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 ¹  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. ² 

2 Samuel 14:1-6

David Permits Absalom to Return to Jerusalem

14:1 Now Joab son of Zeruiah realized that the king longed to see ³  Absalom. 14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ⁴  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. ⁵  14:3 Go to the king and speak to him in the following fashion.” Then Joab told her what to say. ⁶ 

14:4 So the Tekoan woman went ⁷  to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me, ⁸  O king!” 14:5 The king replied to her, “What do you want?” ⁹  She answered, “I am a widow; my husband is dead. 14:6 Your servant ¹⁰  has two sons. When the two of them got into a fight in the field, there was no one present who could intervene. One of them struck the other and killed him.

Psalms 66:3

66:3 Say to God:

“How awesome are your deeds!

Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear ¹¹  before you.

Psalms 81:15

81:15 (May those who hate the Lord ¹²  cower in fear ¹³  before him!

May they be permanently humiliated!) ¹⁴ 

Psalms 81:2

81:2 Sing ¹⁵  a song and play the tambourine,

the pleasant sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument!

Psalms 2:3

2:3 They say, ¹⁶  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ¹⁷ 

Let’s free ourselves from ¹⁸  their ropes!”

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

[14:2]  ² tn Heb “these many days.”

[14:1]  ³ tn Heb “the heart of the king was upon.” The Syriac Peshitta adds the verb ’ethre’i (“was reconciled”).

[14:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.

[14:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “these many days.”

[14:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “put the words in her mouth” (so NASB, NIV).

[14:4]  ⁷ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavo’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vatto’mer, “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate.

[14:4]  ⁸ tn The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate.

[14:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “What to you?”

[14:6]  ¹⁰ tn Here and elsewhere (vv. 7, 12, 15a, 17, 19) the woman uses a term which suggests a lower level female servant. She uses the term to express her humility before the king. However, she uses a different term in vv. 15b-16. See the note at v. 15 for a discussion of the rhetorical purpose of this switch in terminology.

[66:3]  ¹¹ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).

[81:15]  ¹² tn “Those who hate the Lord” are also mentioned in 2 Chr 19:2 and Ps 139:21.

[81:15]  ¹³ tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 66:3 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “to be weak; to be powerless” (see also Ps 109:24). The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, parallel to the jussive form in the next line.

[81:15]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “and may their time be forever.” The Hebrew term עִתָּם (’ittam, “their time”) must refer here to the “time” of the demise and humiliation of those who hate the Lord. Some propose an emendation to בַּעֲתָתָם (ba’atatam) or בִּעֻתָם (bi’utam; “their terror”; i.e., “may their terror last forever”), but the omission of bet (ב) in the present Hebrew text is difficult to explain, making the proposed emendation unlikely.

[81:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lift up.”

[2:3]  ¹⁶ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “throw off from us.”