2 Samuel 13:4

13:4 He asked Amnon, ¹  “Why are you, the king’s son, ²  so depressed every morning? Can’t you tell me?” So Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar the sister of my brother Absalom.”

2 Samuel 18:2

18:2 David then sent out the army – a third under the leadership of Joab, a third under the leadership of Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under the leadership of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, “I too will indeed march out with you.”

2 Samuel 23:18

23:18 Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ³  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “and he said to him.”

² tn An more idiomatic translation might be “Why are you of all people…?”

³ 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.”

⁴ tn Heb “and he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain, and to him there was a name among the three.”