And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened — Ahithophel counsels a radical violation: Absalom should lie with David's concubines publicly. This act will accomplish multiple purposes: it will demonstrate Absalom's power over David's women, it will mark a point of no return (reconciliation becomes impossible), and it will signal to all Israel that Absalom is the new king. The counsel is brilliant and brutal.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse