2 Samuel 13:38

13:38 After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he remained there for three years.

2 Samuel 1:1

David Learns of the Deaths of Saul and Jonathan

1:1 After the death of Saul, ¹  when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, ²  he stayed at Ziklag ³  for two days.

2 Samuel 2:11

2:11 David was king in Hebron over the people of Judah for seven and a half years. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 2:15

2:15 So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

2 Samuel 5:5

5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem ⁵  he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

2 Samuel 17:1

The Death of Ahithophel

17:1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night.

2 Samuel 2:10

2:10 Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people ⁶  of Judah followed David.

2 Samuel 4:4

4:4 Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. ⁷  Mephibosheth was his name.

2 Samuel 21:1

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ⁸  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ⁹  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 Samuel 10:6

10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, ¹⁰  they ¹¹  sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, ¹²  in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. ¹³ 

2 Samuel 24:13

24:13 Gad went to David and told him, “Shall seven ¹⁴  years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide ¹⁵  what I should tell the one who sent me.”

[1:1]  ¹ sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.

[1:1]  ² sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).

[1:1]  ³ sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.

[2:11]  ¹ tn Heb “And the number of the days in which David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.”

[5:5]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:10]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and was lame.”

[21:1]  ¹ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

[10:6]  ¹ tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”

[10:6]  ² tn Heb “the Ammonites.”

[10:6]  ³ tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”

[10:6]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.

[24:13]  ¹ tc The LXX has here “three” rather than “seven,” and is followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT. See 1 Chr 21:12.

[24:13]  ² tn Heb “now know and see.”