2 Samuel 8:1--12:31
Konteks8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah 1 from the Philistines. 2 8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. 3 The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. 4 8:3 David defeated King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah when he came to reestablish 5 his authority 6 over the Euphrates 7 River. 8:4 David seized from him 1,700 charioteers 8 and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of the chariot horses. 9 8:5 The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. 8:6 David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected 10 David wherever he campaigned. 11 8:7 David took the golden shields that belonged to Hadadezer’s servants and brought them to Jerusalem. 12 8:8 From Tebah 13 and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities, King David took a great deal of bronze.
8:9 When King Toi 14 of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 8:10 he 15 sent his son Joram 16 to King David to extend his best wishes 17 and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer. 18 He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze. 19 8:11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord, 20 along with the dedicated silver and gold that he had taken from 21 all the nations that he had subdued, 8:12 including 22 Aram, 23 Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amelek. This also included some of the plunder taken from 24 King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.
8:13 David became famous 25 when he returned from defeating the Arameans 26 in the Valley of Salt, he defeated 27 18,000 in all. 8:14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, 28 and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned. 8:15 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people. 29
8:16 Joab son of Zeruiah was general in command of 30 the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; 8:17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar 31 were priests; Seraiah was scribe; 8:18 Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised 32 the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. 33
9:1 34 Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family 35 of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”
9:2 Now there was a servant from Saul’s house named Ziba, so he was summoned to David. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?” He replied, “At your service.” 36 9:3 The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, 37 that I may extend God’s kindness to him?” Ziba said to the king, “One of Jonathan’s sons is left; both of his feet are crippled.” 9:4 The king asked him, “Where is he?” Ziba told the king, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.
9:5 So King David had him brought 38 from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in 39 Lo Debar. 9:6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. 40 David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” 41
9:7 David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” 42 9:8 Then Mephibosheth 43 bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” 44
9:9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master’s grandson. 9:10 You will cultivate 45 the land for him – you and your sons and your servants. You will bring its produce 46 and it will be 47 food for your master’s grandson to eat. 48 But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will be a regular guest at my table.” (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)
9:11 Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth was a regular guest 49 at David’s table, 50 just as though he were one of the king’s sons.
9:12 Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All the members of Ziba’s household were Mephibosheth’s servants. 9:13 Mephibosheth was living in Jerusalem, 51 for he was a regular guest at the king’s table. But both his feet were crippled.
10:1 Later the king of the Ammonites died and his son Hanun succeeded him. 52 10:2 David said, “I will express my loyalty 53 to Hanun son of Nahash just as his father was loyal 54 to me.” So David sent his servants with a message expressing sympathy over his father’s death. 55 When David’s servants entered the land of the Ammonites, 10:3 the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? 56 No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!” 57
10:4 So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved off half of each one’s beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, 58 and then sent them away. 10:5 Messengers 59 told David what had happened, 60 so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho 61 until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”
10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, 62 they 63 sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, 64 in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. 65
10:7 When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them. 66 10:8 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.
10:9 When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans. 67 10:10 He put his brother Abishai in charge of the rest of the army 68 and they were deployed 69 against the Ammonites. 10:11 Joab 70 said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, 71 you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, 72 I will come to your rescue. 10:12 Be strong! Let’s fight bravely for the sake of our people and the cities of our God! The Lord will do what he decides is best!” 73
10:13 So Joab and his men 74 marched out to do battle with the Arameans, and they fled before him. 10:14 When the Ammonites saw the Arameans flee, they fled before his brother Abishai and went into the city. Joab withdrew from fighting the Ammonites and returned to 75 Jerusalem. 76
10:15 When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they consolidated their forces. 77 10:16 Then Hadadezer sent for Arameans from 78 beyond the Euphrates River, 79 and they came to Helam. Shobach, the general in command of Hadadezer’s army, led them. 80
10:17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, 81 and came to Helam. The Arameans deployed their forces against David and fought with him. 10:18 The Arameans fled before Israel. David killed 700 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. 82 He also struck down Shobach, the general in command of the army, who died there. 10:19 When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer 83 saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subjects of Israel. 84 The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.
