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 6:2

6:2 David and all the men who were with him traveled ⁴  to ⁵  Baalah ⁶  in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name ⁷  of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

2 Samuel 7:7

7:7 Wherever I moved among all the Israelites, I did not say ⁸  to any of the leaders ⁹  whom I appointed to care for ¹⁰  my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?”’

2 Samuel 7:23

7:23 Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ¹¹  on the earth? Their God ¹²  went ¹³  to claim ¹⁴  a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, ¹⁵  before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ¹⁶ 

2 Samuel 16:21

16:21 Ahithophel replied to Absalom, “Have sex with ¹⁷  your father’s concubines whom he left to care for the palace. All Israel will hear that you have made yourself repulsive to your father. Then your followers will be motivated to support you.” ¹⁸ 

2 Samuel 17:10

17:10 If that happens even the bravest soldier – one who is lion-hearted – will virtually melt away. For all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are brave.

2 Samuel 17:12

17:12 We will come against him wherever he happens to be found. We will descend on him like the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of the men who are with him will be spared alive – not one of them!

2 Samuel 17:22

17:22 So David and all the people who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River. ¹⁹  By dawn there was not one person left who had not crossed the Jordan.

2 Samuel 18:28

18:28 Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Greetings!” ²⁰  He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, “May the Lord your God be praised because he has defeated ²¹  the men who opposed ²²  my lord the king!”

2 Samuel 19:19

19:19 He said to the king, “Don’t think badly of me, my lord, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left ²³  Jerusalem! ²⁴  Please don’t call it to mind!

2 Samuel 21:8

21:8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab ²⁵  whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

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 “arose and went.”

⁵ tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.

⁶ tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).

⁷ tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew mss in the first occurrence point the word differently and read the adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”). This is also the understanding of the Syriac Peshitta (Syr., taman). While this yields an acceptable understanding to the text, it is more likely that the MT dittographic here. The present translation therefore reads שֵׁם only once.

⁷ tn Heb “Did I speak a word?” In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question.

⁸ tn Heb “tribes” (so KJV, NASB, NCV), but the parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:6 has “judges.”

⁹ tn Heb “whom I commanded to shepherd” (so NIV, NRSV).

¹⁰ tn Heb “a nation, one.”

¹¹ 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.

¹² tn The verb is plural in Hebrew, agreeing grammatically with the divine name, which is a plural of degree.

¹³ tn Heb “redeem.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and to do for you [plural form] the great [thing] and awesome [things] for your land.”

¹⁵ 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”).

¹³ tn Heb “go to”; NAB “have (+ sexual NCV) relations with”; TEV “have intercourse with”; NLT “Go and sleep with.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”

¹⁶ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text here or in v. 24, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹ tn Heb “Peace.”

²⁰ tn Heb “delivered over.”

²¹ tn Heb “lifted their hand against.”

²² tn Though this verb in the MT is 3rd person masculine singular, it should probably be read as 2nd person masculine singular. It is one of fifteen places where the Masoretes placed a dot over each of the letters of the word in question in order to call attention to their suspicion of the word. Their concern in this case apparently had to do with the fact that this verb and the two preceding verbs alternate from third person to second and back again to third. Words marked in this way in Hebrew manuscripts or printed editions are said to have puncta extrordinaria, or “extraordinary points.”

²³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²⁵ tc The MT reads “Michal” here, but two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab,” along with some LXX manuscripts. Cf. 1 Sam 18:19.