2 Samuel 6:17-19

6:17 They brought the ark of the Lord and put it in its place ¹  in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord. 6:18 When David finished offering the burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. 6:19 He then handed out to each member of the entire assembly of Israel, ²  both men and women, a portion of bread, a date cake, ³  and a raisin cake. Then all the people went home. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 6:1

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

6:1 David again assembled ⁵  all the best ⁶  men in Israel, thirty thousand in number.

2 Samuel 8:6

8:6 David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected ⁷  David wherever he campaigned. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 8:2

8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ⁹  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 5:7

5:7 But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David).

¹ tc The Syriac Peshitta lacks “in its place.”

² tn Heb “to all the people, to all the throng of Israel.”

³ tn The Hebrew word used here אֶשְׁפָּר (’espar) is found in the OT only here and in the parallel passage found in 1 Chr 16:3. Its exact meaning is uncertain, although the context indicates that it was a food of some sort (cf. KJV “a good piece of flesh”; NRSV “a portion of meat”). The translation adopted here (“date cake”) follows the lead of the Greek translations of the LXX, Aquila, and Symmachus (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).

⁴ tn Heb “and all the people went, each to his house.”

⁵ tn The translation understands the verb to be a defective spelling of וַיְּאֱסֹף (vayyÿ’esof) due to quiescence of the letter א (alef). The root therefore is אסף (’sf, “to gather”). The Masoretes, however, pointed the verb as וַיֹּסֶף (vayyosef), understanding it to be a form of יָסַף (yasaf, “to add”). This does not fit the context, which calls for a verb of gathering.

⁶ tn Or “chosen.”

⁷ tn Or “delivered.”

⁸ tn Or “wherever he went.”

⁹ tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”