2 Samuel 11:17

11:17 When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David’s soldiers ¹  fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.

2 Samuel 11:1

David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba

11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings ²  normally conduct wars, ³  David sent out Joab with his officers ⁴  and the entire Israelite army. ⁵  They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. ⁶ 

2 Samuel 18:17

18:17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and stacked a huge pile of stones over him. In the meantime all the Israelite soldiers fled to their homes. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 18:21

18:21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” After bowing to Joab, the Cushite ran off.

2 Samuel 18:25

18:25 So the watchman called out and informed the king. The king said, “If he is by himself, he brings good news.” ⁸  The runner ⁹  came ever closer.

Psalms 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ¹⁰  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ¹¹  you are just when you confront me; ¹² 

you are right when you condemn me. ¹³ 

Psalms 51:14

51:14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder, ¹⁴  O God, the God who delivers me!

Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your deliverance. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 20:13

20:13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!

For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers. ¹⁶ 

[11:17]  ¹ tn Heb “some of the people from the servants of David.”

[11:1]  ² tc Codex Leningrad (B19A), on which BHS is based, has here “messengers” (הַמַּלְאכִים, hammal’khim), probably as the result of contamination from the occurrence of that word in v. 4. The present translation follows most Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, which read “kings” (הַמֶּלָאכִים, hammela’kim).

[11:1]  ³ tn Heb “go out.”

[11:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his servants with him.”

[11:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “all Israel.”

[11:1]  ⁶ tn The disjunctive clause contrasts David’s inactivity with the army’s activity.

[18:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “and all Israel fled, each to his tent.” In this context this refers to the supporters of Absalom (see vv. 6-7, 16).

[18:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “good news is in his mouth.”

[18:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the runner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[51:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ¹² tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[51:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from bloodshed.” “Bloodshed” here stands by metonymy for the guilt which it produces.

[51:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my tongue will shout for joy your deliverance.” Another option is to take the prefixed verbal form as a jussive, “may my tongue shout for joy.” However, the pattern in vv. 12-15 appears to be prayer/request (see vv. 12, 14a, 15a) followed by promise/vow (see vv. 13, 14b, 15b).

[20:13]  ¹⁶ sn While it may be a little confusing to modern readers to see the fluctuation in moods and the shifts in addressee in a prayer and complaint like this, it was not at all unusual for Israel where these were often offered in the temple in the conscious presence of God before fellow worshipers. For another example of these same shifts see Ps 22 which is a prayer of David in a time of deep distress.