2 Samuel 1:5-6

1:5 David said to the young man ¹  who was telling him this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ²  1:6 The young man who was telling him this ³  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

2 Samuel 1:13

1:13 David said to the young man who told this to him, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner.” ⁴ 

2 Samuel 1:20

1:20 Don’t report it in Gath,

don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, ⁵ 

or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,

the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate!

2 Samuel 3:23

3:23 When Joab and all the army that was with him arrived, Joab was told: “Abner the son of Ner came to the king; he sent him away, and he left in peace!”

2 Samuel 10:5

10:5 Messengers ⁶  told David what had happened, ⁷  so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho ⁸  until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”

2 Samuel 10:17

10:17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, ⁹  and came to Helam. The Arameans deployed their forces against David and fought with him.

2 Samuel 15:31

15:31 Now David ¹⁰  had been told, “Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed, ¹¹  “Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!”

2 Samuel 15:35

15:35 Zadok and Abiathar the priests will be there with you. ¹²  Everything you hear in the king’s palace ¹³  you must tell Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

2 Samuel 17:18

17:18 But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it.

2 Samuel 18:25

18:25 So the watchman called out and informed the king. The king said, “If he is by himself, he brings good news.” ¹⁴  The runner ¹⁵  came ever closer.

¹ tn In v. 2 he is called simply a “man.” The word used here in v. 5 (so also in vv. 6, 13, 15), though usually referring to a young man or servant, may in this context designate a “fighting” man, i.e., a soldier.

² tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”

³ tc The Syriac Peshitta and one ms of the LXX lack the words “who was telling him this” of the MT.

⁵ tn The Hebrew word used here refers to a foreigner whose social standing was something less than that of native residents of the land, but something more than that of a nonresident alien who was merely passing through.

⁷ sn The cities of Gath and Ashkelon are mentioned here by synecdoche of part for the whole. As major Philistine cities they in fact represent all of Philistia. The point is that when the sad news of fallen Israelite leadership reaches the Philistines, it will be for these enemies of Israel the occasion of great joy rather than grief.

⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹¹ map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

¹¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tc The translation follows 4QSam^a, part of the Greek tradition, the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate uldavid in reading “and to David,” rather than MT וְדָוִד (vÿdavid, “and David”). As Driver points out, the Hebrew verb הִגִּיד (higgid, “he related”) never uses the accusative for the person to whom something is told (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 316).

¹⁴ tn Heb “said.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you?” The rhetorical question draws attention to the fact that Hushai will not be alone.

¹⁶ tn Heb “from the house of the king.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “good news is in his mouth.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the runner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.