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 ¹  from the day that Amnon ²  humiliated his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 14:7

14:7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ³  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ⁴  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

2 Samuel 2:14-15

2:14 Abner said to Joab, “Let the soldiers get up and fight ⁵  before us.” Joab said, “So be it!” ⁶ 

2:15 So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

2 Samuel 7:9

7:9 I was with you wherever you went, and I defeated ⁷  all your enemies before you. Now I will make you as famous as the great men of the earth. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 19:4

19:4 The king covered his face and cried out loudly, ⁹  “My son, Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”

2 Samuel 14:4

14:4 So the Tekoan woman went ¹⁰  to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me, ¹¹  O king!”

2 Samuel 14:24

14:24 But the king said, “Let him go over ¹²  to his own house. He may not see my face.” So Absalom went over ¹³  to his own house; he did not see the king’s face.

2 Samuel 2:22

2:22 So Abner spoke again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me! I do not want to strike you to the ground. ¹⁴  How then could I show ¹⁵  my face in the presence of Joab your brother?”

2 Samuel 24:20

24:20 When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants approaching him, he ¹⁶  went out and bowed to the king with his face ¹⁷  to the ground.

2 Samuel 14:28

14:28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without seeing the king’s face.

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.” ¹⁸ 

2 Samuel 14:33

14:33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king ¹⁹  summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom ²⁰  bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. ²¹ 

2 Samuel 3:17

3:17 Abner advised ²²  the elders of Israel, “Previously you were wanting David to be your king. ²³ 

2 Samuel 4:11

4:11 Surely when wicked men have killed an innocent man as he slept ²⁴  in his own house, should I not now require his blood from your hands and remove ²⁵  you from the earth?”

2 Samuel 14:22

14:22 Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked ²⁶  the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your ²⁷  servant!”

2 Samuel 18:28

18:28 Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Greetings!” ²⁸  He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, “May the Lord your God be praised because he has defeated ²⁹  the men who opposed ³⁰  my lord the king!”

2 Samuel 9:6

9:6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. ³¹  David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” ³² 

2 Samuel 11:9

11:9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all ³³  the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.

2 Samuel 19:5

19:5 So Joab visited ³⁴  the king at his home. He said, “Today you have embarrassed all your servants who have saved your life this day, as well as the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your concubines.

2 Samuel 23:18

23:18 Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ³⁵  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ³⁶ 

2 Samuel 3:19

3:19 Then Abner spoke privately ³⁷  with the Benjaminites. Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately ³⁸  of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to. ³⁹ 

2 Samuel 10:8

10:8 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

2 Samuel 11:23

11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us ⁴⁰  in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way ⁴¹  to the door of the city gate.

2 Samuel 13:19

13:19 Then Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went on her way, wailing as she went.

2 Samuel 19:18

19:18 They crossed at the ford in order to help the king’s household cross and to do whatever he thought appropriate.

Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king.

2 Samuel 23:13

23:13 At the time of ⁴²  the harvest three ⁴³  of the thirty leaders went down to ⁴⁴  David at the cave of Adullam. A band of Philistines was camped in the valley of Rephaim.

2 Samuel 23:23

23:23 He received honor from ⁴⁵  the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

2 Samuel 10:3

10:3 the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? ⁴⁶  No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!” ⁴⁷ 

2 Samuel 13:13

13:13 How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools ⁴⁸  in Israel! Just ⁴⁹  speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

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. ⁵⁰ 

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: ⁵¹  “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!”

[13:32]  ¹ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

[13:32]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:7]  ³ tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ (bÿ, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (בְּ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.

[14:7]  ⁴ sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.

[2:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “play.” What is in view here is a gladiatorial contest in which representative groups of soldiers engage in mortal combat before the watching armies. Cf. NAB “perform for us”; NASB “hold (have NRSV) a contest before us”; NLT “put on an exhibition of hand-to-hand combat.”

[2:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “let them arise.”

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[7:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.”

[19:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[14:4]  ¹⁰ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavo’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vatto’mer, “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate.

[14:4]  ¹¹ tn The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate.

[14:24]  ¹² tn Heb “turn aside.”

[14:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “turned aside.”

[2:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Why should I strike you to the ground?”

[2:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lift.”

[24:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Araunah.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[24:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “nostrils.”

[3:13]  ¹⁸ 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.

[14:33]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.

[14:33]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:33]  ²¹ tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.

[3:17]  ²² tn Heb “the word of Abner was with.”

[3:17]  ²³ tn Heb “you were seeking David to be king over you.”

[4:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “on his bed.”

[4:11]  ²⁵ tn See HALOT 146 s.v. II בער. Some derive the verb from a homonym meaning “to burn; to consume.”

[14:22]  ²⁶ tn Heb “blessed.”

[14:22]  ²⁷ tc The present translation reads with the Qere “your” rather than the MT “his.”

[18:28]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Peace.”

[18:28]  ²⁹ tn Heb “delivered over.”

[18:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “lifted their hand against.”

[9:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”

[9:6]  ³² tn Heb “Look, your servant.”

[11:9]  ³³ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation lacks the word “all.”

[19:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “came to.”

[23:18]  ³⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and Vulgate in reading הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה (hashÿlosa, “the three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT הַשָּׁלִשִׁי (hashalisi, “the third,” or “adjutant”). Two medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta have “thirty.”

[23:18]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain, and to him there was a name among the three.”

[3:19]  ³⁷ tn Heb “into the ears of.”

[3:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “also Abner went to speak into the ears of David in Hebron.”

[3:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “all which was good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all the house of Benjamin.”

[11:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and came out to us.”

[11:23]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “but we were on them.”

[23:13]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “went down…and approached.”

[23:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “more than.”

[10:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

[10:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”

[13:13]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and you will be like one of the fools.”

[13:13]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Now.”

[20:8]  ⁵⁰ 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.

[14:32]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “saying.”