2 Samuel 1:26

1:26 I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan!

You were very dear to me.

Your love was more special to me than the love of women.

2 Samuel 3:6

Abner Defects to David’s Camp

3:6 As the war continued between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was becoming more influential ¹  in the house of Saul.

2 Samuel 3:38

3:38 Then the king said to his servants, “Do you not realize that a great leader ²  has fallen this day in Israel?

2 Samuel 5:10

5:10 David’s power grew steadily, for the Lord God ³  who commands armies ⁴  was with him. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 6:12

6:12 David was told, ⁶  “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David.

2 Samuel 7:9

7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated ⁷  all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 7:21-23

7:21 For the sake of your promise and according to your purpose ⁹  you have done this great thing in order to reveal it to your servant. ¹⁰  7:22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you! There is no God besides you! What we have heard is true! ¹¹  7:23 Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ¹²  on the earth? Their God ¹³  went ¹⁴  to claim ¹⁵  a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, ¹⁶  before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 7:26

7:26 so you may gain lasting fame, ¹⁸  as people say, ¹⁹  ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel!’ The dynasty ²⁰  of your servant David will be established before you,

2 Samuel 8:8

8:8 From Tebah ²¹  and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities, King David took a great deal of bronze.

2 Samuel 8:17

8:17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar ²²  were priests; Seraiah was scribe;

2 Samuel 12:3

12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ²³  It used to ²⁴  eat his food, ²⁵  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ²⁶  It was just like a daughter to him.

2 Samuel 12:14

12:14 Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt ²⁷  in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.”

2 Samuel 12:29

12:29 So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it.

2 Samuel 13:12

13:12 But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this foolish thing!

2 Samuel 13:15-16

13:15 Then Amnon greatly despised her. ²⁸  His disdain toward her surpassed the love he had previously felt toward her. ²⁹  Amnon said to her, “Get up and leave!”

13:16 But she said to him, “No I won’t, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!” ³⁰  But he refused to listen to her.

2 Samuel 13:34

13:34 In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west ³¹  on a road beside the hill.

2 Samuel 13:36

13:36 Just as he finished speaking, the king’s sons arrived, wailing and weeping. ³²  The king and all his servants wept loudly ³³  as well.

2 Samuel 14:7

14:7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ³⁴  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ³⁵  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

2 Samuel 14:11

14:11 She replied, “In that case, ³⁶  let the king invoke the name of ³⁷  the Lord your God so that the avenger of blood may not kill! Then they will not destroy my son!” He replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of your son’s head ³⁸  will fall to the ground.”

2 Samuel 17:11

17:11 My advice therefore is this: Let all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba – in number like the sand by the sea! – be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle.

2 Samuel 17:28

17:28 brought bedding, basins, and pottery utensils. They also brought food for David and all who were with him, including wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, ³⁹ 

2 Samuel 18:7

18:7 The army of Israel was defeated there by David’s men. ⁴⁰  The slaughter there was great that day – 20,000 soldiers were killed.

2 Samuel 18:9-10

18:9 Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his ⁴¹  mule, it ⁴²  went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, ⁴³  while the mule he had been riding kept going.

18:10 When one ⁴⁴  of the men saw this, he reported it to Joab saying, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.

2 Samuel 18:17

18:17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and stacked a huge pile of stones over him. In the meantime all the Israelite soldiers fled to their homes. ⁴⁵ 

2 Samuel 18:29

18:29 The king replied, “How is the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was all about.”

2 Samuel 19:3

19:3 That day the people stole away to go to the city the way people who are embarrassed steal away in fleeing from battle.

2 Samuel 19:7

19:7 So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to ⁴⁶  your servants. For I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!”

2 Samuel 19:22

19:22 But David said, “What do we have in common, ⁴⁷  you sons of Zeruiah? You are like my enemy today! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don’t you realize that today I am king over Israel?”

2 Samuel 19:32

19:32 But Barzillai was very old – eighty years old, in fact – and he had taken care of the king when he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very rich ⁴⁸  man.

2 Samuel 19:36

19:36 I will cross the Jordan with the king and go a short distance. ⁴⁹  Why should the king reward me in this way?

