2 Samuel 1:8

1:8 He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ I told him, ‘I’m ¹  an Amalekite.’

2 Samuel 22:32

22:32 Indeed, ²  who is God besides the Lord?

Who is a protector ³  besides our God? ⁴ 

2 Samuel 23:15

23:15 David was thirsty and said, “How I wish someone would give me some water to drink from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate!”

2 Samuel 7:18

David Offers a Prayer to God

7:18 King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, ⁵  that you should have brought me to this point?

2 Samuel 12:22

12:22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ⁶  ‘Perhaps ⁷  the Lord will show pity and the child will live.

2 Samuel 15:4

15:4 Absalom would then say, “If only they would make me ⁸  a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint ⁹  could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement.”

2 Samuel 20:11

20:11 One of Joab’s soldiers who stood over Amasa said, “Whoever is for ¹⁰  Joab and whoever is for David, follow Joab!”

2 Samuel 11:21

11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone ¹¹  down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

2 Samuel 18:33

18:33 (19:1) ¹²  The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, ¹³  Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” ¹⁴ 

2 Samuel 18:12

18:12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if ¹⁵  I were receiving ¹⁶  a thousand pieces of silver, ¹⁷  I would not strike ¹⁸  the king’s son! In our very presence ¹⁹  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ²⁰ 

¹ tc The present translation reads with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss “and I said,” rather than the Kethib which has “and he said.” See the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate, all of which have the first person.

² tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

³ tn Heb “rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor of protection.

⁴ tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “No one.” In this way the psalmist indicates that the Lord is the only true God and reliable source of protection. See also Deut 32:39, where the Lord affirms that he is the only true God. Note as well the emphasis on his role as protector (צוּר, tsur, “rocky cliff”) in Deut 32:4, 15, 17-18, 30.

³ tn Heb “house.”

⁴ tn Heb “said.”

⁵ tn Heb “Who knows?”

⁵ tn Heb “Who will make me?”

⁶ tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.

⁶ tn Heb “takes delight in.”

⁷ sn The upper millstone (Heb “millstone of riding”) refers to the heavy circular stone that was commonly rolled over a circular base in order to crush and grind such things as olives.

⁸ sn This marks the beginning of ch. 19 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 18:33, the verse numbers through 19:43 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 18:33 ET = 19:1 HT, 19:1 ET = 19:2 HT, 19:2 ET = 19:3 HT, etc., through 19:43 ET = 19:44 HT. From 20:1 the versification in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible is again the same.

⁹ tc One medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of the LXX, and the Vulgate lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

¹⁰ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

⁹ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וְלוּ (vÿlu, “and if”) rather than MT וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

¹⁰ tn Heb “weighing out in my hand.”

¹¹ tn Heb “a thousand [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 25 pounds (11.4 kg) of silver by weight.

¹² tn Heb “extend my hand against.”

¹³ tn Heb “in our ears.”

¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text is very difficult here. The MT reads מִי (mi, “who”), apparently yielding the following sense: “Show care, whoever you might be, for the youth Absalom.” The Syriac Peshitta reads li (“for me”), the Hebrew counterpart of which may also lie behind the LXX rendering μοι (moi, “for me”). This reading seems preferable here, since it restores sense to the passage and most easily explains the rise of the variant.