2 Samuel 17:1-2

The Death of Ahithophel

17:1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night. 17:2 When I catch up with ¹  him he will be exhausted and worn out. ²  I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king

Matthew 5:7

5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 18:33-35

18:33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ 18:34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him ³  until he repaid all he owed. 18:35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your ⁴  brother ⁵  from your heart.”

James 2:13

2:13 For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over ⁶  judgment.

¹ tn Heb “and I will come upon him.”

² tn Heb “exhausted and slack of hands.”

³ tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to L&N 37.126, it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matthew about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.

⁴ tn Grk “his.” The pronoun has been translated to follow English idiom (the last pronoun of the verse [“from your heart”] is second person plural in the original).

⁵ tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.

⁶ tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.