“And Achitophel said to Avshalom, let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will rise up and pursue David tonight.” (Shmuel 2, 17:1) In saying “twelve thousand,” he was saying to gather as many men as he could. Truly, he knew the strength of David haMelech, which was to arouse great Divine compassion through his prayer. Thus he said specifically, “twelve thousand,” in thinking that when confronted with this number, David would trust in the strength of his own prayer, and not make special efforts to increase his prayer. Then, Achitophel assumed, he could conquer David, because of the weakness of David’s sin, which Achitophel had publicized. This is as it is written in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 44b), “A sin which is not made known can be easily rectified. A sin which is revealed is difficult to rectify.”
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲחִיתֹפֶל אֶל אַבְשָׁלֹם אֶבְחֲרָה נָּא שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֶלֶף אִישׁ וְאָקוּמָה כוּ׳. מַה שֶּׁאָמַר רַק שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֶלֶף וְלֹא יָעַץ לוֹ שֶׁיְּקַבֵּץ כַּמָּה שֶׁיּוּכַל, כִּי בֶּאֱמֶת הָיָה יוֹדֵעַ אֶת כֹּחַ דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, כִּי בְּכֹחוֹ לְעוֹרֵר רַחֲמִים גְּדוֹלִים וִישׁוּעָה עַל יְדֵי תְּפִלָּתוֹ, אַךְ לָזֶה בָּחַר רַק י״ב אֶלֶף שֶׁחָשַׁב כִּי נֶגֶד י״ב אֶלֶף יִבְטַח דָּוִד בְּכֹחַ עַצְמוֹ וְלֹא יַרְבֶּה בִּתְפִלָּה וְאָז יְנַצְּחוּ אוֹתוֹ מִפְּנֵי הַחֵטְא שֶׁרָאָה אֲחִיתֹפֶל וּפִרְסְמוֹ, כִּדְאִיתָא בַּגְּמָרָא (סנהדרין מ"ד:) כִּי כָל חֵטְא שֶׁאֵינוֹ בְּפַרְסוּם מֵהַנָּקֵל לְתַקְּנוֹ אֲבָל כְּשֶׁהוּא בַּגָּלוּי אָז קָשֶׁה לְתַקְּנוֹ.
“And Achitophel said to Avshalom, let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will rise up and pursue David tonight.” (Shmuel 2, 17:1)
In saying “twelve thousand,” he was saying to gather as many men as he could. Truly, he knew the strength of David haMelech, which was to arouse great Divine compassion through his prayer. Thus he said specifically, “twelve thousand,” in thinking that when confronted with this number, David would trust in the strength of his own prayer, and not make special efforts to increase his prayer. Then, Achitophel assumed, he could conquer David, because of the weakness of David’s sin, which Achitophel had publicized. This is as it is written in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 44b), “A sin which is not made known can be easily rectified. A sin which is revealed is difficult to rectify.”