2 Samuel 1:21

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ¹ 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ² 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ³ 

2 Samuel 2:4

2:4 The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people ⁴  of Judah.

David was told, ⁵  “The people ⁶  of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.”

2 Samuel 3:27

3:27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside at the gate as if to speak privately with him. Joab then stabbed him ⁷  in the abdomen and killed him, avenging the shed blood of his brother Asahel. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 5:20

5:20 So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 6:2

6:2 David and all the men who were with him traveled ¹⁰  to ¹¹  Baalah ¹²  in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name ¹³  of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

2 Samuel 10:18

10:18 The Arameans fled before Israel. David killed 700 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. ¹⁴  He also struck down Shobach, the general in command of the army, who died there.

2 Samuel 14:2

14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ¹⁵  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ¹⁶ 

2 Samuel 14:30

14:30 So he said to his servants, “Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.” ¹⁷  So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s ¹⁸  portion of the field on fire.

2 Samuel 16:5

Shimei Curses David and His Men

16:5 Then King David reached ¹⁹  Bahurim. There a man from Saul’s extended family named Shimei son of Gera came out, yelling curses as he approached. ²⁰ 

2 Samuel 17:12-13

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! 17:13 If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!”

2 Samuel 18:11

18:11 Joab replied to the man who was telling him this, “What! You saw this? Why didn’t you strike him down right on the spot? ²¹  I would have given you ten pieces of silver ²²  and a commemorative belt!” ²³ 

2 Samuel 20:1

Sheba’s Rebellion

20:1 Now a wicked man ²⁴  named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjaminite, ²⁵  happened to be there. He blew the trumpet ²⁶  and said,

“We have no share in David;

we have no inheritance in this son of Jesse!

Every man go home, ²⁷  O Israel!”

2 Samuel 23:9

23:9 Next in command ²⁸  was Eleazar son of Dodo, ²⁹  the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three warriors who were with David when they defied the Philistines who were assembled there for battle. When the men of Israel retreated, ³⁰ 

¹ tc Instead of the MT’s “fields of grain offerings” the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “your high places are mountains of death.” Cf. the Old Latin montes mortis (“mountains of death”).

² tn This is the only biblical occurrence of the Niphal of the verb גָּעַל (ga’al). This verb usually has the sense of “to abhor” or “loathe.” But here it seems to refer to the now dirty and unprotected condition of a previously well-maintained instrument of battle.

³ tc It is preferable to read here Hebrew מָשׁוּחַ (mashuakh) with many Hebrew mss, rather than מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh) of the MT. Although the Syriac Peshitta understands the statement to pertain to Saul, the point here is not that Saul is not anointed. Rather, it is the shield of Saul that lies discarded and is no longer anointed. In ancient Near Eastern practice a warrior’s shield that was in normal use would have to be anointed regularly in order to ensure that the leather did not become dry and brittle. Like other warriors of his day Saul would have carefully maintained his tools of trade. But now that he is dead, the once-cared-for shield of the mighty warrior lies sadly discarded and woefully neglected, a silent but eloquent commentary on how different things are now compared to the way they were during Saul’s lifetime.

⁴ tn Heb “house.”

⁵ tn Heb “and they told David.” The subject appears to be indefinite, allowing one to translate the verb as passive with David as subject.

⁶ tn Heb “men.”

⁷ tn Heb “and he struck him down there [in] the stomach.”

⁸ tn Heb “and he [i.e., Abner] died on account of the blood of Asahel his [i.e., Joab’s] brother.”

¹⁰ tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”

¹³ tn Heb “arose and went.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.

¹⁵ tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁶ tn Heb “horsemen” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT) but the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “foot soldiers,” as does the parallel text in 1 Chr 19:18. Cf. NAB, NIV.

¹⁹ tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.

²⁰ tn Heb “these many days.”

²² tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….”

²³ tn The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁵ tn Heb “came to.” The form of the verb in the MT is odd. Some prefer to read וַיַּבֹא (vayyavo’), preterite with vav consecutive) rather than וּבָא (uva’), apparently perfect with vav), but this is probably an instance where the narrative offline vÿqatal construction introduces a new scene.

²⁶ tn Heb “And look, from there a man was coming out from the clan of the house of Saul and his name was Shimei son of Gera, continually going out and cursing.”

²⁸ tn Heb “Why did you not strike him down there to the ground.”

²⁹ tn Heb “ten [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 4 ounces (114 grams) of silver by weight.

³⁰ tn Heb “and a girdle” (so KJV); NIV “a warrior’s belt”; CEV “a special belt”; NLT “a hero’s belt.”

³¹ tn Heb “a man of worthlessness.”

³² tn The expression used here יְמִינִי (yÿmini) is a short form of the more common “Benjamin.” It appears elsewhere in 1 Sam 9:4 and Esth 2:5. Cf. 1 Sam 9:1.

³³ tn Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet). So also v. 22.

³⁴ tc The MT reads לְאֹהָלָיו (lÿ’ohalav, “to his tents”). For a similar idiom, see 19:9. An ancient scribal tradition understands the reading to be לְאלֹהָיו (le’lohav, “to his gods”). The word is a tiqqun sopherim, and the scribes indicate that they changed the word from “gods” to “tents” so as to soften its theological implications. In a consonantal Hebrew text the change involved only the metathesis of two letters.

³⁴ tn Heb “after him.”

³⁵ tc This follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading דֹּדוֹ (dodo) rather than the Kethib of the MT דֹּדַי (dodai; cf. ASV, NIV, NLT). But see 1 Chr 27:4.

³⁶ tn Heb “went up.”