2 Samuel 17:10
And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men. And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.
The setting is Absalom asking for Hushai's judgment on Ahithophel's plan for an immediate night attack while David was weary and weak-handed, and Hushai's answer declaring that counsel was not good at this time. The warning turned on the known character of David and his men, for all Israel knew that David was a mighty man of war and that those with him were mighty and valiant men, chafed in their minds like a bear robbed of her young. David, he urged, would not lodge with the people but was already hidden in some pit or other place, so a hasty pursuit would fail to capture him.
Even a partial setback would be decisive, for a single reverse would cause even a valiant man whose heart is as a lion's to melt with fear and would dishearten Absalom's untried force to the harm of his cause. To gain delay Hushai instead counseled gathering all Israel from Dan to Beersheba, as numerous as the sand by the sea, with Absalom himself going to battle in person. That vast host was to fall upon David like dew and leave none of his company alive, and if David were found in a city they were to bring ropes and drag it into the river until not one small stone remained.