And when Absaloms seruants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Ionathan? And the woman said vnto them, They be gone ouer the brooke of water. And when they had sought, and could not finde them, they returned to Ierusalem. 2 Samuel 17:20 (KJV)
The verse occurs in the middle of the dramatic account of Absalom’s rebellion against his father, King David. Absalom, intent on seizing the throne, had rallied a considerable following, among them the shrewd counselor Ahithophel, who had previously advised David. In this hostile environment both sides relied heavily on secret messengers to obtain and transmit intelligence. Ahimaaz and Jonathan were such messengers; they were loyal to David and were charged with scouting Absalom’s movements and reporting back to the king.
The woman who answers the servants is unnamed, but the text makes clear that she knows the whereabouts of the two messengers. She tells Absalom’s men that Ahimaaz and Jonathan “have gone over the brook of water,” a phrase that signals their successful escape across a natural barrier and their evasion of capture. When the servants search for them and fail to locate the men, they return to Jerusalem, presumably to report their inability to intercept the Davidic agents.
This brief encounter highlights the covert operations that characterized the civil war. Both Absalom’s faction and David’s loyalists employed spies, couriers, and informants to gather strategic information. The crossing of the brook demonstrates how the Davidic messengers used the terrain to stay ahead of their pursuers, preserving the flow of critical intelligence to the king. The episode therefore underscores the importance of communication, secrecy, and quick thinking in the larger narrative of the rebellion, showing how even small actions could influence the unfolding conflict.