2 Samuel 19:43

19:43 The men of Israel replied to the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want ⁵⁰  to curse us? Weren’t we the first to suggest bringing back our king?” But the comments of the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel.

2 Samuel 20:6

20:6 Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure ⁵¹  fortified cities for himself and get away from us.”

2 Samuel 20:8

20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. ⁵² 

2 Samuel 20:15

20:15 So Joab’s men ⁵³  came and laid siege against him in Abel of Beth Maacah. They prepared a siege ramp outside the city which stood against its outer rampart. As all of Joab’s soldiers were trying to break through ⁵⁴  the wall so that it would collapse,

2 Samuel 20:19

20:19 I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city ⁵⁵  in Israel. Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”

2 Samuel 20:25

20:25 Sheva was the scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.

2 Samuel 21:19-20

21:19 Yet another battle occurred with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion Elhanan the son of Jair ⁵⁶  the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, ⁵⁷  the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 21:20 Yet another battle occurred in Gath. On that occasion there was a large man ⁵⁸  who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha.

2 Samuel 22:17

22:17 He reached down from above and grabbed me; ⁵⁹ 

he pulled me from the surging water. ⁶⁰ 

2 Samuel 22:36-37

22:36 You give me ⁶¹  your protective shield; ⁶² 

your willingness to help enables me to prevail. ⁶³ 

22:37 You widen my path; ⁶⁴ 

my feet ⁶⁵  do not slip.

2 Samuel 22:51--23:1

22:51 He gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ⁶⁶ 

he is faithful to his chosen ruler, ⁶⁷ 

to David and to his descendants forever!”

David’s Final Words

23:1 These are the final words of David:

“The oracle of David son of Jesse,

the oracle of the man raised up as

the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, ⁶⁸ 

Israel’s beloved ⁶⁹  singer of songs:

2 Samuel 23:10-12

23:10 he stood his ground ⁷⁰  and fought the Philistines until his hand grew so tired that it ⁷¹  seemed stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory on that day. When the army returned to him, the only thing left to do was to plunder the corpses.

23:11 Next in command ⁷²  was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, ⁷³  where there happened to be an area of a field that was full of lentils, the army retreated before the Philistines. 23:12 But he made a stand in the middle of that area. He defended ⁷⁴  it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.

2 Samuel 23:20-21

23:20 Benaiah son of Jehoida was a brave warrior ⁷⁵  from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. ⁷⁶  He also went down and killed a lion in a cistern on a snowy day. 23:21 He also killed an impressive-looking Egyptian. ⁷⁷  The Egyptian wielded a spear, while Benaiah attacked ⁷⁸  him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

2 Samuel 24:10

24:10 David felt guilty ⁷⁹  after he had numbered the army. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, O Lord, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

2 Samuel 24:14

24:14 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ⁸⁰ 

[3:6]  ¹ tn Heb “was strengthening himself.” The statement may have a negative sense here, perhaps suggesting that Abner was overstepping the bounds of political propriety in a self-serving way.

[3:38]  ² tn Heb “a leader and a great one.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[5:10]  ³ tc 4QSam^a and the LXX lack the word “God,” probably due to harmonization with the more common biblical phrase “the Lord of hosts.”

[5:10]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “the Lord God of hosts” (KJV, NASB); NIV, NLT “the Lord God Almighty”; CEV “the Lord (+ God NCV) All-Powerful.”

[5:10]  ⁵ tn The translation assumes that the disjunctive clause is circumstantial-causal, giving the reason for David’s success.

[6:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and it was told to David, saying.”

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”

[7:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the sake of your word and according to your heart.”

[7:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to make known, your servant.”

[7:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in all which we heard with our ears.” The phrase translated “in all” בְּכֹל (bÿkhol) should probably be emended to “according to all” כְּכֹל (kÿkhol).

[7:23]  ¹² tn Heb “a nation, one.”

[7:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “whose God” or “because God.” In the Hebrew text this clause is subordinated to what precedes. The clauses are separated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is plural in Hebrew, agreeing grammatically with the divine name, which is a plural of degree.

[7:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “redeem.”

