2 Samuel 10:11

10:11 Joab ¹  said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, ²  you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, ³  I will come to your rescue.

2 Samuel 11:20

11:20 if the king becomes angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the wall?

2 Samuel 13:26

13:26 Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, ⁴  then let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?”

2 Samuel 15:26

15:26 However, if he should say, ‘I do not take pleasure in you,’ then he will deal with me in a way that he considers appropriate.” ⁵ 

2 Samuel 15:33

15:33 David said to him, “If you leave ⁶  with me you will be a burden to me.

2 Samuel 18:13

18:13 If I had acted at risk of my own life ⁷  – and nothing is hidden from the king! – you would have abandoned me.” ⁸ 

2 Samuel 18:3

18:3 But the soldiers replied, ⁹  “You should not do this! ¹⁰  For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be too concerned about us. ¹¹  Even if half of us should die, they won’t be too concerned about us. But you ¹²  are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.”

2 Samuel 2:27

2:27 Joab replied, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said this, it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit ¹³  of their brothers!”

2 Samuel 3:9

3:9 God will severely judge Abner ¹⁴  if I do not do for David exactly what the Lord has promised him, ¹⁵ 

2 Samuel 3:13

3:13 So David said, “Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to visit me.” ¹⁶ 

2 Samuel 15:4

15:4 Absalom would then say, “If only they would make me ¹⁷  a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint ¹⁸  could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement.”

2 Samuel 15:8

15:8 For I made this vow ¹⁹  when I was living in Geshur in Aram: ‘If the Lord really does allow me to return to Jerusalem, ²⁰  I will serve the Lord.’”

2 Samuel 15:34

15:34 But you will be able to counter the advice of Ahithophel if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king! Previously I was your father’s servant, and now I will be your servant.’

2 Samuel 18:25

18:25 So the watchman called out and informed the king. The king said, “If he is by himself, he brings good news.” ²¹  The runner ²²  came ever closer.

2 Samuel 19:13

19:13 Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my flesh and blood? ²³  God will punish me severely, ²⁴  if from this time on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

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 ²⁵  when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” ²⁶ 

2 Samuel 1:22

1:22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of warriors,

the bow of Jonathan was not turned away.

The sword of Saul never returned ²⁷  empty.

2 Samuel 16:6

16:6 He threw stones at David and all of King David’s servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left.

2 Samuel 17:6

17:6 So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?”

2 Samuel 3:35

3:35 Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, “God will punish me severely ²⁸  if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!”

2 Samuel 12:8

12:8 I gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your arms. ²⁹  I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well!

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 16:11

16:11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son, my very own flesh and blood, ³⁰  is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the Lord has spoken to him.

2 Samuel 17:9

17:9 At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, ³¹  whoever hears about it will say, ‘Absalom’s army has been slaughtered!’

2 Samuel 17:13

17:13 If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!”

2 Samuel 18:12

18:12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if ³²  I were receiving ³³  a thousand pieces of silver, ³⁴  I would not strike ³⁵  the king’s son! In our very presence ³⁶  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ³⁷ 

2 Samuel 19:6

19:6 You seem to love your enemies and hate your friends! For you have as much as declared today that leaders and servants don’t matter to you. I realize now ³⁸  that if ³⁹  Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, ⁴⁰  it would be all right with you.

2 Samuel 3:39

3:39 Today I am weak, even though I am anointed as king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too much for me to bear! ⁴¹  May the Lord punish appropriately the one who has done this evil thing!” ⁴² 

2 Samuel 7:14

7:14 I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings.

2 Samuel 15:22

15:22 So David said to Ittai, “Come along then.” ⁴³  So Ittai the Gittite went along, ⁴⁴  accompanied by all his men and all the dependents ⁴⁵  who were with him.

2 Samuel 15:27

15:27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Are you a seer? ⁴⁶  Go back to the city in peace! Your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan may go with you and Abiathar. ⁴⁷ 

2 Samuel 16:10

16:10 But the king said, “What do we have in common, ⁴⁸  you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this?’”

2 Samuel 16:19

16:19 Moreover, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.” ⁴⁹ 

2 Samuel 19:38

19:38 The king replied, “Kimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever I deem appropriate. And whatever you choose, I will do for you.”

2 Samuel 20:14

20:14 Sheba ⁵⁰  traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of ⁵¹  Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, ⁵²  they too joined him.