11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings 85 normally conduct wars, 86 David sent out Joab with his officers 87 and the entire Israelite army. 88 They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 89 11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. 90 From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive. 91 11:3 So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger 92 said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. 93 She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. 94 (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) 95 Then she returned to her home. 11:5 The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, “I’m pregnant.”
11:6 So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going. 96 11:8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” 97 When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. 98 11:9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all 99 the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.
11:10 So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?” 11:11 Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations 100 with my wife? As surely as you are alive, 101 I will not do this thing!” 11:12 So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one. 102 11:13 Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.
11:14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 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.”
11:16 So as Joab kept watch on the city, he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers 103 were. 11:17 When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David’s soldiers 104 fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.
11:18 Then Joab sent a full battle report to David. 105 11:19 He instructed the messenger as follows: “When you finish giving the battle report to the king, 11:20 if the king becomes angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the wall? 11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone 106 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.’”
11:22 So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him. 11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us 107 in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way 108 to the door of the city gate. 11:24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall and some of the king’s soldiers 109 died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” 11:25 David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing upset you. 110 There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. 111 Press the battle against the city and conquer 112 it.’ Encourage him with these words.” 113
11:26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for him. 114 11:27 When the time of mourning passed, David had her brought to his palace. 115 She became his wife and she bore him a son. But what David had done upset the Lord. 116
12:1 So the Lord sent Nathan 117 to David. When he came to David, 118 Nathan 119 said, 120 “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 12:2 The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 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. 121 It used to 122 eat his food, 123 drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. 124 It was just like a daughter to him.
12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, 125 he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed 126 the traveler who had come to visit him. 127 Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked 128 it for the man who had come to visit him.”
12:5 Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 129 12:6 Because he committed this cold-hearted crime, he must pay for the lamb four times over!” 130
12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose 131 you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul. 12:8 I gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your arms. 132 I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well! 12:9 Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my 133 sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife as your own! 134 You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 12:10 So now the sword will never depart from your house. For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!’ 12:11 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you 135 from inside your own household! 136 Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. 137 He will have sexual relations with 138 your wives in broad daylight! 139 12:12 Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.’” 140
12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven 141 your sin. You are not going to die. 12:14 Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt 142 in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.”
12:15 Then Nathan went to his home. The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill. 143 12:16 Then David prayed to 144 God for the child and fasted. 145 He would even 146 go and spend the night lying on the ground. 12:17 The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.
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 147 when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” 148
12:19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he 149 realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.” 12:20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.
12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While 150 the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!” 12:22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, 151 ‘Perhaps 152 the Lord will show pity and the child will live. 12:23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!’”
12:24 So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. 153 She gave birth to a son, and David 154 named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child 155 12:25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet that he should be named Jedidiah 156 for the Lord’s sake.
12:26 157 So Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city. 12:27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city. 158 12:28 So now assemble the rest of the army 159 and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”
12:29 So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it. 12:30 He took the crown of their king 160 from his head – it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, 161 and held a precious stone – and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder. 12:31 He removed 162 the people who were in it and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work at the brick kiln. This was his policy 163 with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem. 164
[8:1] 1 tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).
[8:1] 2 tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”
[8:2] 3 tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
[8:2] 4 tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
[8:3] 5 tc The LXX has ἐπιστῆσαι (episthsai, “cause to stand”). See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.
[8:3] 7 tn The MT does not have the name “Euphrates” in the text. It is supplied in the margin (Qere) as one of ten places where the Masoretes believed that something was “to be read although it was not written” in the text as they had received it. The ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate) include the word. See also the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.
[8:4] 8 tc The LXX has “one thousand chariots and seven thousand charioteers,” a reading adopted in the text of the NIV. See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:4.
[8:4] 9 tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them a hundred chariot horses.”
[8:6] 11 tn Or “wherever he went.”
