Discovery Box2 Samuel 12:6
Context12:6 Because he committed this cold-hearted crime, he must pay for the lamb four times over!” 1
2 Samuel 12:3-4
Context12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. 2 It used to 3 eat his food, 4 drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. 5 It was just like a daughter to him.
12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, 6 he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed 7 the traveler who had come to visit him. 8 Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked 9 it for the man who had come to visit him.”
[12:6] 1 tc With the exception of the Lucianic recension, the Old Greek translation has here “sevenfold” rather than “fourfold,” a reading that S. R. Driver thought probably to be the original reading (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 291). However, Exod 22:1 [21:37 HT] specifies fourfold repayment for a stolen sheep, which is consistent with 2 Sam 12:6. Some
[12:3] 3 tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.
[12:3] 4 tn Heb “from his morsel.”
[12:3] 5 tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”
[12:4] 3 tn Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.
[12:4] 4 tn Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”
[12:4] 5 tn Heb “who had come to him” (also a second time later in this verse). The word “visit” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
