Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageIn those days, the counsel of Ahithophel was treated as though it were the very word of God Himself—that is how both David and Absalom regarded everything Ahithophel said.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GNow the counsel that Achitophel gave in those days was like consulting the word of Elohim—that is how all of Achitophel's counsel was regarded, both by David and by Avshalom.
KJV
King James VersionAnd the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleNow in those days the advice of Ahithophel was like the consultation of the word of God. Such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.
Footnotes
The narrator's aside here is both a tribute and a foreshadowing of tragedy. Achitophel's counsel is genuinely brilliant—as chapter 17 will confirm, his strategic advice is militarily sound. Yet the very next chapter shows Chushai's inferior counsel prevailing precisely because *YHWH had determined to frustrate the good counsel of Achitophel* (2 Sam. 17:14). The juxtaposition is devastating: the most trusted human wisdom in all Yisra'el runs directly against the unseen purposes of God. This verse invites the reader to marvel at Achitophel's reputation—and then watches it crumble not through incompetence but through divine sovereignty. FOG uses *Elohim* to preserve the covenantal divine name; FOG Message adds "Himself" to heighten the theological claim and sharpen the irony of what is about to unfold.
