Introduction: Many of us are familiar with the story of “the woman at the well” in Samaria who spoke with Jesus (John 4). Many years before, another woman, at another well, helped save David’s life and maybe even the kingdom!
Text, 2 Samuel 17:15-20, KJV: 15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled. 16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him. 17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David. 18 Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down. 19 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known. 20 And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
Thoughts: The backstory about this episode in David’s life is found in 2 Samuel 17:1-14. David’s friend Hushai pretended to defect to Absalom, David’s son, who had rebelled against his father. Absalom asked Hushai for advice on how to capture David (or worse) and Hushai convinced Absalom to wait, gather all the troops, and then go after David. This, by the way, would also give David some time to flee.
Once Hushai knew of Absalom’s decision, he knew he had to get word to David somehow. Hushai made his way to the priests and two young men started off to warn David of the latest. A perhaps seldom-if-ever noticed detail is in verse 17, where a “wench (also translated “handmaid” or “maidservant” per Strong’s Concordance)” carried the news to Jonathan (not the son of Saul, this man was already dead) and Ahimaaz, the two who would bring news to David. So far, so good, as far as they knew, right?
Wrong. Somebody else saw these two, and sent word (directly, it seems) to Absalom. What could the two men do now?
They ran (for dear life?) from Enrogel to Bahurim (exact distance unknown) and hid in a well! We’re never told how deep the well extended into the ground, how wide across the opening was, or what kind of protection was in place to keep people and perhaps animals from falling down into it. We can guess it was wide enough for two young adult men to fit inside and at least deep enough for these two to hide without being seen.
And it always helps to have another person on your side, such as the unsung heroine of this story. Something I found out by using an on-line Bible atlas was that Bahurim was located close to Nob, a city of the priests. Nob was also the site of the tabernacle (1 Samuel 21:1), and where Abiathar’s father, Ahimelech, had been high priest at an earlier time. Could it be that Jonathan and Ahimaaz, sons of Abiathar and Zadok, knew the people who owned the well?
At any rate, these two hid in the well and the “other woman at the well” took a cloth, spread it over the well’s mouth, and then spread ground grain (“corn”, KJV) on top of the cloth. This protection worked well, so much so that when Absalom’s servants came to the house, asking, “Where are Jonathan and Ahimaaz?” they didn’t bother to look in the well itself. One wonders how they knew to ask for the two young men. Were they going house to house to find them?
Now, some may question why the woman lied to Absalom’s servants. Only she knows why, but it’s very possible she saved their lives by giving this bit of (mis-) information! Then again, she did say something in truth: when she said, “They’re gone over the brook of water”, she might well have meant the brook Kidron. Anybody who wanted to go to Nob or Bahurim or just about any place east of Jerusalem would have had to cross that brook or walk a long ways out of the way to avoid it. So, she might have reconciled herself to making a true statement!
But the one thing she did was to protect the lives of two men who had done nothing wrong except remain loyal to the rightful king of Israel. This unsung heroine risked her own life, and maybe those of her husband and family, to protect those who were being hunted. She’s never mentioned by name in the Scriptures, but these two men knew her, and best of all, the Lord knew her as well.
She responded to the challenge and protected two men. In turn, these two made it to David and gave him the message. David and his group were able to flee, thanks to these three the two men, and an unknown, unsung heroine who saved their lives—and, probably, David’s, too!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).