2 Samuel 3:12

3:12 Then Abner sent messengers ¹  to David saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement ²  with me, and I will do whatever I can ³  to cause all Israel to turn to you.”

2 Samuel 5:20

5:20 So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 6:19

6:19 He then handed out to each member of the entire assembly of Israel, ⁵  both men and women, a portion of bread, a date cake, ⁶  and a raisin cake. Then all the people went home. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 7:8

7:8 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd ⁸  to make you leader of my people Israel.

2 Samuel 11:2

11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. ⁹  From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive. ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 11:4

11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. ¹¹  She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. ¹²  (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) ¹³  Then she returned to her home.

2 Samuel 14:15

14:15 I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. ¹⁴  But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant ¹⁵  asks.

2 Samuel 16:21

16:21 Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Have sex with ¹⁶  your father’s concubines whom he left to care for the palace. All Israel will hear that you have made yourself repulsive to your father. Then your followers will be motivated to support you.” ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 19:8

19:8 So the king got up and sat at the city gate. When all the people were informed that the king was sitting at the city gate, they ¹⁸  all came before him.

David Goes Back to Jerusalem

But the Israelite soldiers ¹⁹  had all fled to their own homes. ²⁰ 

2 Samuel 20:10

20:10 Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s other hand, and Joab ²¹  stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa’s ²²  intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal. ²³  Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

2 Samuel 21:1

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ²⁴  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ²⁵  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 Samuel 21:10

21:10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them, ²⁶  she did not allow the birds of the air to feed ²⁷  on them by day, nor the wild animals ²⁸  by night.

2 Samuel 23:16

23:16 So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord

2 Samuel 23:21

23:21 He also killed an impressive-looking Egyptian. ²⁹  The Egyptian wielded a spear, while Benaiah attacked ³⁰  him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds here, “on his behalf.”

² tn Heb “cut a covenant.” So also in vv. 13, 21.

³ tn Heb “and behold, my hand is with you.”

⁴ tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”

⁵ tn Heb “to all the people, to all the throng of Israel.”

⁶ tn The Hebrew word used here אֶשְׁפָּר (’espar) is found in the OT only here and in the parallel passage found in 1 Chr 16:3. Its exact meaning is uncertain, although the context indicates that it was a food of some sort (cf. KJV “a good piece of flesh”; NRSV “a portion of meat”). The translation adopted here (“date cake”) follows the lead of the Greek translations of the LXX, Aquila, and Symmachus (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

⁷ tn Heb “and all the people went, each to his house.”

⁸ tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

⁹ tn Heb “on the roof of the house of the king.” So also in vv. 8, 9.

¹⁰ tn The disjunctive clause highlights this observation and builds the tension of the story.

¹¹ tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”

¹² tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”

¹³ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child.

¹⁴ tc The LXX (ὄψεταί με, opsetai me) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי (yerÿ’uni, Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error.

¹⁵ tn Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (’amah), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice.

¹⁶ tn Heb “go to”; NAB “have (+ sexual NCV) relations with”; TEV “have intercourse with”; NLT “Go and sleep with.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “all the people.”

¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” (see 18:16-17).

²⁰ tn Heb “had fled, each to his tent.”

²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Amasa) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²³ tn Heb “and he did not repeat concerning him, and he died.”

²⁴ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

²⁵ tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

²⁶ tn Heb “until water was poured on them from the sky.”

²⁷ tn Heb “rest.”

²⁸ tn Heb “the beasts of the field.”

²⁹ 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”).

³⁰ tn Heb “and he went down to.”