Ii Samuelis 17
1 Dixit ergo Achitophel ad Absalom: Eligam mihi duodecim millia virorum, et consurgens persequar David hac nocte.
Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Allow me to choose 12,000 men, and I will leave [with them] tonight to pursue David.
2 Et irruens super eum (quippe qui lassus est, et solutis manibus) percutiam eum: cumque fugerit omnis populus, qui cum eo est, percutiam regem desolatum.
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.
3 Et reducam universum populum, quomodo unus homo reverti solet: unum enim virum tu quæris: et omnis populus erit in pace.
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.”
4 Placuitque sermo eius Absalom, et cunctis maioribus natu Israel.
Absalom and all the Israeli leaders [who were with him] thought that what Ahithophel said would be good to do.
5 Ait autem Absalom: Vocate Chusai Arachiten, et audiamus quid etiam ipse dicat.
But Absalom said, “Summon Hushai also, and we will hear what he suggests.”
6 Cumque venisset Chusai ad Absalom, ait Absalom ad eum: Huiuscemodi sermonem locutus est Achitophel: facere debemus an non? Quod das consilium?
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].”
7 Et dixit Chusai ad Absalom: Non est bonum consilium, quod dedit Achitophel hac vice.
Hushai replied, “This time what Ahithophel has suggested is not good advice.
8 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 sæviat: sed et pater tuus vir bellator est, nec morabitur cum populo.
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.
9 Forsitan nunc latitat in foveis, aut in uno, quo voluerit, loco: et cum ceciderit unus qui libet in principio, audiet quicumque audierit, et dicet: Facta est plaga in populo qui sequebatur Absalom.
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!’
10 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.
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.
11 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.
“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.
12 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.
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.
13 Quod si urbem aliquam fuerit ingressus, circumdavit omnis Israel civitati illi funes, et trahemus eam in torrentem, ut non reperiatur ne calculus quidem ex ea.
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]!”
14 Dixitque Absalom, et omnes viri Israel: Melius est consilium Chusai Arachitæ, consilio Achitophel: Domini autem nutu dissipatum est consilium Achitophel utile, ut induceret Dominus super Absalom malum.
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.
15 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.
Then Hushai told the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, what both he and Ahithophel had suggested to Absalom and the Israeli leaders.
16 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.
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.”
17 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.
[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.
18 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.
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].
19 Tulit autem mulier, et expandit velamen super os putei, quasi siccans ptisanas: et sic latuit res.
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].
20 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 quærebant, cum non reperissent, reversi sunt in Ierusalem.
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.
21 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.
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!”
22 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.
So David and all his soldiers quickly started to cross the Jordan [River], and by dawn they had all crossed to the other side.
23 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.
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].
24 David autem venit in castra, et Absalom transivit Iordanem, ipse et omnes viri Israel cum eo.
David [and his soldiers] arrived at Mahanaim. And Absalom [and all his Israeli soldiers] also crossed the Jordan [River].
25 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 Sarviæ, quæ fuit mater Ioab.
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.
26 Et castrametatus est Israel cum Absalom in Terra Galaad.
Absalom and his Israeli soldiers set up their tents in [the] Gilead [region].
27 Cumque venisset David in castra, Sobi filius Naas de Rabbath filiorum Ammon, et Machir filius Ammihel de Lodabar, et Berzellai Galaadites de Rogelim,
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]
28 obtulerunt ei stratoria, et tapetia, et vasa fictilia, frumentum, et hordeum, et farinam, et polentam, et fabam, et lentem, et frixum cicer,
brought sleeping mats, bowls, clay pots, barley, wheat flour, parched grain, beans, and lentils to them.
29 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.
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.