2 Samuel 14:32

14:32 Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent a message to you saying, ‘Come here so that I can send you to the king with this message: ⁵³  “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.”’ Let me now see the face of the king. If I am at fault, let him put me to death!”

2 Samuel 19:7

19:7 So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to ⁵⁴  your servants. For I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!”

2 Samuel 5:6

David Occupies Jerusalem

5:6 Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem ⁵⁵  against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites ⁵⁶  said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

2 Samuel 15:14

15:14 So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, ⁵⁷  “Come on! ⁵⁸  Let’s escape! ⁵⁹  Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring ⁶⁰  disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.” ⁶¹ 

2 Samuel 3:8

3:8 These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating ⁶²  loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives ⁶³  and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today! ⁶⁴ 

[10:11]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:11]  ² tn Heb “if Aram is stronger than me.”

[10:11]  ³ tn Heb “if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you.”

[13:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and not.”

[15:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “as [is] good in his eyes.”

[15:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “cross over.”

[18:13]  ⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and a number of the ancient versions in reading בְנַפְשִׁי (vÿnafshi, “against my life”) rather than the MT בְנַפְשׁוֹ (vÿnafsho, “against his life”).

[18:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “stood aloof.”

[18:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “the people said.”

[18:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “march out.”

[18:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they will not place to us heart.”

[18:3]  ¹² 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”).

[2:27]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (na’alah) used here is the Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular of עָלָה (’alah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon…especially of an army raising a siege…” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 244).

[3:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “So will God do to Abner and so he will add to him.”

[3:9]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “has sworn to David.” The LXX, with the exception of the recension of Origen, adds “in this day.”

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn The words “when you come to see my face,” though found in the Hebrew text, are somewhat redundant given the similar expression in the earlier part of the verse. The words are absent from the Syriac Peshitta.

[15:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Who will make me?”

[15:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[15:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for your servant vowed a vow.” The formal court style of referring to one’s self in third person (“your servant”) has been translated here as first person for clarity.

[15:8]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[18:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “good news is in his mouth.”

[18:25]  ²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the runner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:13]  ²³ tn Heb “my bone and my flesh.”

[19:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”

[12:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to our voice.”

[12:18]  ²⁶ 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!

[1:22]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form is used here to indicate repeated past action.

[3:35]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”

[12:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the wives of your lord into your chest [or “lap”].” The words “I put” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[16:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “who came out from my entrails.” David’s point is that is his own son, his child whom he himself had fathered, was now wanting to kill him.

[17:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “that he falls on them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] at the first [encounter]; or “that some of them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] fall at the first [encounter].”

[18:12]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Heb “weighing out in my hand.”

[18:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “a thousand [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 25 pounds (11.4 kg) of silver by weight.

[18:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “extend my hand against.”

[18:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “in our ears.”

[18:12]  ³⁷ 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.

[19:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “today.”

[19:6]  ³⁹ tc The translation follows the Qere, 4QSam^a, and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading לוּ (lu, “if”) rather than MT לֹא (lo’, “not”).

[19:6]  ⁴⁰ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack “today.”

[3:39]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “are hard from me.”

[3:39]  ⁴² tn Heb “May the Lord repay the doer of the evil according to his evil” (NASB similar).

[15:22]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Come and cross over.”

[15:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “crossed over.”

[15:22]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “all the little ones.”

[15:27]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[16:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “What to me and to you?”

[16:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Just as I served before your father, so I will be before you.”

[20:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sheba) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:14]  ⁵¹ tc In keeping with the form of the name in v. 15, the translation deletes the “and” found in the MT.

[20:14]  ⁵² tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ (vayyiqqahalu, “and they were gathered together”) rather than the Kethib of the MT וַיִּקְלֻהוּ (vayyiqluhu, “and they cursed him”). The Kethib is the result of metathesis.

[14:32]  ⁵³ tn Heb “saying.”

[19:7]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and speak to the heart of.”

[5:6]  ⁵⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:6]  ⁵⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “he” rather than “the Jebusites.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In the Syriac Peshitta and some mss of the Targum the verb is plural rather than singular.

[15:14]  ⁵⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Arise!”

[15:14]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “let’s flee.”

[15:14]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “thrust.”

[15:14]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

[3:8]  ⁶² tn Heb “I do.”

[3:8]  ⁶³ tn Heb “brothers.”

[3:8]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “and you have laid upon me the guilt of the woman today.”