Text -- 2 Samuel 19:23-43 (NET)

19:23 The king said to Shimei, “You won’t die.” The king vowed an oath concerning this. 19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely returned, Mephibosheth had not cared for his feet nor trimmed his mustache nor washed his clothes. 19:25 When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?” 19:26 He replied, “My lord the king, my servant deceived me! I said, ‘Let me get my donkey saddled so that I can ride on it and go with the king,’ for I am lame. 19:27 But my servant has slandered me to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God. Do whatever seems appropriate to you. 19:28 After all, there was no one in the entire house of my grandfather who did not deserve death from my lord the king. But instead you allowed me to eat at your own table! What further claim do I have to ask the king for anything?” 19:29 Then the king replied to him, “Why should you continue speaking like this? You and Ziba will inherit the field together.” 19:30 Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him have the whole thing! My lord the king has returned safely to his house!” 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. 19:32 But Barzillai was very old– eighty years old, in fact– and he had taken care of the king when he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very rich man. 19:33 So the king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will take care of you while you are with me in Jerusalem.” 19:34 Barzillai replied to the king, “How many days do I have left to my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 19:35 I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I continue to be a burden to my lord the king? 19:36 I will cross the Jordan with the king and go a short distance. Why should the king reward me in this way? 19:37 Let me return so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But look, here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever seems appropriate to you.” 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.” 19:39 So all the people crossed the Jordan, as did the king. After the king had kissed him and blessed him, Barzillai returned to his home. 19:40 When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham crossed over with him. Now all the soldiers of Judah along with half of the soldiers of Israel had helped the king cross over. 19:41 Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan– and not only him but all of David’s men as well?” 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? Or have we misappropriated anything for our own use?” 19:43 The men of Israel replied to the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and we have a greater claim on David than you do! Why do you want to curse us? Weren’t we the first to suggest bringing back our king?” But the comments of the men of Judah were more severe than those of the men of Israel.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:23

¹ tn Heb “swore to him.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:24

¹ tn Heb “son.”

² tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “done his feet.”

⁵ tn Heb “done.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:26

¹ tn Heb “your servant.”

² tn Heb “your servant.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:27

¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “your servant.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:28

¹ tn Heb “father.”

² tn Heb “and you placed your servant among those who eat at your table.”

³ tn Heb “to cry out to.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:30

¹ tn Heb “take.”

² tn Heb “in peace.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:31

¹ 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”).

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:32

¹ tn Heb “great.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:35

¹ tn Heb “your servant.”

² tn Heb “your servant.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:36

¹ tn Heb “Like a little your servant will cross the Jordan with the king.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:37

¹ tn Heb “your servant.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:39

¹ tn Heb “to his place.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:40

¹ tn The MT in this instance alone spells the name with final ן (nun, “Kimhan”) rather than as elsewhere with final ם (mem, “Kimham”). As in most other translations, the conventional spelling (with ם) has been used here to avoid confusion.

² tn Heb “people.”

³ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the Hiphil verb הֶעֱבִירוּ (he’eviru, “they caused to pass over”) rather than the Qal verb וַיְעֱבִרוּ (vay’ÿviru, “they crossed over”) of the MT.

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:42

¹ tn Heb “from the king.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 19:43

¹ tn The translation understands the verb in a desiderative sense, indicating the desire but not necessarily the completed action of the party in question. It is possible, however, that the verb should be given the more common sense of accomplished action, in which case it means here “Why have you cursed us?”