[8:7] 12 tc The LXX includes seventeen words (in Greek) at the end of v. 7 that are not found in the MT. The LXX addition is as follows: “And Sousakim king of Egypt took them when he came up to Jerusalem in the days of Rehoboam the son of Solomon.” This Greek reading now finds Hebrew support in 4QSama. For a reconstruction of this poorly preserved Qumran text see E. C. Ulrich, Jr., The Qumran Text of Samuel and Josephus (HSM), 45-48.
[8:7] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:8] 13 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.
[8:9] 14 tn The name is spelled “Tou” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:9. NIV adopts the spelling “Tou” here.
[8:10] 15 tn Heb “Toi.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:10] 16 tn The name appears as “Hadoram” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:10.
[8:10] 17 tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”
[8:10] 18 tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Toi.”
[8:10] 19 tn Heb “and in his hand were items of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.”
[8:11] 20 tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the
[8:11] 21 tn Heb “with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from.”
[8:12] 23 tc The present translation follows the MT; a few Hebrew
[8:12] 24 tn Heb “and from the plunder of.”
[8:13] 25 tn Heb “made a name.”
[8:13] 26 tn So NASB, NCV; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “Edomites” (see the note on “Aram” in v. 12).
[8:13] 27 tn The words “he defeated” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:14] 28 tc The MT is repetitious here: “He placed in Edom garrisons; in all Edom he placed garrisons.” The Vulgate lacks “in all Edom”; most of the Greek tradition (with the exception of the Lucianic recension and the recension of Origen) and the Syriac Peshitta lack “he placed garrisons.” The MT reading appears here to be the result of a conflation of variant readings.
[8:15] 29 tn Heb “and David was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”
[8:17] 31 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.
[8:18] 32 tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate in reading “over,” rather than the simple conjunction that appears in MT. See also the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17.
[8:18] 33 sn That David’s sons could have been priests, in light of the fact that they were not of the priestly lineage, is strange. One must assume either (1) that the word “priest” (כֹּהֵן, kohen) during this period of time could be used in a broader sense of “chief ruler” (KJV); “chief minister” (ASV, NASB), or “royal adviser” (NIV), perhaps based on the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17 which has “the king’s leading officials”, or (2) that in David’s day members of the king’s family could function as a special category of “priests” (cf. NLT “priestly leaders”). The latter option seems to be the more straightforward way of understanding the word in 2 Sam 8:18.
[9:1] 34 sn 2 Samuel 9–20 is known as the Succession Narrative. It is a literary unit that describes David’s efforts at consolidating his own kingdom following the demise of King Saul; it also provides the transition to subsequent leadership on the part of David’s successor Solomon.
[9:2] 36 tn Heb “your servant.”
[9:5] 38 tn Heb “sent and took him.”
[9:6] 40 tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”
[9:6] 41 tn Heb “Look, your servant.”
[9:7] 42 tn Heb “and you will eat food over my table continually.”
[9:8] 43 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:8] 44 tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”
[9:10] 46 tn The Hebrew text implies, but does not actually contain, the words “its produce” here.
[9:10] 47 tc The words “it will be,” though present in the MT, are absent from the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.
[9:10] 48 tn Heb “and he will eat it.”
[9:11] 50 tc Heb “my table.” But the first person reference to David is awkward here since the quotation of David’s words has already been concluded in v. 10; nor does the “my” refer to Ziba, since the latter part of v. 11 does not seem to be part of Ziba’s response to the king. The ancient versions are not unanimous in the way that they render the phrase. The LXX has “the table of David” (τῆς τραπέζης Δαυιδ, th" trapezh" Dauid); the Syriac Peshitta has “the table of the king” (patureh demalka’); the Vulgate has “your table” (mensam tuam). The present translation follows the LXX.
[9:13] 51 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[10:1] 52 tn Heb “reigned in his place.”
[10:2] 53 tn Heb “do loyalty.”
[10:2] 54 tn Heb “did loyalty.”
[10:2] 55 tn Heb “and David sent to console him by the hand of his servants concerning his father.”
