23:1 These are the final words of David:
“The oracle of David son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man raised up as
the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, 1
Israel’s beloved 2 singer of songs:
11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings 3 normally conduct wars, 4 David sent out Joab with his officers 5 and the entire Israelite army. 6 They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 7
1 tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”
2 tn Or “pleasant.”
3 tc Codex Leningrad (B19A), on which BHS is based, has here “messengers” (הַמַּלְאכִים, hammal’khim), probably as the result of contamination from the occurrence of that word in v. 4. The present translation follows most Hebrew
4 tn Heb “go out.”
5 tn Heb “and his servants with him.”
6 tn Heb “all Israel.”
7 tn The disjunctive clause contrasts David’s inactivity with the army’s activity.