13:25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom 2 pressed 3 him, the king 4 was not willing to go. Instead, David 5 blessed him.
13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk 6 and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” 7
14:33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king 10 summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom 11 bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. 12
17:20 When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men 19 searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. 20
18:9 Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his 21 mule, it 22 went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, 23 while the mule he had been riding kept going.
20:6 Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure 28 fortified cities for himself and get away from us.”
1 tn Heb “your servant.” So also in vv. 8, 15, 21.
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tc Here and in v. 27 the translation follows 4QSama ויצפר (vayyitspar, “and he pressed”) rather than the MT וַיִּפְרָץ (vayyiprats, “and he broke through”). This emended reading seems also to underlie the translations of the LXX (καὶ ἐβιάσατο, kai ebiasato), the Syriac Peshitta (we’alseh), and Vulgate (cogeret eum).
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”
4 tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”
4 tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….”
5 tn The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.
6 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
7 tn Heb “Arise!”
8 tn Heb “let’s flee.”
9 tn Heb “thrust.”
10 tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
7 tn Heb “has brought back upon you.”
8 tn Heb “they”; the referents (Absalom’s men) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
9 tn Heb “the.”
10 tn Heb “the donkey.”
11 tn Heb “between the sky and the ground.”
10 tn Heb “and all Israel fled, each to his tent.” In this context this refers to the supporters of Absalom (see vv. 6-7, 16).
11 tn Heb “today.”
12 tc The translation follows the Qere, 4QSama, and many medieval Hebrew
13 tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack “today.”
12 tn Heb “find.” The perfect verbal form is unexpected with the preceding word “otherwise.” We should probably read instead the imperfect. Although it is possible to understand the perfect here as indicating that the feared result is thought of as already having taken place (cf. BDB 814 s.v. פֶּן 2), it is more likely that the perfect is simply the result of scribal error. In this context the imperfect would be more consistent with the following verb וְהִצִּיל (vÿhitsil, “and he will get away”).