2 Samuel 17:3

And I will bring back all the people unto thee,.... Meaning not the people only that were with David, that he would make them prisoners, and bring them with him; for he before proposed to let them…

The man whom thou seekest - namely, David. Ahithophel means to say: “If I can only smite David, there will be no civil war, all the people will peaceably submit.”

The man whom thou seekest is as if all returned - Only secure David, and all Israel will be on thy side. He is the soul of the whole; destroy him, and all the rest will submit.

Absalom is now in peaceable possession of Jerusalem; the palace-royal is his own, as are the thrones of judgment, even the thrones of the house of David. His good father reigned in Hebron, and only…

the man, &c. Lit. As the returning of all is the man whom thou seekest. The return of all the people to thee will be ensured by the removal of David. If that is effected, there will be no civil war.…