[7:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and to do for you [plural form] the great [thing] and awesome [things] for your land.”

[7:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “from Egypt, nations and their gods.” The LXX has “nations and tents,” which reflects a mistaken metathesis of letters in אֶלֹהָיו (e’lohav, “its gods”) and אֹהָלָיו (’ohalav, “its tents”).

[7:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and your name might be great permanently.” Following the imperative in v. 23b, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result.

[7:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[7:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the house.” See the note on “dynastic house” in the following verse.

[8:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “Betah” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV), but the name should probably be corrected to “Tebah.” See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:8.

[8:17]  ²² tc Here Ahimelech is called “the son of Abiathar,” but NCV, CEV, and REB reverse this to conform with 1 Sam 22:20. Most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) retain the order found in the MT.

[12:3]  ²³ tn Heb “his sons.”

[12:3]  ²⁴ tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.

[12:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from his morsel.”

[12:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”

[12:14]  ²⁷ tc The MT has here “because you have caused the enemies of the Lord to treat the Lord with such contempt.” This is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this ancient tradition, the scribes changed the text in order to soften somewhat the negative light in which David was presented. If that is the case, the MT reflects the altered text. The present translation departs from the MT here. Elsewhere the Piel stem of this verb means “treat with contempt,” but never “cause someone to treat with contempt.”

[13:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and Amnon hated her with very great hatred.”

[13:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for greater was the hatred with which he hated her than the love with which he loved her.”

[13:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “No, because this great evil is [worse] than the other which you did with me, by sending me away.” Perhaps the broken syntax reflects her hysteria and outrage.

[13:34]  ³¹ tn Heb “behind him.”

[13:36]  ³² tn Heb “and they lifted their voice and wept.”

[13:36]  ³³ tn Heb “with a great weeping.”

[14:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ (bÿ, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (בְּ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.

[14:7]  ³⁵ sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.

[14:11]  ³⁶ tn The words “in that case” are not in the Hebrew text, but may be inferred from the context. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification.

[14:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “let the king remember.”

[14:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “of your son.”

[17:28]  ³⁹ tc The MT adds “roasted grain” וְקָלִי (vÿqali) at the end of v. 28, apparently accidentally repeating the word from its earlier occurrence in this verse. With the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and an Old Latin ms the translation deletes this second occurrence of the word.

[18:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “servants” (also in v. 9).

[18:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the.”

[18:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “the donkey.”

[18:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “between the sky and the ground.”

[18:10]  ⁴⁴ tc 4QSam^a lacks the word “one.”

[18:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and all Israel fled, each to his tent.” In this context this refers to the supporters of Absalom (see vv. 6-7, 16).

[19:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and speak to the heart of.”

[19:22]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “what to me and to you.”

[19:32]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “great.”

[19:36]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Like a little your servant will cross the Jordan with the king.”

[19:43]  ⁵⁰ tn The translation understands the verb in a desiderative sense, indicating the desire but not necessarily the completed action of the party in question. It is possible, however, that the verb should be given the more common sense of accomplished action, in which case it means here “Why have you cursed us?”

[20:6]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “find.” The perfect verbal form is unexpected with the preceding word “otherwise.” We should probably read instead the imperfect. Although it is possible to understand the perfect here as indicating that the feared result is thought of as already having taken place (cf. BDB 814 s.v. פֶּן 2), it is more likely that the perfect is simply the result of scribal error. In this context the imperfect would be more consistent with the following verb וְהִצִּיל (vÿhitsil, “and he will get away”).

[20:8]  ⁵² sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.

[20:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “they.” The following context makes it clear that this refers to Joab and his army.

[20:15]  ⁵⁴ tc The LXX has here ἐνοοῦσαν (enoousan, “were devising”), which apparently presupposes the Hebrew word מַחֲשָׁבִים (makhashavim) rather than the MT מַשְׁחִיתִם (mashkhitim, “were destroying”). With a number of other scholars Driver thinks that the Greek variant may preserve the original reading, but this seems to be an unnecessary conclusion (but see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 346).

[20:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “a city and a mother.” The expression is a hendiadys, meaning that this city was an important one in Israel and had smaller cities dependent on it.

