2:1 Afterward David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” The Lord told him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where should I go?” The Lord replied, 1 “To Hebron.”
9:11 Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth was a regular guest 18 at David’s table, 19 just as though he were one of the king’s sons.
23:8 These are the names of David’s warriors:
Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. 30 He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle. 31
1 tn Heb “he said.” The referent (the
2 tn Heb “young men.” So also elsewhere.
3 tn The words “when you come to see my face,” though found in the Hebrew text, are somewhat redundant given the similar expression in the earlier part of the verse. The words are absent from the Syriac Peshitta.
4 tc The present translation, “Saul’s son had two men,” is based on the reading “to the son of Saul,” rather than the MT’s “the son of Saul.” The context requires the preposition to indicate the family relationship.
5 tn Heb “and David returned to bless his house.”
6 tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “honored.”
8 tn Heb “one of the foolish ones.”
6 tn Heb “Did I speak a word?” In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question.
7 tn Heb “tribes” (so KJV, NASB, NCV), but the parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:6 has “judges.”
8 tn Heb “whom I commanded to shepherd” (so NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “a nation, one.”
8 tn Heb “whose God” or “because God.” In the Hebrew text this clause is subordinated to what precedes. The clauses are separated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
9 tn The verb is plural in Hebrew, agreeing grammatically with the divine name, which is a plural of degree.
10 tn Heb “redeem.”
11 tn Heb “and to do for you [plural form] the great [thing] and awesome [things] for your land.”
12 tn Heb “from Egypt, nations and their gods.” The LXX has “nations and tents,” which reflects a mistaken metathesis of letters in אֶלֹהָיו (e’lohav, “its gods”) and אֹהָלָיו (’ohalav, “its tents”).
8 tn Heb “eating.”
9 tc Heb “my table.” But the first person reference to David is awkward here since the quotation of David’s words has already been concluded in v. 10; nor does the “my” refer to Ziba, since the latter part of v. 11 does not seem to be part of Ziba’s response to the king. The ancient versions are not unanimous in the way that they render the phrase. The LXX has “the table of David” (τῆς τραπέζης Δαυιδ, th" trapezh" Dauid); the Syriac Peshitta has “the table of the king” (patureh demalka’); the Vulgate has “your table” (mensam tuam). The present translation follows the LXX.
9 tn Heb “his sons.”
10 tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.
11 tn Heb “from his morsel.”
12 tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”
10 tn Heb “and you will be like one of the fools.”
11 tn Heb “Now.”
11 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text here or in v. 24, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “Why did you not strike him down there to the ground.”
13 tn Heb “ten [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 4 ounces (114 grams) of silver by weight.
14 tn Heb “and a girdle” (so KJV); NIV “a warrior’s belt”; CEV “a special belt”; NLT “a hero’s belt.”
13 tn The Hebrew word is sometimes rendered as “the three,” but BDB is probably correct in taking it to refer to military officers (BDB 1026 s.v. שְׁלִישִׁי). In that case the etymological connection of this word to the Hebrew numerical adjective for “three” can be explained as originating with a designation for the third warrior in a chariot.
14 tc The translation follows some LXX