The Frustration of Wisdom: Wisdom, Counsel, And Divine will in 2 Samuel 17:1-23‪.‬

Centered on a son's attempted usurpation of his father's throne, the narrative of Absalom's rebellion in 2 Sam 15:1-19:5 involves issues of family dynamic and generational conflict, and thus thematically resonates with other ancient tales such as Enuma Elish, the Shahname, and the Greek myths of Oedipus and Zeus. In these stories, the vigorous, younger sons attempt, usually forcibly and successfully, to take the throne of their aged, otiose fathers. In this enterprise, fate, which neither participant can escape, is usually on the side of the young aspirant. The inevitable defeat of the father, though foretold, is rarely avoided. (1) Interestingly, in contrast to these other myths, the narrative of Absalom's rebellion does not conclude with the victory of the young challenger. Instead, Absalom is summarily defeated and killed, and David reinstated as king. Indeed, the closest to the idea of fate that we have in the Hebrew Bible, divine will, actually favors and predestines the triumph of David over Absalom (2 Sam 17:14). That the outcome skews from the expected, that David and not Absalom survives, whether historically accurate or not, literarily speaking, conveys interesting and complex statements about fate, or God's will. These subtle, intricate messages concerning divine will are evident in the story of the dueling counselors in 2 Sam 17:1-12, the focus of this paper. This story, which acts as the preamble to the defeat of Absalom during his rebellion against his father, David, dramatically illustrates the power of language, especially as it intersects and interacts with the planned will of God. In this article, I will argue that a careful analysis of the language of 2 Sam 17:1-23 reveals deeper theological meanings and struggles; this story not only wrestles with the nature of proper advice giving but also questions the nature of wisdom, divine will, and human volition.