7:18 King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, 1 that you should have brought me to this point?
13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk 4 and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” 5
18:14 Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. 6
18:1 David assembled the army that was with him. He appointed leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds.
2:24 So Joab and Abishai chased Abner. At sunset they came to the hill of Ammah near Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. 2:25 The Benjaminites formed their ranks 9 behind Abner and were like a single army, standing at the top of a certain hill.
11:6 So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going. 10 11:8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” 11 When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. 12
1 tn Heb “house.”
2 tn Heb “to her voice.”
3 tn Heb “and he humiliated her and lay with her.”
4 tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”
5 tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”
6 tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”
7 tn In v. 2 he is called simply a “man.” The word used here in v. 5 (so also in vv. 6, 13, 15), though usually referring to a young man or servant, may in this context designate a “fighting” man, i.e., a soldier.
8 tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”
9 tn Heb “were gathered together.”
10 tn Heb “concerning the peace of Joab and concerning the peace of the people and concerning the peace of the battle.”
11 tn Heb “and wash your feet.”
12 tn Heb “and there went out after him the gift of the king.”
13 tc The MT has here “because you have caused the enemies of the