2 Samuel 10:6

10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, ¹  they ²  sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, ³  in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 14:7

14:7 Now the entire family has risen up against your servant, saying, ‘Turn over the one who struck down his brother, so that we can execute him and avenge the death ⁵  of his brother whom he killed. In so doing we will also destroy the heir.’ They want to extinguish my remaining coal, ⁶  leaving no one on the face of the earth to carry on the name of my husband.”

2 Samuel 18:12

18:12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if ⁷  I were receiving ⁸  a thousand pieces of silver, ⁹  I would not strike ¹⁰  the king’s son! In our very presence ¹¹  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ¹² 

[10:6]  ¹ tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”

[10:6]  ² tn Heb “the Ammonites.”

[10:6]  ³ tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”

[10:6]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.

[14:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ (bÿ, “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii, or bet (בְּ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.

[14:7]  ⁶ sn My remaining coal is here metaphorical language, describing the one remaining son as her only source of lingering hope for continuing the family line.

[18:12]  ⁹ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וְלוּ (vÿlu, “and if”) rather than MT וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

[18:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “weighing out in my hand.”

[18:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a thousand [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 25 pounds (11.4 kg) of silver by weight.

[18:12]  ¹² tn Heb “extend my hand against.”

[18:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “in our ears.”

[18:12]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text is very difficult here. The MT reads מִי (mi, “who”), apparently yielding the following sense: “Show care, whoever you might be, for the youth Absalom.” The Syriac Peshitta reads li (“for me”), the Hebrew counterpart of which may also lie behind the LXX rendering μοι (moi, “for me”). This reading seems preferable here, since it restores sense to the passage and most easily explains the rise of the variant.