2 Samuel 15:7-9

15:7 After four ¹  years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron. 15:8 For I made this vow ²  when I was living in Geshur in Aram: ‘If the Lord really does allow me to return to Jerusalem, ³  I will serve the Lord.’” 15:9 The king replied to him, “Go in peace.” So Absalom ⁴  got up and went to Hebron.

2 Samuel 15:1

Absalom Leads an Insurrection against David

15:1 Some time later Absalom managed to acquire ⁵  a chariot and horses, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard. ⁶ 

2 Samuel 21:9-10

21:9 He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them ⁷  died ⁸  together; they were put to death during harvest time – during the first days of the beginning ⁹  of the barley harvest.

21:10 Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain fell on them, ¹⁰  she did not allow the birds of the air to feed ¹¹  on them by day, nor the wild animals ¹²  by night.

John 18:28

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

18:28 Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the Roman governor’s residence. ¹³  (Now it was very early morning.) ¹⁴  They ¹⁵  did not go into the governor’s residence ¹⁶  so they would not be ceremonially defiled, but could eat the Passover meal.

¹ tc The MT has here “forty,” but this is presumably a scribal error for “four.” The context will not tolerate a period of forty years prior to the rebellion of Absalom. The Lucianic Greek recension (τέσσαρα ἔτη, tessara ete), the Syriac Peshitta (’arba’ sanin), and Vulgate (post quattuor autem annos) in fact have the expected reading “four years.” Most English translations follow the versions in reading “four” here, although some (e.g. KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), following the MT, read “forty.”

² tn Heb “for your servant vowed a vow.” The formal court style of referring to one’s self in third person (“your servant”) has been translated here as first person for clarity.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “acquired for himself.”

⁶ tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”

⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading שְׁבַעְתָּם (shÿva’tam, “the seven of them”) rather than MT שִׁבַעְתִּים (shiva’tim, “seventy”).

⁸ tn Heb “fell.”

⁹ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בִּתְחִלַּת (bithkhillat, “in the beginning”) rather than MT תְחִלַּת (tÿkhillat, “beginning of”).

¹⁰ tn Heb “until water was poured on them from the sky.”

¹¹ tn Heb “rest.”

¹² tn Heb “the beasts of the field.”

¹³ tn Grk “to the praetorium.”

¹⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

¹⁵ tn Grk “And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

¹⁶ tn Grk “into the praetorium.”