2 Samuel 15:31

15:31 Now David ¹  had been told, “Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed, ²  “Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!”

2 Samuel 15:1

Absalom Leads an Insurrection against David

15:1 Some time later Absalom managed to acquire ³  a chariot and horses, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 1:4-5

1:4 David inquired, “How were things going? ⁵  Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them ⁶  fell dead. ⁷  Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!” 1:5 David said to the young man ⁸  who was telling him this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁹ 

2 Samuel 1:1

David Learns of the Deaths of Saul and Jonathan

1:1 After the death of Saul, ¹⁰  when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, ¹¹  he stayed at Ziklag ¹²  for two days.

2 Samuel 16:18

16:18 Hushai replied to Absalom, “No, I will be loyal to the one whom the Lord, these people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. ¹³ 

Job 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Psalms 5:10

5:10 Condemn them, ¹⁴  O God!

May their own schemes be their downfall! ¹⁵ 

Drive them away ¹⁶  because of their many acts of insurrection, ¹⁷ 

for they have rebelled against you.

Psalms 55:23

55:23 But you, O God, will bring them ¹⁸  down to the deep Pit. ¹⁹ 

Violent and deceitful people ²⁰  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ²¹ 

But as for me, I trust in you.

Matthew 27:5

27:5 So ²²  Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself.

¹ tc The translation follows 4QSam^a, part of the Greek tradition, the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate uldavid in reading “and to David,” rather than MT וְדָוִד (vÿdavid, “and David”). As Driver points out, the Hebrew verb הִגִּיד (higgid, “he related”) never uses the accusative for the person to whom something is told (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 316).

² tn Heb “said.”

³ tn Heb “acquired for himself.”

⁴ tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”

⁵ tn Heb “What was the word?”

⁶ tn Heb “from the people.”

⁷ tn Heb “fell and died.”

⁸ tn In v. 2 he is called simply a “man.” The word used here in v. 5 (so also in vv. 6, 13, 15), though usually referring to a young man or servant, may in this context designate a “fighting” man, i.e., a soldier.

⁹ tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”

¹⁰ sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.

¹¹ sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).

¹² sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.

¹³ tn Heb “No for with the one whom the Lord has chosen, and this people, and all the men of Israel, I will be and with him I will stay.” The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading לוֹ (lo, “[I will be] to him”) rather than the MT לֹא (lo’, “[I will] not be”), which makes very little sense here.

¹⁴ tn Heb “declare/regard them as guilty.” Declaring the psalmist’s adversaries guilty is here metonymic for judging them or paying them back for their wrongdoing.

¹⁵ tn Heb “may they fall from their plans.” The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation. The psalmist calls judgment down on the evildoers. Their plans will be their downfall in that God will judge them for their evil schemes.

¹⁶ tn Or “banish them.”

¹⁷ tn The Hebrew noun used here, פֶּשַׁע (pesha’), refers to rebellious actions. The psalmist pictures his enemies as rebels against God (see the next line).

¹⁸ tn The pronominal suffix refers to the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 19).

¹⁹ tn Heb “well of the pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 103:4).

²⁰ tn Heb “men of bloodshed and deceit.”

²¹ tn Heb “will not divide in half their days.”

²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the leaders’ response to Judas.