2 Samuel 1:10

1:10 So I stood over him and put him to death, since I knew that he couldn’t live in such a condition. ¹  Then I took the crown which was on his head and the ²  bracelet which was on his arm. I have brought them here to my lord.” ³ 

2 Samuel 11:21

11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone ⁴  down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

2 Samuel 12:18

12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us ⁵  when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” ⁶ 

2 Samuel 13:13

13:13 How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools ⁷  in Israel! Just ⁸  speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

2 Samuel 15:14

15:14 So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, ⁹  “Come on! ¹⁰  Let’s escape! ¹¹  Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring ¹²  disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.” ¹³ 

2 Samuel 17:16

17:16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ¹⁴  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ¹⁵  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ¹⁶  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 23:17

23:17 and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹⁸  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ¹⁹  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ²⁰ 

[1:10]  ¹ tn Heb “after his falling”; NAB “could not survive his wound”; CEV “was too badly wounded to live much longer.”

[1:10]  ² tc The MT lacks the definite article, but this is likely due to textual corruption. It is preferable to read the alef (א) of אֶצְעָדָה (’ets’adah) as a ה (he) giving הַצְּעָדָה (hatsÿ’adah). There is no reason to think that the soldier confiscated from Saul’s dead body only one of two or more bracelets that he was wearing (cf. NLT “one of his bracelets”).

[1:10]  ³ sn The claims that the soldier is making here seem to contradict the story of Saul’s death as presented in 1 Sam 31:3-5. In that passage it appears that Saul took his own life, not that he was slain by a passerby who happened on the scene. Some scholars account for the discrepancy by supposing that conflicting accounts have been brought together in the MT. However, it is likely that the young man is here fabricating the account in a self-serving way so as to gain favor with David, or so he supposes. He probably had come across Saul’s corpse, stolen the crown and bracelet from the body, and now hopes to curry favor with David by handing over to him these emblems of Saul’s royalty. But in so doing the Amalekite greatly miscalculated David’s response to this alleged participation in Saul’s death. The consequence of his lies will instead be his own death.

[11:21]  ⁴ sn The upper millstone (Heb “millstone of riding”) refers to the heavy circular stone that was commonly rolled over a circular base in order to crush and grind such things as olives.

[12:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “to our voice.”

[12:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!

[13:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “and you will be like one of the fools.”

[13:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Now.”

[15:14]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Arise!”

[15:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “let’s flee.”

[15:14]  ¹² tn Heb “thrust.”

[15:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

[17:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”

[17:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV).

[17:16]  ¹⁶ tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”

[17:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “swallowed up.”

[23:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Far be it to me, O Lord, from doing this.”

[23:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[Is it not] the blood of the men who were going with their lives?”

[23:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”