Ahithophel.
A Gilonite, grandfather of Bathsheba, and a very wise counsellor of David, of whom it is said that all his counsel was "as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God." He joined in the rebellion of Absalom, and advised him to go in publicly to David's concubines, and to let him make an immediate attack on David. The latter counsel not being followed, and a preference being given to the advice of Hushai, who was acting for David, Ahithophel returned to his house, set his household in order, and hanged himself. 2 Samuel 15:12-34; 2 Samuel 1:16; 2 Samuel 1:17; 2 Samuel 1:23. He has generally been taken as foreshadowing Judas of the N.T.:cf. Psalms 41:9; Psalms 55:12.