2 Samuel 1:20

1:20 Don’t report it in Gath,

don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, ¹ 

or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,

the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate!

2 Samuel 3:14

3:14 David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth son of Saul with this demand: ²  “Give me my wife Michal whom I acquired ³  for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

2 Samuel 5:24

5:24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army ⁴  of the Philistines.”

2 Samuel 21:18

21:18 Later there was another battle with the Philistines, this time in Gob. On that occasion Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of Rapha.

2 Samuel 23:13

23:13 At the time of ⁵  the harvest three ⁶  of the thirty leaders went down to ⁷  David at the cave of Adullam. A band of Philistines was camped in the valley of Rephaim.

[1:20]  ¹ sn The cities of Gath and Ashkelon are mentioned here by synecdoche of part for the whole. As major Philistine cities they in fact represent all of Philistia. The point is that when the sad news of fallen Israelite leadership reaches the Philistines, it will be for these enemies of Israel the occasion of great joy rather than grief.

[3:14]  ² tn Heb “to Ish-bosheth son of Saul saying.” To avoid excessive sibilance (especially when read aloud) the translation renders “saying” as “with this demand.”

[3:14]  ³ tn Heb “whom I betrothed to myself.”

[5:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “camp” (so NAB).

[23:13]  ⁵ tn The meaning of Hebrew אֶל־קָצִיר (’el qatsir) seems here to be “at the time of harvest,” although this is an unusual use of the phrase. As S. R. Driver points out, this preposition does not normally have the temporal sense of “in” or “during” (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 366).

[23:13]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading שְׁלֹשָׁה (shÿloshah, “three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT שְׁלֹשִׁים (shÿloshim, “thirty”). “Thirty” is due to dittography of the following word and makes no sense in the context.

[23:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “went down…and approached.”