] arrived at Mahanaim. And Absalom [and all his Israeli soldiers] also crossed the Jordan [River].
David autem venit in Castra, et Absalom transivit Iordanem, ipse et omnes viri Israel cum eo.
25 Absalom had appointed [his cousin] Amasa to be the commander of his army, instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Jether, a descendant of Ishmael. Amasa’s mother was Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and the sister of Joab’s mother Zeruiah.
Amasam vero constituit Absalom pro Ioab super exercitum: Amasa autem erat filius viri, qui vocabatur Ietra de Iesraeli, qui ingressus est ad Abigail filiam Naas, sororem Sarviae, quae fuit mater Ioab.
26 Absalom and his Israeli soldiers set up their tents in [the] Gilead [region].
Et castrametatus est Israel cum Absalom in Terra Galaad.
27 When David [and his soldiers] arrived at Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah [city] in the Ammon area, and Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-Debar [city], and Barzillai from Rogelim [town] in [the] Gilead [region]
Cumque venisset David in Castra, Sobi filius Naas de Rabbath filiorum Ammon, et Machir filius Ammihel de Lodabar, et Berzellai Galaadites de Rogelim,
28 brought sleeping mats, bowls, clay pots, barley, wheat flour, parched grain, beans, and lentils to them.
obtulerunt ei stratoria, et tapetia, et vasa fictilia, frumentum, et hordeum, et farinam, et polentam, et fabam, et lentem, et frixum cicer,
29 They brought honey and curds, sheep, and some cream/cheese for David and his soldiers to eat. They knew that David and his soldiers would be hungry and tired and thirsty [from marching] in the desert.
et mel, et butyrum, oves, et pingues vitulos. dederuntque David, et populo, qui cum eo erat, ad vescendum: suspicati enim sunt, populum fame, et siti fatigari in deserto.
