Illustration created for this project.
Ahithophel
David's shrewd counsellor who betrayed him for Absalom and, spurned, took his own life.
What we know — and how we know it
Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Life, role & deeds
Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersJosephus retells Ahithophel's defection to Absalom, his rejected counsel, and his subsequent suicide by hanging, following the biblical narrative.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 7 (Absalom's revolt; Achitophel's rejected counsel and suicide by hanging), paraphrasing 2 Samuel 15-17; a first-century retelling of the biblical narrative, not independent attestation.
Death & legacy
ScholarlyLater rabbinic tradition lists Ahithophel among the four commoners denied a share in the world to come (with Balaam, Doeg, and Gehazi) and treats him as a cautionary example of a wise man ruined by ambition.
Tradition preserved in Mishnah Sanhedrin 10 and the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin).
Name & titles
ScholarlyAhithophel ('Ăḥîtōpel) begins with 'aḥî ("my brother"); its second element is commonly linked to tāpēl ("folly, tastelessness"), and a number of scholars suspect the form is a deliberate pejorative distortion of an original name, comparable to the bōshet ("shame") substitutions found elsewhere in Samuel.
Onomastic and text-critical discussion of dysphemistic name-alteration in Samuel.
Where in scripture
2 Samuel1 Chronicles
2 Samuel 15:122 Samuel 15:312 Samuel 15:342 Samuel 16:152 Samuel 16:202 Samuel 16:212 Samuel 16:232 Samuel 23:341 Chronicles 27:331 Chronicles 27:34
Family
In their own words — 2 recorded sayings
“And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's women who are here looking after his house; then all Israel will have the news that you are hated by your father, and the hands of your supporters will be strong.” — 2 Samuel 16:21
“Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me take out twelve thousand men and this very night I will go after David: And I will come up with him when he is tired and feeble, and make him full of fear: and all the people with him will go in flight; and I will make an attack on the king only: And I will make all the people come back to you as a bride comes back to her husband: it is the life of only one man you are going after; so all the people will be at peace.” — 2 Samuel 17:1-3
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).