Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageDavid was told, 'Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.' And David prayed: 'O Yahweh, please make the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.'
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GDavid was told: 'Achitophel is among the conspirators with Avshalom.' And David said, 'O YHWH, please turn the counsel of Achitophel to foolishness.'
KJV
King James VersionAnd one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleNow someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
Footnotes
One sentence of prayer — one of the briefest and most powerful in Scripture. The verb *hafer* ('overturn / nullify / frustrate') is a legal term for voiding vows and annulling covenantal pledges (Num. 30:8–9). David is asking YHWH to legally cancel Ahithophel's counsel before it can execute. The answer comes in 17:14, where the narrator steps outside the story to declare: 'YHWH had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that YHWH might bring disaster upon Absalom.' Barefoot, weeping, exiled — and still praying with covenantal precision.