2 Samuel 3:8

3:8 These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating ¹  loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives ²  and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today! ³ 

2 Samuel 9:8

9:8 Then Mephibosheth ⁴  bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” ⁵ 

2 Samuel 9:1

David Finds Mephibosheth

9:1 ⁶ Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family ⁷  of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”

2 Samuel 24:14

24:14 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “I do.”

² tn Heb “brothers.”

³ tn Heb “and you have laid upon me the guilt of the woman today.”

⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “house.”

⁸ tn Heb “There is great distress to me. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for great is his mercy, but into the hand of man let me not fall.”