[10:3] 56 tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”
[10:3] 57 tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”
[10:4] 58 tn Heb “and he cut their robes in the middle unto their buttocks.”
[10:5] 59 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:5] 60 tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[10:5] 61 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[10:6] 62 tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”
[10:6] 63 tn Heb “the Ammonites.”
[10:6] 64 tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”
[10:6] 65 tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.
[10:7] 66 tn The words “the news” and “to meet them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
[10:9] 67 tn Heb “and Joab saw that the face of the battle was to him before and behind and he chose from all the best in Israel and arranged to meet Aram.”
[10:10] 69 tn Heb “he arranged.”
[10:11] 70 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:11] 71 tn Heb “if Aram is stronger than me.”
[10:11] 72 tn Heb “if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you.”
[10:12] 73 tn Heb “and the
[10:13] 74 tn Heb “and the army which was with him.”
[10:14] 75 tn Heb “and Joab returned from against the sons of Ammon and entered.”
[10:14] 76 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[10:15] 77 tn Heb “were gathered together.”
[10:16] 78 tn Heb “and Hadadezer sent and brought out Aram which is.”
[10:16] 79 tn Heb “from beyond the River.” The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[10:16] 80 tn Heb “was before them.”
[10:17] 81 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[10:18] 82 tn Heb “horsemen” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT) but the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “foot soldiers,” as does the parallel text in 1 Chr 19:18. Cf. NAB, NIV.
[10:19] 83 tn Heb “the servants of Hadadezer.”
[10:19] 84 tn Heb “and they served them.”
[11:1] 85 tc Codex Leningrad (B19A), on which BHS is based, has here “messengers” (הַמַּלְאכִים, hammal’khim), probably as the result of contamination from the occurrence of that word in v. 4. The present translation follows most Hebrew
[11:1] 87 tn Heb “and his servants with him.”
[11:1] 88 tn Heb “all Israel.”
[11:1] 89 tn The disjunctive clause contrasts David’s inactivity with the army’s activity.
[11:1] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[11:2] 90 tn Heb “on the roof of the house of the king.” So also in vv. 8, 9.
[11:2] 91 tn The disjunctive clause highlights this observation and builds the tension of the story.
[11:3] 92 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the messenger) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:4] 93 tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”
[11:4] 94 tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”
[11:4] 95 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.
[11:7] 96 tn Heb “concerning the peace of Joab and concerning the peace of the people and concerning the peace of the battle.”
[11:8] 97 tn Heb “and wash your feet.”
[11:8] 98 tn Heb “and there went out after him the gift of the king.”
[11:9] 99 tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation lacks the word “all.”
[11:11] 101 tn Heb “as you live and as your soul lives.”
[11:12] 102 tn On the chronology involved here see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 287.
[11:16] 103 tn Heb “the valiant men.” This refers in context to the strongest or most valiant defenders of the city Joab and the Israelite army were besieging, so the present translation uses “the best enemy soldiers” for clarity.
[11:17] 104 tn Heb “some of the people from the servants of David.”
[11:18] 105 tn Heb “Joab sent and related to David all the matters of the battle.”
[11:21] 106 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.
[11:23] 107 tn Heb “and came out to us.”
[11:23] 108 tn Heb “but we were on them.”
[11:24] 109 tc The translation follows the Qere (“your servants”) rather than the Kethib (“your servant”).
[11:25] 110 tn Heb “let not this matter be evil in your eyes.”
[11:25] 111 tn Heb “according to this and according to this the sword devours.”
[11:25] 112 tn Heb “overthrow.”
[11:25] 113 tn The Hebrew text does not have “with these words.” They are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[11:26] 114 tn Heb “for her lord.”
[11:27] 115 tn Heb “David sent and gathered her to his house.”
[11:27] 116 tn Heb “and the thing which David had done was evil in the eyes of the
[12:1] 117 tc A few medieval Hebrew
[12:1] 118 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:1] 119 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[12:1] 120 tn The Hebrew text repeats “to him.”
