2 Samuel 18:11-13

18:11 Joab replied to the man who was telling him this, “What! You saw this? Why didn’t you strike him down right on the spot? ¹  I would have given you ten pieces of silver ²  and a commemorative belt!” ³ 

18:12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if ⁴  I were receiving ⁵  a thousand pieces of silver, ⁶  I would not strike ⁷  the king’s son! In our very presence ⁸  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ⁹  18:13 If I had acted at risk of my own life ¹⁰  – and nothing is hidden from the king! – you would have abandoned me.” ¹¹ 

[18:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Why did you not strike him down there to the ground.”

[18:11]  ² tn Heb “ten [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 4 ounces (114 grams) of silver by weight.

[18:11]  ³ tn Heb “and a girdle” (so KJV); NIV “a warrior’s belt”; CEV “a special belt”; NLT “a hero’s belt.”

[18:12]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וְלוּ (vÿlu, “and if”) rather than MT וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

[18:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “weighing out in my hand.”

[18:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “a thousand [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 25 pounds (11.4 kg) of silver by weight.

[18:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “extend my hand against.”

[18:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “in our ears.”

[18:12]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text is very difficult here. The MT reads מִי (mi, “who”), apparently yielding the following sense: “Show care, whoever you might be, for the youth Absalom.” The Syriac Peshitta reads li (“for me”), the Hebrew counterpart of which may also lie behind the LXX rendering μοι (moi, “for me”). This reading seems preferable here, since it restores sense to the passage and most easily explains the rise of the variant.

[18:13]  ¹⁰ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and a number of the ancient versions in reading בְנַפְשִׁי (vÿnafshi, “against my life”) rather than the MT בְנַפְשׁוֹ (vÿnafsho, “against his life”).

[18:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “stood aloof.”