2 Samuel 1:2

1:2 On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. ¹  When he approached David, the man ²  threw himself to the ground. ³ 

2 Samuel 3:22

Abner Is Killed

3:22 Now David’s soldiers ⁴  and Joab were coming back from a raid, bringing a great deal of plunder with them. Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, for David ⁵  had sent him away and he had left in peace.

2 Samuel 3:25

3:25 You know Abner the son of Ner! Surely he came here to spy on you and to determine when you leave and when you return ⁶  and to discover everything that you are doing!”

2 Samuel 6:16

6:16 As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 11:10

11:10 So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?”

2 Samuel 17:25

17:25 Absalom had made Amasa general in command of the army in place of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of an Israelite man named Jether, who had married ⁸  Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.)

2 Samuel 19:24

19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, ⁹  came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely ¹⁰  returned, Mephibosheth ¹¹  had not cared for his feet ¹²  nor trimmed ¹³  his mustache nor washed his clothes.

2 Samuel 20:3

20:3 Then David went to his palace ¹⁴  in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement. ¹⁵  Though he provided for their needs, he did not have sexual relations with them. ¹⁶  They remained in confinement until the day they died, living out the rest of their lives as widows.

2 Samuel 20:8

20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 24:21

24:21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” David replied, “To buy from you the threshing floor so I can build an altar for the Lord, so that the plague may be removed from the people.”

[1:2]  ¹ sn Tearing one’s clothing and throwing dirt on one’s head were outward expressions of grief in the ancient Near East, where such demonstrable reactions were a common response to tragic news.

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned at the beginning of v. 2) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion as to who fell to the ground.

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “he fell to the ground and did obeisance.”

[3:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “And look, the servants of David.”

[3:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The expression is a merism. It specifically mentions the polar extremities of the actions but includes all activity in between the extremities as well, thus encompassing the entirety of one’s activities.

[6:16]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”

[17:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “come to.”

[19:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “son.”

[19:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.

[19:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “done his feet.”

[19:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “done.”

[20:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[20:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he placed them in a guarded house.”

[20:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “he did not come to them”; NAB “has no further relations with them”; NIV “did not lie with them”; TEV “did not have intercourse with them”; NLT “would no longer sleep with them.”

[20:8]  ²² sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.