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. ¹  Then I took the crown which was on his head and the ²  bracelet which was on his arm. I have brought them here to my lord.” ³ 

2 Samuel 2:23

2:23 But Asahel ⁴  refused to turn aside. So Abner struck him in the abdomen with the back end of his ⁵  spear. The spear came out his back; Asahel ⁶  collapsed on the spot and died there right before Abner. ⁷  Everyone who now comes to the place where Asahel fell dead pauses in respect. ⁸ 

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 ⁹  with you. Then you will rule over all that you desire.” So David sent Abner away, and he left in peace.

2 Samuel 14:28

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

2 Samuel 17:26

17:26 The army of Israel ¹⁰  and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

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

² 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”).

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “the.” The article functions here as a possessive pronoun.

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Asahel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “and they stand.”

⁷ tn After the cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and Israel.”