[12:3] 122 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] 123 tn Heb “from his morsel.”
[12:3] 124 tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”
[12:4] 125 tn Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.
[12:4] 126 tn Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”
[12:4] 127 tn Heb “who had come to him” (also a second time later in this verse). The word “visit” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
[12:4] 128 tn Heb “and prepared.”
[12:5] 129 tn Heb “the man doing this [is] a son of death.” See 1 Sam 20:31 for another use of this expression, which must mean “he is as good as dead” or “he deserves to die,” as 1 Sam 20:32 makes clear.
[12:6] 130 tc With the exception of the Lucianic recension, the Old Greek translation has here “sevenfold” rather than “fourfold,” a reading that S. R. Driver thought probably to be the original reading (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 291). However, Exod 22:1 [21:37 HT] specifies fourfold repayment for a stolen sheep, which is consistent with 2 Sam 12:6. Some
[12:6] tn Heb “the lamb he must repay fourfold because he did this thing and because he did not have compassion.”
[12:8] 132 tn Heb “and the wives of your lord into your chest [or “lap”].” The words “I put” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
[12:9] 133 tc So the Qere; the Kethib has “his.”
[12:9] 134 tn Heb “to you for a wife.” This expression also occurs at the end of v. 10.
[12:11] 135 tn Heb “raise up against you disaster.”
[12:11] 136 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”
[12:11] 138 tn Heb “will lie with” (so NIV, NRSV); TEV “will have intercourse with”; CEV, NLT “will go to bed with.”
[12:11] 139 tn Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”
[12:12] 140 tn Heb “and before the sun.”
[12:14] 142 tc The MT has here “because you have caused the enemies of the
[12:15] 143 tn Heb “and the
[12:16] 144 tn Heb “sought” or “searched for.”
[12:16] 145 tn Heb “and David fasted.”
[12:16] 146 tn The three Hebrew verbs that follow in this verse are perfects with prefixed vav. They may describe repeated past actions or actions which accompanied David’s praying and fasting.
[12:18] 147 tn Heb “to our voice.”
[12:18] 148 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!
[12:19] 149 tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.
[12:21] 150 tc For the MT בַּעֲבוּר (ba’avur, “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד (bÿ’od, “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.
[12:22] 152 tn Heb “Who knows?”
[12:24] 153 tn Heb “and he lay with her.”
[12:24] 154 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. While some translations render the pronoun as third person plural (“they”), implying that both David and Bathsheba together named the child, it is likely that the name “Solomon,” which is related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (and may be derived from it) had special significance for David, who would have regarded the birth of a second child to Bathsheba as a confirming sign that God had forgiven his sin and was at peace with him.
[12:24] 155 tn Heb “him,” referring to the child.
[12:25] 156 sn The name Jedidiah means “loved by the
[12:26] 157 sn Here the narrative resumes the battle story that began in 11:1 (see 11:25). The author has interrupted that story to give the related account of David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. He now returns to the earlier story and brings it to a conclusion.
[12:27] 158 sn The expression translated the water supply of the city (Heb “the city of the waters”) apparently refers to that part of the fortified city that guarded the water supply of the entire city. Joab had already captured this part of the city, but he now defers to King David for the capture of the rest of the city. In this way the king will receive the credit for this achievement.
[12:28] 159 tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 29, 31.
[12:30] 160 tn Part of the Greek tradition wrongly understands Hebrew מַלְכָּם (malkam, “their king”) as a proper name (“Milcom”). Some English versions follow the Greek here, rendering the phrase “the crown of Milcom” (so NRSV; cf. also NAB, CEV). TEV takes this as a reference not to the Ammonite king but to “the idol of the Ammonite god Molech.”
[12:30] 161 tn Heb “and its weight [was] a talent of gold.” The weight of this ornamental crown was approximately 75 lbs (34 kg). See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 313.
[12:31] 162 tn Heb “brought out.”
[12:31] 163 tn Heb “and so he would do.”
[12:31] 164 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
