2 Samuel 12:16

12:16 Then David prayed to ¹  God for the child and fasted. ²  He would even ³  go and spend the night lying on the ground.

2 Samuel 13:5

13:5 Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick. ⁴  When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch. Then I will eat from her hand.’”

2 Samuel 16:5

Shimei Curses David and His Men

16:5 Then King David reached ⁵  Bahurim. There a man from Saul’s extended family named Shimei son of Gera came out, yelling curses as he approached. ⁶ 

[12:16]  ¹ tn Heb “sought” or “searched for.”

[12:16]  ² tn Heb “and David fasted.”

[12:16]  ³ tn The three Hebrew verbs that follow in this verse are perfects with prefixed vav. They may describe repeated past actions or actions which accompanied David’s praying and fasting.

[13:5]  ⁴ tn This verb is used in the Hitpael stem only in this chapter of the Hebrew Bible. With the exception of v. 2 it describes not a real sickness but one pretended in order to entrap Tamar. The Hitpael sometimes, as here, describes the subject making oneself appear to be of a certain character. On this use of the stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

[16:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “came to.” The form of the verb in the MT is odd. Some prefer to read וַיַּבֹא (vayyavo’), preterite with vav consecutive) rather than וּבָא (uva’), apparently perfect with vav), but this is probably an instance where the narrative offline vÿqatal construction introduces a new scene.

[16:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “And look, from there a man was coming out from the clan of the house of Saul and his name was Shimei son of Gera, continually going out and cursing.”