2 Samuel 8:13

8:13 David became famous ¹  when he returned from defeating the Arameans ²  in the Valley of Salt, he defeated ³  18,000 in all.

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. ⁴  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 14:7

14:7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ⁶  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ⁷  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

Psalms 60:1

Psalm 60 ⁸ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ⁹  a prayer ¹⁰  of David written to instruct others. ¹¹  It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down ¹²  12,000 Edomites ¹³  in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴ 

60:1 O God, you have rejected us. ¹⁵ 

You suddenly turned on us in your anger. ¹⁶ 

Please restore us! ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “made a name.”

² tn So NASB, NCV; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “Edomites” (see the note on “Aram” in v. 12).

³ tn The words “he defeated” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”

⁵ tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

⁷ tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ (bÿ, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (בְּ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.

⁸ sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.

¹⁰ sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.

¹¹ tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.

¹² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

¹³ tn Heb “to teach.”

¹⁴ tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.

¹⁵ tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).

¹⁶ sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.

¹⁷ sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.

¹⁸ tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”

¹⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.