2 Samuel 16:23

16:23 In those days Ahithophel’s advice was considered as valuable as a prophetic revelation. ¹  Both David and Absalom highly regarded the advice of Ahithophel. ² 

2 Samuel 12:20

12:20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.

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.” ³ 

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 21:1

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ⁴  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ⁵  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 Samuel 19:31

19:31 Now when Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, he crossed the Jordan with the king so he could send him on his way from there. ⁶ 

2 Samuel 12:17

12:17 The elders of his house stood over him and tried to lift him from the ground, but he was unwilling, and refused to eat food with them.

2 Samuel 20:18

20:18 She said, “In the past they would always say, ‘Let them inquire in Abel,’ and that is how they settled things.

2 Samuel 21:14

21:14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything ⁷  that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers ⁸  for the land.

2 Samuel 11:14

11:14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

2 Samuel 13:7

13:7 So David sent Tamar to the house saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare some food for him.”

2 Samuel 22:42

22:42 They cry out, ⁹  but there is no one to help them; ¹⁰ 

they cry out to the Lord, ¹¹  but he does not answer them.

2 Samuel 10:19

10:19 When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer ¹²  saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subjects of Israel. ¹³  The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 14:15

14:15 I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. ¹⁴  But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant ¹⁵  asks.

2 Samuel 3:24

3:24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner ¹⁶  has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way! ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 5:23

5:23 So David asked the Lord what he should do. ¹⁸  This time ¹⁹  the Lord ²⁰  said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ²¹ 

2 Samuel 14:29

14:29 Then Absalom sent a message to Joab asking him to send him to the king, but Joab was not willing to come to him. So he sent a second message to him, but he still was not willing to come.

2 Samuel 20:16

20:16 a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen up! Listen up! Tell Joab, ‘Come near so that I may speak to you.’”

2 Samuel 22:7

22:7 In my distress I called to the Lord;

I called to my God. ²² 

From his heavenly temple ²³  he heard my voice;

he listened to my cry for help. ²⁴ 

2 Samuel 24:25

24:25 Then David built an altar for the Lord there and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. And the Lord accepted prayers for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.

2 Samuel 3:21

3:21 Abner said to David, “Let me leave so that I may go and gather all Israel to my lord the king so that they may make an agreement ²⁵  with you. Then you will rule over all that you desire.” So David sent Abner away, and he left in peace.

2 Samuel 7:27

7:27 for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told ²⁶  your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’ ²⁷  That is why your servant has had the courage ²⁸  to pray this prayer to you.

2 Samuel 13:5-6

13:5 Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick. ²⁹  When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch. Then I will eat from her hand.’”

13:6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick. When the king came in to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can make a couple of cakes in my sight. Then I will eat from her hand.”

2 Samuel 14:2

14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ³⁰  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ³¹ 

2 Samuel 14:22

14:22 Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked ³²  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 ³³  servant!”

2 Samuel 19:28

19:28 After all, there was no one in the entire house of my grandfather ³⁴  who did not deserve death from my lord the king. But instead you allowed me to eat at your own table! ³⁵  What further claim do I have to ask ³⁶  the king for anything?”

2 Samuel 19:42

19:42 All the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close relative! Why are you so upset about this? Have we eaten at the king’s expense? ³⁷  Or have we misappropriated anything for our own use?”

[16:23]  ¹ tn Heb “And the advice of Ahithophel which he advised in those days was as when one inquires of the word of God.”

[16:23]  ² tn Heb “So was all the advice of Ahithophel, also to David, also to Absalom.”

[3:13]  ³ 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.

[21:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

[21:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

[19:31]  ⁶ tc The MT reading אֶת־בַיַּרְדֵּן (’et-vayyarden, “in the Jordan”) is odd syntactically. The use of the preposition after the object marker אֶת (’et) is difficult to explain. Graphic confusion is likely in the MT; the translation assumes the reading מִיַּרְדֵּן (miyyarden, “from the Jordan”). Another possibility is to read the definite article on the front of “Jordan” (הַיַּרְדֵּן, hayyarden; “the Jordan”).

[21:14]  ⁷ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss have here כְּכֹל (kÿkhol, “according to all”).

[21:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “was entreated.” The verb is an example of the so-called niphal tolerativum, with the sense that God allowed himself to be supplicated through prayer (cf. GKC 137 §51.c).

[22:42]  ⁹ tc The translation follows one medieval Hebrew ms and the ancient versions in reading the Piel יְשַׁוְּעוּ (yÿshavvÿ’u, “they cry for help”) rather than the Qal of the MT יִשְׁעוּ (yish’u, “they look about for help”). See Ps 18:41 as well.

[22:42]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

[22:42]  ¹¹ tn The words “they cry out” are not in the Hebrew text. This reference to the psalmists’ enemies crying out for help to the Lord suggests that the psalmist refers here to enemies within the covenant community, rather than foreigners. However, the militaristic context suggests foreign enemies are in view. Ancient Near Eastern literature indicates that defeated enemies would sometimes cry out for mercy to the god(s) of their conqueror. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 271.

[10:19]  ¹² tn Heb “the servants of Hadadezer.”

[10:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they served them.”

[14:15]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX (ὄψεταί με, opsetai me) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי (yerÿ’uni, Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error.

[14:15]  ¹⁵ tn Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (’amah), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice.

[3:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Look, Abner.”

[3:24]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX adds “in peace.”

[5:23]  ¹⁸ tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ¹⁹ tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:23]  ²¹ tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.

[22:7]  ²² tn In this poetic narrative the two prefixed verbal forms in v. 7a are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects. Note the use of the vav consecutive with the prefixed verbal form that follows in v. 7b.

[22:7]  ²³ tn Heb “from his temple.” Verse 10, which pictures God descending from the sky, indicates that the heavenly, not earthly, temple is in view.

[22:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and my cry for help [entered] his ears.”

[3:21]  ²⁵ tn After the cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[7:27]  ²⁶ tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”

[7:27]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a house.” This maintains the wordplay from v. 11 (see the note on the word “house” there) and is continued in v. 29.

[7:27]  ²⁸ tn Heb “has found his heart.”

[13:5]  ²⁹ tn This verb is used in the Hitpael stem only in this chapter of the Hebrew Bible. With the exception of v. 2 it describes not a real sickness but one pretended in order to entrap Tamar. The Hitpael sometimes, as here, describes the subject making oneself appear to be of a certain character. On this use of the stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

[14:2]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.

[14:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “these many days.”

[14:22]  ³² tn Heb “blessed.”

[14:22]  ³³ tc The present translation reads with the Qere “your” rather than the MT “his.”

[19:28]  ³⁴ tn Heb “father.”

[19:28]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and you placed your servant among those who eat at your table.”

[19:28]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to cry out to.”

[19:42]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from the king.”