There are very few cases of suicide throughout the Hebrew Bible. Samson chose to kill himself along with thousands of Philistines who mocked him in a desperate act of revenge, with little else left to lose. Likewise, King Saul falls on his sword as he loses the battle.
Ahitophel of Gilo, the royal advisor who switched sides and chose to support Absalom in his revolt against his father David, realizes in today’s chapter that his gamble failed. He’ll pay the ultimate price. But although he’s judged for betraying David - there does not seem to be judgment by the authors of Samuel for his choice to kill himself. Like the others in the bible who chose to end their lives - suicide doesn’t seem to be a happy choice - but it’s not listed as a transgression. The negative attitude towards this complicated choice will only be developed by later rabbinic traditions, leading, eventually, to strict rules regarding burial and mourning rites for those who claim their own lives. Many modern views understand the depth of despair that is often associated with this choice and where our understanding of mental health demands that we don’t condemn but offer care for every choice, even these tough ones.
In a strange way, Ahitophel sets an example for death as a choice - perhaps the lesser of evils, with dignity in the face of the inevitable.
The political plot that leads him there involves high treason and undercover spies. While Ahitophel crosses the lines to support Absalom’s revolt, one of David’s loyal supporters, Hushai the Archite, goes undercover, pretending to be on Absalom’s side but actually sending secret messages to David. At one crucial moment he gives Absalom a misleading suggestion that will determine the outcome of the fight.
Ahitophel suggests that he take 12,000 men and chase David, surround and kill him to prevent any future claims to the throne. It’s likely that Ahitophel wanted to ensure the continuity of the House of David, but lost faith in David himself and his ability to keep the power. He was close enough to David, as member of the inner family circle, to perhaps know what he was talking about.
But Absalom, suspicious of Ahtiphoel’s motives and possibly of his personal agenda, hesitates, and asks for a second opinion. Hushai convinces the prince to wait until he has a big enough army to attack David. Hushai is doing so to gain time and warn David.
Absalom doesn’t get the implications of this reprieve - but Ahitophel does. And as soon as he realizes that his suggestion won’t be applied, he understands that it’s game over:
וַאֲחִיתֹ֣פֶל רָאָ֗ה כִּ֣י לֹ֣א נֶעֶשְׂתָה֮ עֲצָתוֹ֒ וַיַּחֲבֹ֣שׁ אֶֽת־הַחֲמ֗וֹר וַיָּ֜קׇם וַיֵּ֤לֶךְ אֶל־בֵּיתוֹ֙ אֶל־עִיר֔וֹ וַיְצַ֥ו אֶל־בֵּית֖וֹ וַיֵּחָנַ֑ק וַיָּ֕מׇת וַיִּקָּבֵ֖ר בְּקֶ֥בֶר אָבִֽיו׃
“When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and went home to his native town. He set his affairs in order, and then he hanged himself. He was buried in his ancestral tomb.”
Robert Alter comments:
“This haunting notice of Ahitophel’s suicide shows him a deliberate, practical man to the very end, making all the necessary arrangements for his family and being sure to do away with himself in his hometown, where he knows he will be readily buried in the ancestral tomb. Ahitophel kills himself not only because, in quasi-Japanese fashion, he has lost face, but also out of sober calculation: he realizes that Hushai’s counsel will enable David to defeat Absalom, and with the old king returned to the throne, an archtraitor like Ahitophel will surely face death. Thus, in tying the noose around his own neck, he anticipates the executioner’s sword.”
The Talmud is curious to know what were the affairs he concluded before hanging himself, and suggests he told his family not to rebel against the House of David, never to negotiate with those in charge, and to only plant the summer crops if the holiday of Shavuot has fine weather. This last very specific and curious instruction may be code for something that many have pondered.
Was Ahitophel’s suicide justified? Would he have been forgiven?
He's not the last one to hang in this sorry story. The battle is about to begin.
Image: Rudolf von Ems, Ahithophel Hanging Himself, c. 1365
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On the "Song of Solomon":
https://johncarpenter.substack.com/p/eros-exalted-secrets-of-love-from