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 ¹  that if ²  Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, ³  it would be all right with you.

2 Samuel 23:15

23:15 David was thirsty and said, “How I wish someone would give me some water to drink from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate!”

2 Samuel 22:51

22:51 He gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ⁴ 

he is faithful to his chosen ruler, ⁵ 

to David and to his descendants forever!”

2 Samuel 10:2

10:2 David said, “I will express my loyalty ⁶  to Hanun son of Nahash just as his father was loyal ⁷  to me.” So David sent his servants with a message expressing sympathy over his father’s death. ⁸  When David’s servants entered the land of the Ammonites,

2 Samuel 14:13

14:13 The woman said, “Why have you devised something like this against God’s people? When the king speaks in this fashion, he makes himself guilty, for the king has not brought back the one he has banished.

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? ⁹  No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!” ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 22:27

22:27 You prove to be reliable ¹¹  to one who is blameless,

but you prove to be deceptive ¹²  to one who is perverse. ¹³ 

2 Samuel 2:30

2:30 Now Joab returned from chasing Abner and assembled all the people. Nineteen of David’s soldiers were missing, in addition to Asahel.

2 Samuel 22:26

22:26 You prove to be loyal ¹⁴  to one who is faithful; ¹⁵ 

you prove to be trustworthy ¹⁶  to one who is innocent. ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 7:27

7:27 for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told ¹⁸  your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’ ¹⁹  That is why your servant has had the courage ²⁰  to pray this prayer to you.

2 Samuel 21:11

21:11 When David was told what Rizpah daughter of Aiah, Saul’s concubine, had done,

2 Samuel 15:35

15:35 Zadok and Abiathar the priests will be there with you. ²¹  Everything you hear in the king’s palace ²²  you must tell Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

2 Samuel 1:5

1:5 David said to the young man ²³  who was telling him this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ²⁴ 

2 Samuel 7:17

7:17 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him. ²⁵ 

2 Samuel 11:5

11:5 The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, “I’m pregnant.”

2 Samuel 11:22

11:22 So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him.

2 Samuel 7:11

7:11 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. Instead, I will give you relief ²⁶  from all your enemies. The Lord declares ²⁷  to you that he himself ²⁸  will build a dynastic house ²⁹  for you.

2 Samuel 15:28

15:28 Look, I will be waiting at the fords of the desert until word from you ³⁰  reaches me.”

2 Samuel 22:16

22:16 The depths ³¹  of the sea were exposed;

the inner regions ³²  of the world were uncovered

by the Lord’s battle cry, ³³ 

by the powerful breath from his nose. ³⁴ 

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 ³⁵  when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” ³⁶ 

2 Samuel 1:6

1:6 The young man who was telling him this ³⁷  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

2 Samuel 1:13

1:13 David said to the young man who told this to him, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner.” ³⁸ 

2 Samuel 1:20

1:20 Don’t report it in Gath,

don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, ³⁹ 

or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,

the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate!

2 Samuel 2:5-6

2:5 So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness ⁴⁰  to your lord Saul by burying him. 2:6 Now may the Lord show you true kindness! ⁴¹  I also will reward you, ⁴²  because you have done this deed.

2 Samuel 3:28

3:28 When David later heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the shed blood of Abner son of Ner!

2 Samuel 6:22

6:22 I am willing to shame and humiliate myself even more than this! ⁴³  But with the slave girls whom you mentioned let me be distinguished!”

2 Samuel 1:10

1:10 So I stood over him and put him to death, since I knew that he couldn’t live in such a condition. ⁴⁴  Then I took the crown which was on his head and the ⁴⁵  bracelet which was on his arm. I have brought them here to my lord.” ⁴⁶ 

2 Samuel 7:19

7:19 And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ⁴⁷  Is this your usual way of dealing with men, ⁴⁸  O Lord God?

2 Samuel 9:3

9:3 The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, ⁴⁹  that I may extend God’s kindness to him?” Ziba said to the king, “One of Jonathan’s sons is left; both of his feet are crippled.”

2 Samuel 10:6

10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, ⁵⁰  they ⁵¹  sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, ⁵²  in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. ⁵³ 

2 Samuel 15:2

15:2 Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, “What city are you from?” The person would answer, “I, your servant, ⁵⁴  am from one of the tribes of Israel.”

2 Samuel 17:21

17:21 After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan ⁵⁵  climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream ⁵⁶  quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.” ⁵⁷ 

2 Samuel 24:13

24:13 Gad went to David and told him, “Shall seven ⁵⁸  years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide ⁵⁹  what I should tell the one who sent me.”

[19:6]  ¹ tn Heb “today.”

[19:6]  ² 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]  ³ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack “today.”

[22:51]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the Kethib and the ancient versions in reading מַגְדִּיל (magdil, “he magnifies”) rather than the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss of the MT which read מִגְדּוֹל (migdol, “tower”). See Ps 18:50.

[22:51]  ⁵ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty to his anointed one.”

[10:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “do loyalty.”

[10:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “did loyalty.”

[10:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and David sent to console him by the hand of his servants concerning his father.”

[10:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

[10:3]  ¹⁰ 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?”

[22:27]  ¹¹ tn Or “blameless.”

[22:27]  ¹² tc The translation follows two medieval Hebrew mss in reading תִּתְפַּתָּל (titpattal, from the root פתל, “to twist”) rather than the MT תִּתַּפָּל (tittappal, from the root תפל, “to be tasteless,” “behave silly”; cf. KJV “unsavoury”). See as well the parallel passage in Ps 18:26. The verb פָתַל (patal) is used in only three other texts. In Gen 30:8 it means literally “to wrestle,” or “to twist.” In Job 5:13 it refers to devious individuals, and in Prov 8:8 to deceptive words. Cf. NAB, NASB “astute”; NIV “shrewd”; NRSV “perverse”; TEV, NLT “hostile.”

