Who was Hushai the Archite in the Bible?

We don’t know much about Hushai except what is listed in I Chronicles and II Samuel. Scholars suggest that “Hushai” was probably short for a name like “Ahishai” or “Ahushai”, and that “Archite” refers to him belonging to the clan that dwelt in Ataroth (Joshua 16:2-3).

A son revolts against his father

First of all, who was David? David was one of the great kings of Israel. He is most famous in modern popular culture for the story of David and Goliath, which took place during David’s youth. The Israelites were at war with a rival people group called the Philistines, and the greatest of these, Goliath, challenged the Israelites to send a single champion to compete in single combat with him—where the victor would decide the course of the entire war. The problem was that Goliath was a giant among men, physically very powerful, yet the boy David accepted his challenge and defeated him in single combat, and cut off his head!

David would go on to become the greatest king of ancient Israel. He had a long life with many adventures and misadventures, one of which was the rebellion of his son Absalom. Absalom was David’s third son, described as the most handsome man in the kingdom (2 Sam 14:25). He was a favorite of his father and well-loved by the people. Samuel even describes him as stealing their hearts (2 Sam 15).

Absalom grew in stature and ambition. He eventually declared himself king and raised a revolt against his father. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all of Israel and Judah supported Absalom over his father, and David and those few loyal to David were forced to flee.

Hushai, the "friend of David"

Hushai is sometimes called the “friend of David” because he stayed loyal to him during the insurrection. Absalom was being fed wicked advice by the courtly counselor Ahithophel (who seems to have been attempt to clear the way to the throne for himself). Hushai remained to counteract Ahithophel’s advice, instead giving council that would be in David’s favor. Most importantly, Hushai successfully convinced Absalom to not pursue David and his small army as they retreated. Instead Hushai convinces Absalom to wait, and this delay allows David the crucial time he needs to escape. From then on, Hushai the Archite acted as a spy and passed valuable information to King David about Absalom’s plans.

Ultimately David and Absalom’s forces clashed during the famous Battle of Ephraim’s Wood. Absalom’s army was routed by David’s, and in the retreat, Absalom got caught by his hair in an oak tree. Though David had expressly forbidden any of his men to kill Absalom, the commander of the army, Joab, disobeyed this command. Having a personal score to settle with him, Joab killed Absalom despite David’s command. When David found out, he was full of sorrow, saying, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam 18:33).

The importance of both loyalty and mercy

Loyalty is not really a virtue we talk much about in the modern world. Everything from divorce rates to job-hopping to “ghosting” people speaks to a world with very little sense of stability, let alone loyalty. Yet Hushai stayed loyal to king David despite the popularity of Absalom and the risk that he took upon himself. Once again, David was outmatched—just as he was against Goliath—but prevailed.

Yet we also see mercy in the actions of David. Though he had to fight to retake his kingdom as the rightful king, there’s no evidence that he harbored any resentment in his heart toward his rebellious son. To the contrary, he gives the order that Absalom is to be spared, and he weeps bitterly when he finds Absalom dead, even wishing that he had died in his place. It is qualities like these — tenderness and mercy side-by-side with the manly determination to retake his rightful kingdom — that have made David such an enduring figure in art and literature for centuries.