2 Samuel 15:23-29

15:23 All the land was weeping loudly ¹  as all these people were leaving. ²  As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving ³  on the road that leads to the desert. 15:24 Zadok and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. When they positioned the ark of God, Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving ⁴  the city.

15:25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s sight he will bring me back and enable me to see both it and his dwelling place again. 15:26 However, if he should say, ‘I do not take pleasure in you,’ then he will deal with me in a way that he considers appropriate.” ⁵ 

15:27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Are you a seer? ⁶  Go back to the city in peace! Your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan may go with you and Abiathar. ⁷  15:28 Look, I will be waiting at the fords of the desert until word from you ⁸  reaches me.” 15:29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and remained there.

[15:23]  ¹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[15:23]  ² tn Heb “crossing over.”

[15:23]  ³ tn Heb “crossing near the face of.”

[15:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “crossing from.”

[15:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “as [is] good in his eyes.”

[15:27]  ⁶ tn The Greek tradition understands the Hebrew word as an imperative (“see”). Most Greek mss have ἴδετε (idete); the Lucianic recension has βλέπε (blepe). It could just as well be taken as a question: “Don’t you see what is happening?” The present translation takes the word as a question, with the implication that Zadok is a priest and not a prophet (i.e., “seer”) and therefore unable to know what the future holds.

[15:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “And Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, two of your sons, with you.” The pronominal suffix on the last word is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.

[15:28]  ⁸ tn The pronoun is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.