2 Samuel 5:22

5:22 The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 18:3

18:3 But the soldiers replied, ¹  “You should not do this! ²  For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be too concerned about us. ³  Even if half of us should die, they won’t be too concerned about us. But you ⁴  are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.”

2 Samuel 20:20

20:20 Joab answered, “Get serious! ⁵  I don’t want to swallow up or destroy anything!

[18:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the people said.”

[18:3]  ² tn Heb “march out.”

[18:3]  ³ tn Heb “they will not place to us heart.”

[18:3]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the LXX (except for the Lucianic recension), Symmachus, and Vulgate in reading אָתָּה (’atta, “you”) rather than MT עָתָּה (’atta, “now”).

[20:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “Far be it, far be it from me.” The expression is clearly emphatic, as may be seen in part by the repetition. P. K. McCarter, however, understands it to be coarser than the translation adopted here. He renders it as “I’ll be damned if…” (II Samuel [AB], 426, 429), which (while it is not a literal translation) may not be too far removed from the way a soldier might have expressed himself.