[22:27]  ¹³ tn The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20) and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4). Verses 26-27 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28.

[22:26]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 26-30 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 26-28) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 29-30). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

[22:26]  ¹⁵ tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A חָסִיד (khasid, “faithful follower”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[22:26]  ¹⁶ tn Or “innocent.”

[22:26]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “a warrior of innocence.” The parallel text in Ps 18:25 reads, probably correctly, גֶּבֶר (gever, “man”) instead of גִּבּוֹר (gibor, “warrior”).

[7:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”

[7:27]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “has found his heart.”

[15:35]  ²¹ tn Heb “Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you?” The rhetorical question draws attention to the fact that Hushai will not be alone.

[15:35]  ²² tn Heb “from the house of the king.”

[1:5]  ²³ tn In v. 2 he is called simply a “man.” The word used here in v. 5 (so also in vv. 6, 13, 15), though usually referring to a young man or servant, may in this context designate a “fighting” man, i.e., a soldier.

[1:5]  ²⁴ tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”

[7:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”

[7:11]  ²⁶ tn Or “rest.”

[7:11]  ²⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the verb is apparently perfect with vav consecutive, which would normally suggest a future sense (“he will declare”; so the LXX, ἀπαγγελεῖ [apangelei]). But the context seems instead to call for a present or past nuance (“he declares” or “he has declared”). The synoptic passage in 1 Chr 17:10 has וָאַגִּד (va’aggid, “and I declared”). The construction used in 2 Sam 7:11 highlights this important statement.

[7:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.”

[7:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “house,” but used here in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. Here the Lord’s use of the word plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple for the Lord. To reflect this in the English translation the adjective “dynastic” has been supplied.

[15:28]  ³⁰ tn The pronoun is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.

[22:16]  ³¹ tn Or “channels.”

[22:16]  ³² tn Or “foundations.”

[22:16]  ³³ tn The noun is derived from the verb גָעַר (nag’ar) which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.

[22:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “blast of the breath” (literally, “breath of breath”) employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[12:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to our voice.”

[12:18]  ³⁶ 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!

[1:6]  ³⁷ tc The Syriac Peshitta and one ms of the LXX lack the words “who was telling him this” of the MT.

[1:13]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew word used here refers to a foreigner whose social standing was something less than that of native residents of the land, but something more than that of a nonresident alien who was merely passing through.

[1:20]  ³⁹ sn The cities of Gath and Ashkelon are mentioned here by synecdoche of part for the whole. As major Philistine cities they in fact represent all of Philistia. The point is that when the sad news of fallen Israelite leadership reaches the Philistines, it will be for these enemies of Israel the occasion of great joy rather than grief.

[2:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “loyalty.”

[2:6]  ⁴¹ tn Or “loyalty and devotion.”

[2:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “will do with you this good.”

[6:22]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and I will shame myself still more than this and I will be lowly in my eyes.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “after his falling”; NAB “could not survive his wound”; CEV “was too badly wounded to live much longer.”

[1:10]  ⁴⁵ tc The MT lacks the definite article, but this is likely due to textual corruption. It is preferable to read the alef (א) of אֶצְעָדָה (’ets’adah) as a ה (he) giving הַצְּעָדָה (hatsÿ’adah). There is no reason to think that the soldier confiscated from Saul’s dead body only one of two or more bracelets that he was wearing (cf. NLT “one of his bracelets”).

[1:10]  ⁴⁶ sn The claims that the soldier is making here seem to contradict the story of Saul’s death as presented in 1 Sam 31:3-5. In that passage it appears that Saul took his own life, not that he was slain by a passerby who happened on the scene. Some scholars account for the discrepancy by supposing that conflicting accounts have been brought together in the MT. However, it is likely that the young man is here fabricating the account in a self-serving way so as to gain favor with David, or so he supposes. He probably had come across Saul’s corpse, stolen the crown and bracelet from the body, and now hopes to curry favor with David by handing over to him these emblems of Saul’s royalty. But in so doing the Amalekite greatly miscalculated David’s response to this alleged participation in Saul’s death. The consequence of his lies will instead be his own death.

[7:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O Lord God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”

[7:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and this [is] the law of man”; KJV “is this the manner of man, O Lord God?”; NAB “this too you have shown to man”; NRSV “May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God!” This part of the verse is very enigmatic; no completely satisfying solution has yet been suggested. The present translation tries to make sense of the MT by understanding the phrase as a question that underscores the uniqueness of God’s dealings with David as described here. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:17 reads differently (see the note there).

[9:3]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[10:6]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”

[10:6]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the Ammonites.”

[10:6]  ⁵² tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”

[10:6]  ⁵³ tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.

[15:2]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “your servant.” So also in vv. 8, 15, 21.

[17:21]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referents (Ahimaaz and Jonathan) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:21]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the water.”

[17:21]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “for thus Ahithophel has devised against you.” The expression “thus” is narrative shorthand, referring to the plan outlined by Ahithophel (see vv. 1-3). The men would surely have outlined the plan in as much detail as they had been given by the messenger.

[24:13]  ⁵⁸ tc The LXX has here “three” rather than “seven,” and is followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT. See 1 Chr 21:12.

[24:13]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “now know and see.”