2 Samuel 1:9

1:9 He said to me, ‘Stand over me and finish me off! ¹  I’m very dizzy, ²  even though I’m still alive.’ ³ 

2 Samuel 6:7

6:7 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, ⁴  he ⁵  killed him on the spot ⁶  for his negligence. ⁷  He died right there beside the ark of God.

2 Samuel 7:20-21

7:20 What more can David say to you? You have given your servant special recognition, ⁸  O Lord God! 7:21 For the sake of your promise and according to your purpose ⁹  you have done this great thing in order to reveal it to your servant. ¹⁰ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn As P. K. McCarter (II Samuel [AB], 59) points out, the Polel of the verb מוּת (mut, “to die”) “refers to dispatching or ‘finishing off’ someone already wounded and near death.” Cf. NLT “put me out of my misery.”

[1:9]  ² tn Heb “the dizziness has seized me.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun translated “dizziness,” see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 59-60. The point seems to be that he is unable to kill himself because he is weak and disoriented.

[1:9]  ³ tn The Hebrew text here is grammatically very awkward (Heb “because all still my life in me”). Whether the broken construct phrase is due to the fact that the alleged speaker is in a confused state of mind as he is on the verge of dying, or whether the MT has sustained corruption in the transmission process, is not entirely clear. The former seems likely, although P. K. McCarter understands the MT to be the result of conflation of two shorter forms of text (P. K. McCarter, II Samuel [AB], 57, n. 9). Early translators also struggled with the verse, apparently choosing to leave part of the Hebrew text untranslated. For example, the Lucianic recension of the LXX lacks “all,” while other witnesses (namely, one medieval Hebrew ms, codices A and B of the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta) lack “still.”

[6:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”

[6:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “God.”

[6:7]  ⁶ tc Heb “there.” Since this same term occurs later in the verse it is translated “on the spot” here for stylistic reasons.

[6:7]  ⁷ tc The phrase “his negligence” is absent from the LXX.

[7:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “and you know your servant.” The verb here refers to recognizing another in a special way and giving them special treatment (see 1 Chr 17:18). Some English versions take this to refer to the Lord’s knowledge of David himself: CEV “you know my thoughts”; NLT “know what I am really like.”

[7:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the sake of your word and according to your heart.”

[7:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to make known, your servant.”