2 Samuel 3:18

3:18 Act now! For the Lord has said to David, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save ¹  my people Israel from ²  the Philistines and from all their enemies.’”

2 Samuel 7:8

7:8 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd ³  to make you leader of my people Israel.

2 Samuel 12:7

12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose ⁴  you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.

2 Samuel 12:11

12:11 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you ⁵  from inside your own household! ⁶  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. ⁷  He will have sexual relations with ⁸  your wives in broad daylight! ⁹ 

2 Samuel 16:3

16:3 The king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?” ¹⁰  Ziba replied to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, ¹¹  for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give back to me my grandfather’s ¹²  kingdom.’”

2 Samuel 16:10-11

16:10 But the king said, “What do we have in common, ¹³  you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this?’” 16:11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son, my very own flesh and blood, ¹⁴  is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the Lord has spoken to him.

2 Samuel 18:18

18:18 Prior to this ¹⁵  Absalom had set up a monument ¹⁶  and dedicated it to himself in the King’s Valley, reasoning “I have no son who will carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and to this day it is known as Absalom’s Memorial.

2 Samuel 18:33

18:33 (19:1) ¹⁷  The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, ¹⁸  Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” ¹⁹ 

2 Samuel 19:26

19:26 He replied, “My lord the king, my servant deceived me! I ²⁰  said, ‘Let me get my donkey saddled so that I can ride on it and go with the king,’ for I ²¹  am lame.

¹ tc The present translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading “I will save,” rather than the MT “he saved.” The context calls for the 1st person common singular imperfect of the verb rather than the 3rd person masculine singular perfect.

² tn Heb “from the hand of.”

³ tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

⁵ tn Heb “anointed.”

⁷ tn Heb “raise up against you disaster.”

⁸ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”

⁹ tn Or “friend.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “will lie with” (so NIV, NRSV); TEV “will have intercourse with”; CEV, NLT “will go to bed with.”

¹¹ tn Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”

⁹ tn Heb “son.”

¹⁰ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹¹ tn Heb “my father’s.”

¹¹ tn Heb “What to me and to you?”

¹³ tn Heb “who came out from my entrails.” David’s point is that is his own son, his child whom he himself had fathered, was now wanting to kill him.

¹⁵ tn Heb “and.” This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) describes an occurrence that preceded the events just narrated.

¹⁶ tn Heb “a pillar.”

¹⁷ sn This marks the beginning of ch. 19 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 18:33, the verse numbers through 19:43 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 18:33 ET = 19:1 HT, 19:1 ET = 19:2 HT, 19:2 ET = 19:3 HT, etc., through 19:43 ET = 19:44 HT. From 20:1 the versification in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible is again the same.

¹⁸ tc One medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of the LXX, and the Vulgate lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

¹⁹ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

¹⁹ tn Heb “your servant.”

²⁰ tn Heb “your servant.”