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 18:15 Then ten soldiers who were Joab’s armor bearers struck Absalom and finished him off.
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.
16:1 When David had gone a short way beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a couple of donkeys that were saddled, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred raisin cakes, a hundred baskets of summer fruit, 8 and a container of wine.
16:2 The king asked Ziba, “Why did you bring these things?” 9 Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on, the loaves of bread 10 and the summer fruit are for the attendants to eat, and the wine is for those who get exhausted in the desert.” 11 16:3 The king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?” 12 Ziba replied to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, 13 for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give back to me my grandfather’s 14 kingdom.’”
30:6 This is a message 15 about the animals in the Negev:
Through a land of distress and danger,
inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, 16
by snakes and darting adders, 17
they transport 18 their wealth on the backs of donkeys,
their riches on the humps of camels,
to a nation that cannot help them. 19
1 tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
2 tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
3 tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
4 tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
5 tn Heb “has brought back upon you.”
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 Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet).
8 tn Heb “a hundred summer fruit.”
9 tn Heb “What are these to you?”
10 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
11 tn The Hebrew text adds “to drink.”
12 tn Heb “son.”
13 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
14 tn Heb “my father’s.”
15 tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”
16 tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.
17 tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.
18 tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
19 sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.