2 Samuel 18:24

18:24 Now David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, ¹  and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate at the wall. When he looked, he saw a man running by himself.

2 Samuel 18:2

18:2 David then sent out the army – a third under the leadership of Joab, a third under the leadership of Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under the leadership of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, “I too will indeed march out with you.”

2 Samuel 9:1

David Finds Mephibosheth

9:1 ² Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family ³  of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”

2 Samuel 17:9

17:9 At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, ⁴  whoever hears about it will say, ‘Absalom’s army has been slaughtered!’

Isaiah 21:5

21:5 Arrange the table,

lay out ⁵  the carpet,

eat and drink! ⁶ 

Get up, you officers,

smear oil on the shields! ⁷ 

Isaiah 62:6

62:6 I ⁸  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ⁹ 

You who pray to ¹⁰  the Lord, don’t be silent!

¹ tn Heb “the two gates.”

² sn 2 Samuel 9–20 is known as the Succession Narrative. It is a literary unit that describes David’s efforts at consolidating his own kingdom following the demise of King Saul; it also provides the transition to subsequent leadership on the part of David’s successor Solomon.

³ tn Heb “house.”

⁴ tn Heb “that he falls on them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] at the first [encounter]; or “that some of them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] fall at the first [encounter].”

⁵ tn The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. KJV “watch in the watchtower”; ASV “set the watch”).

⁶ tn The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.

⁷ sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.

⁸ sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

⁹ tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

¹⁰ tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”