2 Samuel 11:1

David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba

11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings ¹  normally conduct wars, ²  David sent out Joab with his officers ³  and the entire Israelite army. ⁴  They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. ⁵ 

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 ⁶  king, for you are a foreigner and an exile from your own country. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 17:16

17:16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ⁸  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ⁹  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ¹⁰  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ¹¹ 

[11:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “go out.”

[11:1]  ³ tn Heb “and his servants with him.”

[11:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “all Israel.”

[11:1]  ⁵ 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.

[15:19]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “place.”

[17:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”

[17:16]  ⁹ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV).

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”

[17:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “swallowed up.”