[21:19]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Jaare-Oregim,” but the second word, which means “weavers,” is probably accidentally included. It appears at the end of the verse. The term is omitted in the parallel account in 1 Chr 20:5, which has simply “Jair.”

[21:19]  ⁵⁷ sn The Hebrew text as it stands reads, “Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite.” Who killed Goliath the Gittite? According to 1 Sam 17:4-58 it was David who killed Goliath, but according to the MT of 2 Sam 21:19 it was Elhanan who killed him. Many scholars believe that the two passages are hopelessly at variance with one another. Others have proposed various solutions to the difficulty, such as identifying David with Elhanan or positing the existence of two Goliaths. But in all likelihood the problem is the result of difficulties in the textual transmission of the Samuel passage; in fact, from a text-critical point of view the books of Samuel are the most poorly preserved of all the books of the Hebrew Bible. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 20:5 reads, “Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath.” Both versions are textually corrupt. The Chronicles text has misread “Bethlehemite” (בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי, bet hallakhmi) as the accusative sign followed by a proper name אֶת לַחְמִי (’et lakhmi). (See the note at 1 Chr 20:5.) The Samuel text misread the word for “brother” (אַח, ’akh) as the accusative sign (אֵת, ’et), thereby giving the impression that Elhanan, not David, killed Goliath. Thus in all probability the original text read, “Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath.”

[21:20]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “a man of stature.”

[22:17]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

[22:17]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 5 and Ps 144:7).

[22:36]  ⁶¹ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed verb with vav consecutive with a past tense, “you gave me.” Several prefixed verbal forms with vav consecutive also appear in vv. 38-44. The present translation understands this section as a description of what generally happened when the author charged into battle, but another option is to understand the section as narrative and translate accordingly.

[22:36]  ⁶² tc Ps 18:35 contains an additional line following this one, which reads “your right hand supports me.” It may be omitted here due to homoioarcton. See the note at Ps 18:35.

[22:36]  tn Heb “and you give me the shield of your deliverance”; KJV, ASV “the shield of thy (your NRSV, NLT) salvation”; NIV “your shield of victory.” Ancient Near Eastern literature often refers to a god giving a king special weapons. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 260-61.

[22:36]  ⁶³ tn Heb “your answer makes me great.” David refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer.

[22:37]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “step.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives him the capacity to run quickly.

[22:37]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”

[22:51]  ⁶⁶ tc The translation follows the Kethib and the ancient versions in reading מַגְדִּיל (magdil, “he magnifies”) rather than the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss of the MT which read מִגְדּוֹל (migdol, “tower”). See Ps 18:50.

[22:51]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty to his anointed one.”

[23:1]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”

[23:1]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “pleasant.”

[23:10]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “arose.”

[23:10]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “his hand.”

[23:11]  ⁷² tn Heb “after him.”

[23:11]  ⁷³ tn The Hebrew text is difficult here. The MT reads לַחַיָּה (lachayyah), which implies a rare use of the word חַיָּה (chayyah). The word normally refers to an animal, but if the MT is accepted it would here have the sense of a troop or community of people. BDB 312 s.v. II. חַיָּה, for example, understands the similar reference in v. 13 to be to “a group of allied families, making a raid together.” But this works better in v. 13 than it does in v. 11, where the context seems to suggest a particular staging location for a military operation. (See 1 Chr 11:15.) It therefore seems best to understand the word in v. 11 as a place name with ה (he) directive. In that case the Masoretes mistook the word for the common term for an animal and then tried to make sense of it in this context.

[23:12]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “delivered.”

[23:20]  ⁷⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading חַיִל (khayil, “valor”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, חַי (khay, “life”).

[23:20]  ⁷⁶ tc Heb “the two of Ariel, Moab.” The precise meaning of אריאל is uncertain; some read “warrior.” The present translation assumes that the word is a proper name and that בני, “sons of,” has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note the preceding שׁני).

[23:21]  ⁷⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who”).

[23:21]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “and he went down to.”

[24:10]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “and the heart of David struck him.”

[24:14]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “There is great distress to me. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for great is his mercy, but into the hand of man let me not fall.”