8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah 2 from the Philistines. 3
4:4 Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. 4 Mephibosheth was his name.
4:1 When Ish-bosheth 5 the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, 6 and all Israel was afraid.
18:16 Then Joab blew the trumpet 7 and the army turned back from chasing Israel, for Joab had called for the army to halt.
1 tc Here Ahimelech is called “the son of Abiathar,” but NCV, CEV, and REB reverse this to conform with 1 Sam 22:20. Most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) retain the order found in the MT.
2 tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).
3 tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”
4 tn Heb “and was lame.”
5 tn The MT does not specify the subject of the verb here, but the reference is to Ish-bosheth, so the name has been supplied in the translation for clarity. 4QSama and the LXX mistakenly read “Mephibosheth.”
6 tn Heb “his hands went slack.”
7 tn Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet).