2 Samuel 8:3

8:3 David defeated King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah when he came to reestablish ¹  his authority ²  over the Euphrates ³  River.

2 Samuel 10:8

10:8 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

2 Samuel 10:15-18

10:15 When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they consolidated their forces. ⁴  10:16 Then Hadadezer sent for Arameans from ⁵  beyond the Euphrates River, ⁶  and they came to Helam. Shobach, the general in command of Hadadezer’s army, led them. ⁷ 

10:17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, ⁸  and came to Helam. The Arameans deployed their forces against David and fought with him. 10:18 The Arameans fled before Israel. David killed 700 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. ⁹  He also struck down Shobach, the general in command of the army, who died there.

2 Samuel 10:1

David and the Ammonites

10:1 Later the king of the Ammonites died and his son Hanun succeeded him. ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 18:3-9

18:3 But the soldiers replied, ¹¹  “You should not do this! ¹²  For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be too concerned about us. ¹³  Even if half of us should die, they won’t be too concerned about us. But you ¹⁴  are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.” 18:4 Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 18:5 The king gave this order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake deal gently with the young man Absalom.” Now the entire army was listening when the king gave all the leaders this order concerning Absalom.

18:6 Then the army marched out to the field to fight against Israel. The battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 18:7 The army of Israel was defeated there by David’s men. ¹⁵  The slaughter there was great that day – 20,000 soldiers were killed. 18:8 The battle there was spread out over the whole area, and the forest consumed more soldiers than the sword devoured that day.

18:9 Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his ¹⁶  mule, it ¹⁷  went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, ¹⁸  while the mule he had been riding kept going.

2 Samuel 19:6

19:6 You seem to love your enemies and hate your friends! For you have as much as declared today that leaders and servants don’t matter to you. I realize now ¹⁹  that if ²⁰  Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, ²¹  it would be all right with you.

2 Samuel 19:16-19

19:16 Shimei son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim came down quickly with the men of Judah to meet King David. 19:17 There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant ²²  of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed ²³  the Jordan within sight of the king. 19:18 They crossed at the ford in order to help the king’s household cross and to do whatever he thought appropriate.

Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king. 19:19 He said to the king, “Don’t think badly of me, my lord, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left ²⁴  Jerusalem! ²⁵  Please don’t call it to mind!

¹ tc The LXX has ἐπιστῆσαι (episthsai, “cause to stand”). See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.

² tn Heb “hand.”

³ tn The MT does not have the name “Euphrates” in the text. It is supplied in the margin (Qere) as one of ten places where the Masoretes believed that something was “to be read although it was not written” in the text as they had received it. The ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate) include the word. See also the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.

⁴ tn Heb “were gathered together.”

⁵ tn Heb “and Hadadezer sent and brought out Aram which is.”

⁶ tn Heb “from beyond the River.” The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “was before them.”

⁸ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Heb “horsemen” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT) but the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “foot soldiers,” as does the parallel text in 1 Chr 19:18. Cf. NAB, NIV.

¹⁰ tn Heb “reigned in his place.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the people said.”

¹² tn Heb “march out.”

¹³ tn Heb “they will not place to us heart.”

¹⁴ tc The translation follows the LXX (except for the Lucianic recension), Symmachus, and Vulgate in reading אָתָּה (’atta, “you”) rather than MT עָתָּה (’atta, “now”).

¹⁵ tn Heb “servants” (also in v. 9).

¹⁶ tn Heb “the.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “the donkey.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “between the sky and the ground.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “today.”

²⁰ tc The translation follows the Qere, 4QSam^a, and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading לוּ (lu, “if”) rather than MT לֹא (lo’, “not”).

²¹ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack “today.”

²² tn Heb “youth.”

²³ tn Heb “rushed into.”

²⁴ tn Though this verb in the MT is 3rd person masculine singular, it should probably be read as 2nd person masculine singular. It is one of fifteen places where the Masoretes placed a dot over each of the letters of the word in question in order to call attention to their suspicion of the word. Their concern in this case apparently had to do with the fact that this verb and the two preceding verbs alternate from third person to second and back again to third. Words marked in this way in Hebrew manuscripts or printed editions are said to have puncta extrordinaria, or “extraordinary points.”

²⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.