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 3:31

3:31 David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes! Put on sackcloth! Lament before Abner!” Now King David followed ⁴  behind the funeral bier.

2 Samuel 14:2

14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ⁵  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ⁶ 

2 Samuel 19:24

19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, ⁷  came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely ⁸  returned, Mephibosheth ⁹  had not cared for his feet ¹⁰  nor trimmed ¹¹  his mustache nor washed his clothes.

2 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Amasa was squirming in his own blood in the middle of the path, and this man had noticed that all the soldiers stopped. Having noticed that everyone who came across Amasa ¹²  stopped, the man ¹³  pulled him ¹⁴  away from the path and into the field and threw a garment over him.

[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.”

[3:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “was walking.”

[14:2]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.

[14:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “these many days.”

[19:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “son.”

[19:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.

[19:24]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “done his feet.”

[19:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “done.”

[20:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Amasa) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who spoke up in v. 11) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Amasa.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.