2 Samuel 14:7

14:7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ¹  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ²  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

2 Samuel 14:11

14:11 She replied, “In that case, ³  let the king invoke the name of ⁴  the Lord your God so that the avenger of blood may not kill! Then they will not destroy my son!” He replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of your son’s head ⁵  will fall to the ground.”

¹ tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ (bÿ, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (בְּ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.

² sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.

³ tn The words “in that case” are not in the Hebrew text, but may be inferred from the context. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification.

⁴ tn Heb “let the king remember.”

⁵ tn Heb “of your son.”