2 Samuel 11:8-15

11:8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” ¹  When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. ²  11:9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all ³  the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.

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?” 11:11 Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations ⁴  with my wife? As surely as you are alive, ⁵  I will not do this thing!” 11:12 So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one. ⁶  11:13 Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.

11:14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 11:15 In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”

Psalms 12:2

12:2 People lie to one another; ⁷ 

they flatter and deceive. ⁸ 

Psalms 55:21

55:21 His words are as smooth as butter, ⁹ 

but he harbors animosity in his heart. ¹⁰ 

His words seem softer than oil,

but they are really like sharp swords. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 41:6-7

41:6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry ¹²  as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, “Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” ¹³  41:7 But as soon as they were inside the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies ¹⁴  in a cistern.

[11:8]  ¹ tn Heb “and wash your feet.”

[11:8]  ² tn Heb “and there went out after him the gift of the king.”

[11:9]  ³ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation lacks the word “all.”

[11:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “and lay.”

[11:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “as you live and as your soul lives.”

[11:12]  ⁶ tn On the chronology involved here see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 287.

[12:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “falsehood they speak, a man with his neighbor.” The imperfect verb forms in v. 2 describe what is typical in the psalmist’s experience.

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “[with] a lip of smoothness, with a heart and a heart they speak.” Speaking a “smooth” word refers to deceptive flattery (cf. Ps 5:9; 55:21; Prov 2:16; 5:3; 7:5, 21; 26:28; 28:23; Isa 30:10). “Heart” here refers to their mind, from which their motives and intentions originate. The repetition of the noun indicates diversity (see GKC 396 §123.f, IBHS 116 §7.2.3c, and Deut 25:13, where the phrase “weight and a weight” refers to two different measuring weights). These people have two different types of “hearts.” Their flattering words seem to express kind motives and intentions, but this outward display does not really reflect their true motives. Their real “heart” is filled with evil thoughts and destructive intentions. The “heart” that is seemingly displayed through their words is far different from the real “heart” they keep disguised. (For the idea see Ps 28:3.) In 1 Chr 12:33 the phrase “without a heart and a heart” means “undivided loyalty.”

[55:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “the butter-like [words] of his mouth are smooth.” The noun מַחְמָאֹת (makhma’ot, “butter-like [words]”) occurs only here. Many prefer to emend the form to מֵחֶמְאָה (mekhem’ah, from [i.e., “than”] butter”), cf. NEB, NRSV “smoother than butter.” However, in this case “his mouth” does not agree in number with the plural verb חָלְקוּ (kholqu, “they are smooth”). Therefore some further propose an emendation of פִּיו (piv, “his mouth”) to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”). In any case, the point seems to that the psalmist’s former friend spoke kindly to him and gave the outward indications of friendship.

[55:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and war [is in] his heart.”

[55:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords.”

[41:6]  ¹² tn Heb “he was weeping/crying.” The translation is intended to better reflect the situation.

[41:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit to the situation and are added for clarity.

[41:7]  ¹⁴ tn The words “and threw their bodies” result from the significant use of the preposition אֶל (’el, so GKC 384 §119.gg and BDB 39 s.v. אֶל 1). Hence the suggestion in BHS (fn a) that the Syriac and two Greek mss are reading a different text is not really a textual issue but a translational one; the versions are supplying the words for stylistic purposes as has been done here.