2 Samuel 1:1

David Learns of the Deaths of Saul and Jonathan

1:1 After the death of Saul, ¹  when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, ²  he stayed at Ziklag ³  for two days.

2 Samuel 3:1

3:1 However, the war was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David. David was becoming steadily stronger, while the house of Saul was becoming increasingly weaker.

2 Samuel 3:20

3:20 When Abner, accompanied by twenty men, came to David in Hebron, David prepared a banquet for Abner and the men who were with him.

2 Samuel 3:26

3:26 Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. (But David was not aware of it.)

2 Samuel 5:11

5:11 King Hiram of Tyre ⁴  sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons. They built a palace ⁵  for David.

2 Samuel 5:13

5:13 David married more concubines and wives from Jerusalem after he arrived from Hebron. Even more sons and daughters were born to David.

2 Samuel 8:1

David Subjugates Nearby Nations

8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah ⁶  from the Philistines. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 9:6

9:6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. ⁸  David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” ⁹ 

2 Samuel 10:17

10:17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, ¹⁰  and came to Helam. The Arameans deployed their forces against David and fought with him.

2 Samuel 11:6

11:6 So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.

2 Samuel 12:13

12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven ¹¹  your sin. You are not going to die.

2 Samuel 12:16

12:16 Then David prayed to ¹²  God for the child and fasted. ¹³  He would even ¹⁴  go and spend the night lying on the ground.

2 Samuel 13:1

The Rape of Tamar

13:1 Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. In the course of time David’s son Amnon fell madly in love with her. ¹⁵ 

2 Samuel 15:31

15:31 Now David ¹⁶  had been told, “Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed, ¹⁷  “Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!”

2 Samuel 16:6

16:6 He threw stones at David and all of King David’s servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left.

2 Samuel 21:15

Israel Engages in Various Battles with the Philistines

21:15 Another battle was fought between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his soldiers ¹⁸  and fought the Philistines. David became exhausted.

2 Samuel 23:1

David’s Final Words

23:1 These are the final words of David:

“The oracle of David son of Jesse,

the oracle of the man raised up as

the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, ¹⁹ 

Israel’s beloved ²⁰  singer of songs:

[1:1]  ¹ sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.

[1:1]  ² sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).

[1:1]  ³ sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.

[5:11]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “a house.”

[8:1]  ⁷ 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).

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look, your servant.”

[10:17]  ¹³ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “removed.”

[12:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sought” or “searched for.”

[12:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and David fasted.”

[12:16]  ²¹ tn The three Hebrew verbs that follow in this verse are perfects with prefixed vav. They may describe repeated past actions or actions which accompanied David’s praying and fasting.

[13:1]  ²² tn Heb “Amnon the son of David loved her.” The following verse indicates the extreme nature of his infatuation, so the translation uses “madly in love” here.

[15:31]  ²⁵ tc The translation follows 4QSam^a, part of the Greek tradition, the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate uldavid in reading “and to David,” rather than MT וְדָוִד (vÿdavid, “and David”). As Driver points out, the Hebrew verb הִגִּיד (higgid, “he related”) never uses the accusative for the person to whom something is told (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 316).

[15:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “said.”

[21:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his servants.”

[23:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”

[23:1]  ³² tn Or “pleasant.”