2 Samuel 13:20

13:20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!” ¹  Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:9

17:9 At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, ²  whoever hears about it will say, ‘Absalom’s army has been slaughtered!’

2 Samuel 21:20

21:20 Yet another battle occurred in Gath. On that occasion there was a large man ³  who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha.

2 Samuel 23:8

David’s Warriors

23:8 These are the names of David’s warriors:

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. ⁴  He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 23:10

23:10 he stood his ground ⁶  and fought the Philistines until his hand grew so tired that it ⁷  seemed stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory on that day. When the army returned to him, the only thing left to do was to plunder the corpses.

2 Samuel 23:18

23:18 Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ⁸  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 23:20

23:20 Benaiah son of Jehoida was a brave warrior ¹⁰  from Kabzeel who performed great exploits. He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. ¹¹  He also went down and killed a lion in a cistern on a snowy day.

¹ tn Heb “Don’t set your heart to this thing!”

² tn Heb “that he falls on them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] at the first [encounter]; or “that some of them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] fall at the first [encounter].”

³ tn Heb “a man of stature.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew word is sometimes rendered as “the three,” but BDB is probably correct in taking it to refer to military officers (BDB 1026 s.v. שְׁלִישִׁי). In that case the etymological connection of this word to the Hebrew numerical adjective for “three” can be explained as originating with a designation for the third warrior in a chariot.

⁵ tc The translation follows some LXX mss (see 1 Chr 11:11 as well) in reading הוּא עוֹרֵר אֶת־חֲנִיתוֹ (hu’ ’orer ’et khanito, “he raised up his spear”) rather than the MT’s הוּא עֲדִינוֹ הָעֶצְנִי (hu’ ’adino ha’etsni [Kethib = הָעֶצְנוֹ, ha’etsno]; “Adino the Ezenite”). The emended text reads literally “he was wielding his spear against eight hundred, [who were] slain at one time.”

⁵ tn Heb “arose.”

⁶ tn Heb “his hand.”

⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and Vulgate in reading הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה (hashÿlosa, “the three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT הַשָּׁלִשִׁי (hashalisi, “the third,” or “adjutant”). Two medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta have “thirty.”

⁷ tn Heb “and he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain, and to him there was a name among the three.”

⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading חַיִל (khayil, “valor”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, חַי (khay, “life”).

⁸ tc Heb “the two of Ariel, Moab.” The precise meaning of אריאל is uncertain; some read “warrior.” The present translation assumes that the word is a proper name and that בני, “sons of,” has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note the preceding שׁני).