Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 17:2
And I will come upon him while he [is] weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that [are] with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
2. will make him afraid ] The word describes the panic caused by a sudden night attack, in the confusion of which David might easily be seized.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Weary and weak-handed; tired with a tedious march on foot, and destitute of men and military provisions; and disheartened by his own small numbers, and by the general defection of his subjects.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And I will come upon him while he [is] weary,…. With travelling, and with grief, and when endeavouring to get some rest by sleep, and so surprise him unawares, when not on his guard, and in no posture of defence:
and weak handed; while the number of men with him is small, and before the people from different parts can come to his assistance:
and will make him afraid; strike terror into him and his then, by surprising them suddenly in the night with such a number of men:
and all the people that [are] with him shall flee; one one way, and another another, for their own security, and leave David alone:
and I will smite the king only; dispatch him, and let the people flee without pursuing them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(2) Will make him afraid.This translation is hardly strong enough. The thought is that Ahithophel will throw his band into a panic by a sudden night attack, and in the confusion will easily secure the person of the king.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed” 2Sa 17:2 .
Such was the policy of Ahitophel. Bad men always reveal themselves at some point of their tortuous and ignoble policy. It may be only a stray sentence, but the revelation is not the less vivid and complete. See how nobly this bad man reasoned! He said he would come upon David when David was weary and weak handed. Knavery can never be noble-minded. Bad men can never rise beyond their own level; find them where we may, they are always conceiving cowardly and ungenerous and self-defeating plots. The incident is useful to us as showing the policy which is pursued by our spiritual enemy; “Your adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The tempter came upon Eve when she was alone. He has always come upon men in their hours of depression, when health has been feeble, when business has been unprosperous, when family affairs have gathered overhead like a frowning cloud, when there has been unusual care and anxiety in the heart. The devil is not a brave tempter; he is “that old serpent the devil;” he lurks in secret places, he watches for moments of weakness, he never invites to fair, open encounter; he plots, and conspires, and works in the dark, and strikes from behind, and in very deed and in every way shows himself to be a devil. What is true of the master is true of the servant. All who follow the devil are selfish, wily, knavish, wanting in every attribute of chivalry and generosity. They cannot be otherwise, and this is the fact that must be borne in mind by all Christian teachers and reformers. The devil can only assume the garb of an angel of light: an angel of light he can never be in reality. Even when the devil quotes Scripture we must disbelieve him, for he quotes the Scripture only partially, and perversely applies it, and seeks to make it a medium of spiritual ruin. Men should have their attention more and more called to the meanness of wickedness, not only is it hateful as wickedness, but it is hateful because of its meanness, cunning, calculation, and willingness to strike a man when he is weary and weak handed. On the other side we must remember the promises of God. Whilst we are fainting we may yet be pursuing. At the throne of grace the fainthearted may renew their courage. Christ’s sweetest invitations and promises are addressed to those who are weary and heavy laden. What time we are afraid we should trust in God. When our father and our mother forsake us, our look should be upward, not downward. We should remember, too, that enemies are always on the alert. They may not be noisy, ostentatious, self-proclaiming; they may be silent, concealed, watchful: let us be sure, however, that they are always on our track, always waiting for our halting, and always gratified when we are in fear and weakness. Through all this let us listen to the voice which says, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
2Sa 17:2 And I will come upon him while he [is] weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that [are] with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
Ver. 2. And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed. ] That indeed had been the ready way to win. Hannibal when he could have taken Rome, would not; when he would, could not. a The Protestant princes of Germany lost a fair opportunity at Ingolstadt, August 13, 1546, which they never afterwards could recover. They were far stronger in horse than the emperor, whose forces were but slenderly fortified at that time, and might easily have been worsted; but the next night they so entrenched themselves, that they took better heart, and soon after got the day. This error of the Protestant princes – the elector of Saxony, the landgrave of Hesse, and the rest – was, saith mine author, b the rise and cause of their calamity, but of Caesar’s victory, to the grief of all good people.
a Plut.
b Alsted., Chronol. 545.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
weary: 2Sa 16:14, Deu 25:18
I will smite: 1Ki 22:31, Zec 13:7, Mat 21:38, Mat 26:31, Joh 11:50, Joh 18:4-8
Reciprocal: 2Sa 4:1 – his hands 2Sa 17:29 – to eat 2Sa 18:3 – if we flee 2Sa 20:21 – his head Neh 4:11 – They shall not Psa 25:19 – Consider Psa 35:8 – into Psa 55:10 – Day Psa 64:2 – secret Psa 71:4 – out of the Psa 109:16 – he remembered Psa 124:7 – Our soul Jam 3:6 – a world
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 17:2-3. I will come upon him while he is weary Before he has had time to breathe from the fatigues he has just gone through; and weak- handed Before he has collected more forces. I will make him afraid Strike a terror into him by this sudden attack, made in the night, when he is ill-provided. I will smite the king only And proclaim pardon to all the rest. And I will bring back all the people By this means I shall easily bring over their allegiance to thee. The man whom thou seekest is as if they all returned The killing of David will effectually end the contest, and the whole nation will come in to thee, there being no other to whom they will submit, he being dead. So all the people shall be in peace The single circumstance of taking and killing him will restore peace, and preserve both the people who are with thee, and those that are with David. They shall all be saved, and he alone destroyed. The attentive reader will easily perceive that this advice well justifies the character given of Ahithophel in the Scripture; it was, in its several parts, admirably fitted both to the inclinations and interests of his pupil; he consigned him to his pleasures, and took all the danger to himself; and at the same time he relieved his little remains of humanity (if he had any) from the necessity of imbruing his hands in his fathers blood. His incest was, for the present, personal guilt enough; that act of outrage would make Absloms reconciliation with his father desperate; and while he indulged his evil appetite, Ahithophel, with a chosen band, would pursue and surprise David. Nothing could be more worldly wise, or more hellishly wicked; it was indeed, as the advice of an oracle, but very different from that dictated by the Spirit of God; and yet, horrid as it was, it pleased that vile son and his associates. Delaney.