2 Samuel 1:1

David Learns of the Deaths of Saul and Jonathan

1:1 After the death of Saul, ¹  when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, ²  he stayed at Ziklag ³  for two days.

2 Samuel 3:23-24

3:23 When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, Joab was told: “Abner the son of Ner came to the king; he sent him away, and he left in peace!”

3:24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner ⁴  has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way! ⁵ 

2 Samuel 6:2

6:2 David and all the men who were with him traveled ⁶  to ⁷  Baalah ⁸  in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name ⁹  of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

2 Samuel 6:10

6:10 So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

2 Samuel 13:29

13:29 So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon exactly what Absalom had instructed. Then all the king’s sons got up; each one rode away on his mule and fled.

2 Samuel 15:27

15:27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Are you a seer? ¹⁰  Go back to the city in peace! Your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan may go with you and Abiathar. ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 16:8

16:8 The Lord has punished you for ¹²  all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule. Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. Disaster has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed!”

2 Samuel 18:17

18:17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and stacked a huge pile of stones over him. In the meantime all the Israelite soldiers fled to their homes. ¹³ 

2 Samuel 19:24

19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, ¹⁴  came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely ¹⁵  returned, Mephibosheth ¹⁶  had not cared for his feet ¹⁷  nor trimmed ¹⁸  his mustache nor washed his clothes.

[1:1]  ¹ sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.

[1:1]  ² sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).

[1:1]  ³ sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.

[3:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look, Abner.”

[3:24]  ⁵ tc The LXX adds “in peace.”

[6:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “arose and went.”

[6:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.

[6:2]  ⁸ tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).

[6:2]  ⁹ 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.

[15:27]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek tradition understands the Hebrew word as an imperative (“see”). Most Greek mss have ἴδετε (idete); the Lucianic recension has βλέπε (blepe). It could just as well be taken as a question: “Don’t you see what is happening?” The present translation takes the word as a question, with the implication that Zadok is a priest and not a prophet (i.e., “seer”) and therefore unable to know what the future holds.

[15:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, two of your sons, with you.” The pronominal suffix on the last word is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.

[16:8]  ¹² tn Heb “has brought back upon you.”

[18:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and all Israel fled, each to his tent.” In this context this refers to the supporters of Absalom (see vv. 6-7, 16).

[19:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “son.”

[19:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.

[19:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “done his feet.”

[19:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “done.”