2 Samuel 13:12

13:12 But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this foolish thing!

2 Samuel 1:20-21

1:20 Don’t report it in Gath,

don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, ¹ 

or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,

the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate!

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ² 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ³ 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 13:25

13:25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom ⁵  pressed ⁶  him, the king ⁷  was not willing to go. Instead, David ⁸  blessed him.

2 Samuel 19:19

19:19 He said to the king, “Don’t think badly of me, my lord, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left ⁹  Jerusalem! ¹⁰  Please don’t call it to mind!

2 Samuel 13:16

13:16 But she said to him, “No I won’t, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!” ¹¹  But he refused to listen to her.

2 Samuel 13:33

13:33 Now don’t let my lord the king be concerned about the report that has come saying, ‘All the king’s sons are dead.’ It is only Amnon who is dead.”

2 Samuel 24:14

24:14 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ¹² 

2 Samuel 3:29

3:29 May his blood whirl over ¹³  the head of Joab and the entire house of his father! ¹⁴  May the males of Joab’s house ¹⁵  never cease to have ¹⁶  someone with a running sore or a skin disease or one who works at the spindle ¹⁷  or one who falls by the sword or one who lacks food!”

2 Samuel 9:7

9:7 David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” ¹⁸ 

2 Samuel 11:25

11:25 David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing upset you. ¹⁹  There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. ²⁰  Press the battle against the city and conquer ²¹  it.’ Encourage him with these words.” ²² 

2 Samuel 13:20

13:20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!” ²³  Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.

2 Samuel 13:28

13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk ²⁴  and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” ²⁵ 

2 Samuel 14:2

14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ²⁶  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ²⁷ 

2 Samuel 14:18

14:18 Then the king replied to the woman, “Don’t hide any information from me when I question you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak!”

2 Samuel 17:16

17:16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ²⁸  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ²⁹  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ³⁰  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ³¹ 

2 Samuel 13:32

13:32 Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about ³²  from the day that Amnon ³³  humiliated his sister Tamar.

[1:20]  ¹ sn The cities of Gath and Ashkelon are mentioned here by synecdoche of part for the whole. As major Philistine cities they in fact represent all of Philistia. The point is that when the sad news of fallen Israelite leadership reaches the Philistines, it will be for these enemies of Israel the occasion of great joy rather than grief.

[1:21]  ¹ tc Instead of the MT’s “fields of grain offerings” the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “your high places are mountains of death.” Cf. the Old Latin montes mortis (“mountains of death”).

[1:21]  ² tn This is the only biblical occurrence of the Niphal of the verb גָּעַל (ga’al). This verb usually has the sense of “to abhor” or “loathe.” But here it seems to refer to the now dirty and unprotected condition of a previously well-maintained instrument of battle.

[1:21]  ³ tc It is preferable to read here Hebrew מָשׁוּחַ (mashuakh) with many Hebrew mss, rather than מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh) of the MT. Although the Syriac Peshitta understands the statement to pertain to Saul, the point here is not that Saul is not anointed. Rather, it is the shield of Saul that lies discarded and is no longer anointed. In ancient Near Eastern practice a warrior’s shield that was in normal use would have to be anointed regularly in order to ensure that the leather did not become dry and brittle. Like other warriors of his day Saul would have carefully maintained his tools of trade. But now that he is dead, the once-cared-for shield of the mighty warrior lies sadly discarded and woefully neglected, a silent but eloquent commentary on how different things are now compared to the way they were during Saul’s lifetime.

[13:25]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:25]  ² tc Here and in v. 27 the translation follows 4QSam^a ויצפר (vayyitspar, “and he pressed”) rather than the MT וַיִּפְרָץ (vayyiprats, “and he broke through”). This emended reading seems also to underlie the translations of the LXX (καὶ ἐβιάσατο, kai ebiasato), the Syriac Peshitta (we’alseh), and Vulgate (cogeret eum).

[13:25]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:19]  ¹ tn Though this verb in the MT is 3rd person masculine singular, it should probably be read as 2nd person masculine singular. It is one of fifteen places where the Masoretes placed a dot over each of the letters of the word in question in order to call attention to their suspicion of the word. Their concern in this case apparently had to do with the fact that this verb and the two preceding verbs alternate from third person to second and back again to third. Words marked in this way in Hebrew manuscripts or printed editions are said to have puncta extrordinaria, or “extraordinary points.”

[19:19]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[13:16]  ¹ tn Heb “No, because this great evil is [worse] than the other which you did with me, by sending me away.” Perhaps the broken syntax reflects her hysteria and outrage.

[24:14]  ¹ tn Heb “There is great distress to me. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for great is his mercy, but into the hand of man let me not fall.”

[3:29]  ¹ tn Heb “and may they whirl over.” In the Hebrew text the subject of the plural verb is unexpressed. The most likely subject is Abner’s “shed blood” (v. 28), which is a masculine plural form in Hebrew. The verb חוּל (khul, “whirl”) is used with the preposition עַל (’al) only here and in Jer 23:19; 30:23.

[3:29]  ² tc 4QSam^a has “of Joab” rather than “of his father” read by the MT.

[3:29]  ³ tn Heb “the house of Joab.” However, it is necessary to specify that David’s curse is aimed at Joab’s male descendants; otherwise it would not be clear that “one who works at the spindle” refers to a man doing woman’s work rather than a woman.

[3:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “and may there not be cut off from the house of Joab.”

[3:29]  ⁵ tn The expression used here is difficult. The translation “one who works at the spindle” follows a suggestion of S. R. Driver that the expression pejoratively describes an effeminate man who, rather than being a mighty warrior, is occupied with tasks that are normally fulfilled by women (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 250-51; cf. NAB “one unmanly”; TEV “fit only to do a woman’s work”; CEV “cowards”). But P. K. McCarter, following an alleged Phoenician usage of the noun to refer to “crutches,” adopts a different view. He translates the phrase “clings to a crutch,” seeing here a further description of physical lameness (II Samuel [AB], 118). Such an idea fits the present context well and is followed by NIV, NCV, and NLT, although the evidence for this meaning is questionable. According to DNWSI 2:915-16, the noun consistently refers to a spindle in Phoenician, as it does in Ugaritic (see UT 468).

[9:7]  ¹ tn Heb “and you will eat food over my table continually.”

[11:25]  ¹ tn Heb “let not this matter be evil in your eyes.”

[11:25]  ² tn Heb “according to this and according to this the sword devours.”

[11:25]  ³ tn Heb “overthrow.”

[11:25]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text does not have “with these words.” They are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[13:20]  ¹ tn Heb “Don’t set your heart to this thing!”

[13:28]  ¹ tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”

[13:28]  ² tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”

[14:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.

[14:2]  ² tn Heb “these many days.”

[17:16]  ¹ tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”

[17:16]  ² tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV).

[17:16]  ³ tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”

[17:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “swallowed up.”

[13:32]  ¹ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

[13:32]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.