Hushai
Hushai the Archite is "the king's companion" (1Chr 27:33), David's friend, and the agent through whom David's prayer against Ahithophel's counsel is answered. The narrative of his loyalty runs across three chapters of 2 Samuel.
Sent Back To Absalom
When David fled Jerusalem before Absalom and reached the top of the ascent, "Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth on his head" (2Sam 15:32). David did not let him follow into exile. Instead he sent him back with a mission: "if you return to the city, and say to Absalom, I will be your slave, O king; as I have been your father's slave in time past, so I will now be your slave; then you will defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel" (2Sam 15:34). The communication line back to David is set in the same breath — Zadok and Abiathar in the city, their two sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan as runners (2Sam 15:35-36). The chapter closes on the timing: "So Hushai, David's friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem" (2Sam 15:37).
Before Absalom
Hushai's reception is staged as feigned conversion. "And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, came to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, [Long] live the king, [Long] live the king" (2Sam 16:16). Absalom presses him: "Is this your kindness to your companion? Why didn't you go with your companion?" (2Sam 16:17). Hushai's answer leans on the language of divine choice: "No; but whom Yahweh, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, I will be his, and I will remain with him. And again, whom should I serve? [Should I] not [serve] in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father's presence, so I will be in your presence" (2Sam 16:18-19). The ambiguity is the whole point — Absalom hears the words as endorsement of himself.
Counsel Against Counsel
Ahithophel had urged Absalom to strike at once with twelve thousand men against David alone (2Sam 17:1-3), and the saying pleased Absalom and the elders (2Sam 17:4). But Absalom, perhaps doubtful, called for Hushai too (2Sam 17:5). Hushai's speech reverses the plan. He calls Ahithophel's counsel "not good this time" (2Sam 17:7) and paints David as a wounded bear, hidden in a pit, certain to draw first blood and shake the morale of any first wave (2Sam 17:8-10). His own counsel is the opposite of speed: gather all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba "as the sand that is by the sea for multitude," with Absalom himself going to battle, and overwhelm David like dew on the ground (2Sam 17:11-12). The verdict belongs not just to Absalom but to providence: "And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For Yahweh had determined to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom" (2Sam 17:14).
Word Sent Back
Hushai immediately sent the substance of both counsels to Zadok and Abiathar (2Sam 17:15) with the urgent direction, "Don't lodge this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; or else the king will be swallowed up" (2Sam 17:16). The messengers Ahimaaz and Jonathan, hidden by the woman of Bahurim under a covering of bruised grain on a well (2Sam 17:18-20), got the word through. David and all his people crossed the Jordan by morning light (2Sam 17:21-22). Ahithophel, seeing his counsel rejected, set his house in order and hanged himself (2Sam 17:23).
A Son In The Solomonic Administration
The name carries forward into the next reign. Among Solomon's twelve officers over Israel is "Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth" (1Kings 4:16) — the friend of David's house remembered through his son.