2 Samuel 1:6

1:6 The young man who was telling him this ¹  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

2 Samuel 1:24

1:24 O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

who clothed you in scarlet ²  as well as jewelry,

who put gold jewelry on your clothes.

2 Samuel 2:29

2:29 Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan River ³  and went through the whole region of Bitron ⁴  and came to Mahanaim.

2 Samuel 3:28

3:28 When David later heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the shed blood of Abner son of Ner!

2 Samuel 3:37

3:37 All the people and all Israel realized on that day that the killing of Abner son of Ner was not done at the king’s instigation. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 5:7

5:7 But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David).

2 Samuel 5:23

5:23 So David asked the Lord what he should do. ⁶  This time ⁷  the Lord ⁸  said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 6:2

6:2 David and all the men who were with him traveled ¹⁰  to ¹¹  Baalah ¹²  in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name ¹³  of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

2 Samuel 6:22

6:22 I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this! ¹⁴  But with the slave girls whom you mentioned let me be distinguished!”

2 Samuel 7:26

7:26 so you may gain lasting fame, ¹⁵  as people say, ¹⁶  ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel!’ The dynasty ¹⁷  of your servant David will be established before you,

2 Samuel 8:11

8:11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord, ¹⁸  along with the dedicated silver and gold that he had taken from ¹⁹  all the nations that he had subdued,

2 Samuel 10:5

10:5 Messengers ²⁰  told David what had happened, ²¹  so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho ²²  until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”

2 Samuel 11:15

11:15 In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”

2 Samuel 13:16

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!” ²³  But he refused to listen to her.

2 Samuel 13:23

Absalom Has Amnon Put to Death

13:23 Two years later Absalom’s sheepshearers were in Baal Hazor, ²⁴  near Ephraim. Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

2 Samuel 15:7

15:7 After four ²⁵  years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron.

2 Samuel 15:11

15:11 Now two hundred men had gone with Absalom from Jerusalem. Since they were invited, they went naively and were unaware of what Absalom was planning. ²⁶ 

2 Samuel 15:23

15:23 All the land was weeping loudly ²⁷  as all these people were leaving. ²⁸  As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving ²⁹  on the road that leads to the desert.

2 Samuel 15:30

15:30 As David was going up the Mount of Olives, he was weeping as he went; his head was covered and his feet were bare. All the people who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went up.

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, ³⁰ 

2 Samuel 18:4

18:4 Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

2 Samuel 18:20

18:20 But Joab said to him, “You will not be a bearer of good news today. You will bear good news some other day, but not today, ³¹  for the king’s son is dead.”

2 Samuel 20:7

20:7 So Joab’s men, accompanied by the Kerethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors, left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bicri.

2 Samuel 20:11

20:11 One of Joab’s soldiers who stood over Amasa said, “Whoever is for ³²  Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

2 Samuel 20:14

20:14 Sheba ³³  traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of ³⁴  Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, ³⁵  they too joined him.

2 Samuel 23:1

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, ³⁶ 

Israel’s beloved ³⁷  singer of songs:

2 Samuel 23:13

23:13 At the time of ³⁸  the harvest three ³⁹  of the thirty leaders went down to ⁴⁰  David at the cave of Adullam. A band of Philistines was camped in the valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 24:5

24:5 They crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, on the south side of the city, at ⁴¹  the wadi of Gad, near Jazer.

2 Samuel 24:7

24:7 Then they went to the fortress of Tyre ⁴²  and all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites. Then they went on to the Negev of Judah, to Beer Sheba.

[1:6]  ¹ tc The Syriac Peshitta and one ms of the LXX lack the words “who was telling him this” of the MT.

[1:24]  ² sn Clothing of scarlet was expensive and beyond the financial reach of most people.

[2:29]  ³ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they went, all the Bitron.” The meaning of the Hebrew word “Bitron,” which is used only here in the OT, is disputed. The translation above follows BDB 144 s.v. בִּתְרוֹן in taking the word to be a proper name of an area east of the Jordan. A different understanding was advocated by W. R. Arnold, who took the word to refer to the forenoon or morning; a number of modern scholars and translations have adopted this view (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT). See W. R. Arnold, “The Meaning of בתרון,” AJSL 28 (1911-1912): 274-83. In this case one could translate “and they traveled all morning long.”

[3:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the king.”

[5:23]  ⁶ tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ⁷ tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:23]  ⁹ tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.

[6:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “arose and went.”

[6:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.

[6:2]  ¹² tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).

[6:2]  ¹³ tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew mss in the first occurrence point the word differently and read the adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”). This is also the understanding of the Syriac Peshitta (Syr., taman). While this yields an acceptable understanding to the text, it is more likely that the MT dittographic here. The present translation therefore reads שֵׁם only once.

[6:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and I will shame myself still more than this and I will be lowly in my eyes.”

[7:26]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “saying.” The words “as people” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[7:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the house.” See the note on “dynastic house” in the following verse.

[8:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.”

[8:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from.”

[10:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:5]  ²¹ tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:5]  ²² map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[13:16]  ²³ 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.

[13:23]  ²⁴ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[15:7]  ²⁵ tc The MT has here “forty,” but this is presumably a scribal error for “four.” The context will not tolerate a period of forty years prior to the rebellion of Absalom. The Lucianic Greek recension (τέσσαρα ἔτη, tessara ete), the Syriac Peshitta (’arba’ sanin), and Vulgate (post quattuor autem annos) in fact have the expected reading “four years.” Most English translations follow the versions in reading “four” here, although some (e.g. KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), following the MT, read “forty.”

[15:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “being invited and going naively and they did not know anything.”

[15:23]  ²⁷ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[15:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “crossing over.”

[15:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “crossing near the face of.”

[17:28]  ³⁰ 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.

[18:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “but this day you will not bear good news.”

[20:11]  ³² tn Heb “takes delight in.”

[20:14]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sheba) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:14]  ³⁴ tc In keeping with the form of the name in v. 15, the translation deletes the “and” found in the MT.

[20:14]  ³⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ (vayyiqqahalu, “and they were gathered together”) rather than the Kethib of the MT וַיִּקְלֻהוּ (vayyiqluhu, “and they cursed him”). The Kethib is the result of metathesis.

[23:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”

[23:1]  ³⁷ tn Or “pleasant.”

[23:13]  ³⁸ tn The meaning of Hebrew אֶל־קָצִיר (’el qatsir) seems here to be “at the time of harvest,” although this is an unusual use of the phrase. As S. R. Driver points out, this preposition does not normally have the temporal sense of “in” or “during” (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 366).

[23:13]  ³⁹ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading שְׁלֹשָׁה (shÿloshah, “three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT שְׁלֹשִׁים (shÿloshim, “thirty”). “Thirty” is due to dittography of the following word and makes no sense in the context.

[23:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “went down…and approached.”

[24:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “in the middle of.”

[24:7]  ⁴² map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.