2 Samuel 2:1

David is Anointed King

2:1 Afterward David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” The Lord told him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where should I go?” The Lord replied, ¹  “To Hebron.”

2 Samuel 4:4

4:4 Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. ²  Mephibosheth was his name.

2 Samuel 4:8

4:8 They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, “Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against ³  Saul and his descendants!”

2 Samuel 9:3

9:3 The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, ⁴  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.”

2 Samuel 11:1

David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba

11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings ⁵  normally conduct wars, ⁶  David sent out Joab with his officers ⁷  and the entire Israelite army. ⁸  They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 11:13

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.

2 Samuel 13:13

13:13 How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools ¹⁰  in Israel! Just ¹¹  speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

2 Samuel 13:20

13:20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!” ¹²  Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.

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 ¹³  from the day that Amnon ¹⁴  humiliated his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 14:14

14:14 Certainly we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground that cannot be gathered up again. But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways for the banished to be restored. ¹⁵ 

2 Samuel 15:19

15:19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come with us? Go back and stay with the new ¹⁶  king, for you are a foreigner and an exile from your own country. ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 15:25

15:25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back to the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s sight he will bring me back and enable me to see both it and his dwelling place again.

2 Samuel 17:14

17:14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel.” Now the Lord had decided ¹⁸  to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:2

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.”

2 Samuel 18:12

18:12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if ¹⁹  I were receiving ²⁰  a thousand pieces of silver, ²¹  I would not strike ²²  the king’s son! In our very presence ²³  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ²⁴ 

2 Samuel 18:22

18:22 Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again spoke to Joab, “Whatever happens, let me go after the Cushite.” But Joab said, “Why is it that you want to go, my son? You have no good news that will bring you a reward.”

2 Samuel 18:32

18:32 The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young man Absalom?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you ²⁵  be like that young man!”

2 Samuel 19:11

19:11 Then King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests saying, “Tell the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back to his palace, ²⁶  when everything Israel is saying has come to the king’s attention. ²⁷ 

2 Samuel 19:35

19:35 I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I ²⁸  taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I ²⁹  continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

2 Samuel 20:8

20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. ³⁰ 

2 Samuel 20:21

20:21 That’s not the way things are. There is a man from the hill country of Ephraim named Sheba son of Bicri. He has rebelled ³¹  against King David. Give me just this one man, and I will leave the city.” The woman said to Joab, “This very minute ³²  his head will be thrown over the wall to you!”

2 Samuel 23:10

23:10 he stood his ground ³³  and fought the Philistines until his hand grew so tired that it ³⁴  seemed stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory on that day. When the army returned to him, the only thing left to do was to plunder the corpses.

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “he said.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[4:4]  ² tn Heb “and was lame.”

[4:8]  ³ tn Heb “from.”

[9:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[11:1]  ⁵ 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 mss and the ancient versions, which read “kings” (הַמֶּלָאכִים, hammela’kim).

[11:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “go out.”

[11:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and his servants with him.”

[11:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “all Israel.”

[11:1]  ⁹ 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.

[13:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and you will be like one of the fools.”

[13:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Now.”

[13:20]  ¹² tn Heb “Don’t set your heart to this thing!”

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

[13:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he devises plans for the one banished from him not to be banished.”

[15:19]  ¹⁶ tn The word “new” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to make it clear that David refers to Absalom, not himself.

[15:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “place.”

[17:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “commanded.”

[18:12]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “weighing out in my hand.”

[18:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “a thousand [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 25 pounds (11.4 kg) of silver by weight.

[18:12]  ²² tn Heb “extend my hand against.”

[18:12]  ²³ tn Heb “in our ears.”

[18:12]  ²⁴ 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.

[18:32]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and all those rising against you for evil.”

[19:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his house.”

[19:11]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew text adds “to his house” (= palace), but the phrase, which also appears earlier in the verse, is probably accidentally repeated here.

[19:35]  ²⁸ tn Heb “your servant.”

[19:35]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your servant.”

[20:8]  ³⁰ sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.

[20:21]  ³¹ tn Heb “lifted his hand.”

[20:21]  ³² tn Heb “Look!”

[23:10]  ³³ tn Heb “arose.”

[23:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his hand.”