2 Samuel 10:17

10:17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, ¹  and came to Helam. The Arameans deployed their forces against David and fought with him.

2 Samuel 12:28

12:28 So now assemble the rest of the army ²  and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”

2 Samuel 21:13

21:13 David ³  brought the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there; they also gathered up the bones of those who had been executed.

2 Samuel 23:11

23:11 Next in command ⁴  was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, ⁵  where there happened to be an area of a field that was full of lentils, the army retreated before the Philistines.

[10:17]  ¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:28]  ² tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 29, 31.

[21:13]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “after him.”

[23:11]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text is difficult here. The MT reads לַחַיָּה (lachayyah), which implies a rare use of the word חַיָּה (chayyah). The word normally refers to an animal, but if the MT is accepted it would here have the sense of a troop or community of people. BDB 312 s.v. II. חַיָּה, for example, understands the similar reference in v. 13 to be to “a group of allied families, making a raid together.” But this works better in v. 13 than it does in v. 11, where the context seems to suggest a particular staging location for a military operation. (See 1 Chr 11:15.) It therefore seems best to understand the word in v. 11 as a place name with ה (he) directive. In that case the Masoretes mistook the word for the common term for an animal and then tried to make sense of it in this context.