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 Heb “a nation, one.”
8 tn Heb “whose God” or “because God.” In the Hebrew text this clause is subordinated to what precedes. The clauses are separated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn The verb is plural in Hebrew, agreeing grammatically with the divine name, which is a plural of degree.
10 tn Heb “redeem.”
11 tn Heb “and to do for you [plural form] the great [thing] and awesome [things] for your land.”
12 tn Heb “from Egypt, nations and their gods.” The LXX has “nations and tents,” which reflects a mistaken metathesis of letters in אֶלֹהָיו (e’lohav, “its gods”) and אֹהָלָיו (’ohalav, “its tents”).
10 tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”
11 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 tn Heb “raise up against you disaster.”
14 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”
15 tn Or “friend.”
16 tn Heb “will lie with” (so NIV, NRSV); TEV “will have intercourse with”; CEV, NLT “will go to bed with.”
17 tn Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”
16 tn Heb “who came out from my entrails.” David’s point is that is his own son, his child whom he himself had fathered, was now wanting to kill him.
19 tn Heb “lifted his hand.”
20 tn Heb “Look!”