2 Samuel 1:21

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ¹ 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ² 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ³ 

2 Samuel 3:18

3:18 Act now! For the Lord has said to David, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save ⁴  my people Israel from ⁵  the Philistines and from all their enemies.’”

2 Samuel 4:1

Ish-bosheth is killed

4:1 When Ish-bosheth ⁶  the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, ⁷  and all Israel was afraid.

2 Samuel 8:2

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. ⁸  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 10:3

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? ¹⁰  No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!” ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 10:18

10:18 The Arameans fled before Israel. David killed 700 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. ¹²  He also struck down Shobach, the general in command of the army, who died there.

2 Samuel 11:11

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 ¹³  with my wife? As surely as you are alive, ¹⁴  I will not do this thing!”

2 Samuel 12:18

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 ¹⁵  when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” ¹⁶ 

2 Samuel 13:32

13:32 Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about ¹⁷  from the day that Amnon ¹⁸  humiliated his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 15:14

15:14 So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, ¹⁹  “Come on! ²⁰  Let’s escape! ²¹  Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring ²²  disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.” ²³ 

2 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men – they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. ²⁴  Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army.

2 Samuel 18:2-3

18:2 David then sent out the army – a third under the leadership of Joab, a third under the leadership of Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under the leadership of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, “I too will indeed march out with you.”

18:3 But the soldiers replied, ²⁵  “You should not do this! ²⁶  For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be too concerned about us. ²⁷  Even if half of us should die, they won’t be too concerned about us. But you ²⁸  are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.”

2 Samuel 19:28

19:28 After all, there was no one in the entire house of my grandfather ²⁹  who did not deserve death from my lord the king. But instead you allowed me to eat at your own table! ³⁰  What further claim do I have to ask ³¹  the king for anything?”

2 Samuel 23:9

23:9 Next in command ³²  was Eleazar son of Dodo, ³³  the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three warriors who were with David when they defied the Philistines who were assembled there for battle. When the men of Israel retreated, ³⁴ 

[1:21]  ¹ tc Instead of the MT’s “fields of grain offerings” the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “your high places are mountains of death.” Cf. the Old Latin montes mortis (“mountains of death”).

[1:21]  ² tn This is the only biblical occurrence of the Niphal of the verb גָּעַל (ga’al). This verb usually has the sense of “to abhor” or “loathe.” But here it seems to refer to the now dirty and unprotected condition of a previously well-maintained instrument of battle.

[1:21]  ³ tc It is preferable to read here Hebrew מָשׁוּחַ (mashuakh) with many Hebrew mss, rather than מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh) of the MT. Although the Syriac Peshitta understands the statement to pertain to Saul, the point here is not that Saul is not anointed. Rather, it is the shield of Saul that lies discarded and is no longer anointed. In ancient Near Eastern practice a warrior’s shield that was in normal use would have to be anointed regularly in order to ensure that the leather did not become dry and brittle. Like other warriors of his day Saul would have carefully maintained his tools of trade. But now that he is dead, the once-cared-for shield of the mighty warrior lies sadly discarded and woefully neglected, a silent but eloquent commentary on how different things are now compared to the way they were during Saul’s lifetime.

[3:18]  ⁴ tc The present translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading “I will save,” rather than the MT “he saved.” The context calls for the 1st person common singular imperfect of the verb rather than the 3rd person masculine singular perfect.

[3:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the hand of.”

[4:1]  ⁶ tn The MT does not specify the subject of the verb here, but the reference is to Ish-bosheth, so the name has been supplied in the translation for clarity. 4QSam^a and the LXX mistakenly read “Mephibosheth.”

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “his hands went slack.”

[8:2]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

[10:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

[10:3]  ¹¹ 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?”

[10:18]  ¹² 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.

[11:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “and lay.”

[11:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “as you live and as your soul lives.”

[12:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to our voice.”

[12:18]  ¹⁶ 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!

[13:32]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

[13:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:14]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Arise!”

[15:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “let’s flee.”

[15:14]  ²² tn Heb “thrust.”

[15:14]  ²³ tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

[17:8]  ²⁴ tc The LXX (with the exception of the recensions of Origen and Lucian) repeats the description as follows: “Just as a female bear bereft of cubs in a field.”

[18:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the people said.”

[18:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “march out.”

[18:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they will not place to us heart.”

[18:3]  ²⁸ 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”).

[19:28]  ²⁹ tn Heb “father.”

[19:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and you placed your servant among those who eat at your table.”

[19:28]  ³¹ tn Heb “to cry out to.”

[23:9]  ³² tn Heb “after him.”

[23:9]  ³³ tc This follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading דֹּדוֹ (dodo) rather than the Kethib of the MT דֹּדַי (dodai; cf. ASV, NIV, NLT). But see 1 Chr 27:4.

[23:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “went up.”