2 Samuel 15:2

15:2 Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, “What city are you from?” The person would answer, “I, your servant, ¹  am from one of the tribes of Israel.”

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 ²  pressed ³  him, the king ⁴  was not willing to go. Instead, David ⁵  blessed him.

2 Samuel 13:28

13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk ⁶  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!” ⁷ 

2 Samuel 14:30

14:30 So he said to his servants, “Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.” ⁸  So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s ⁹  portion of the field on fire.

2 Samuel 14:33

14:33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king ¹⁰  summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom ¹¹  bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. ¹² 

2 Samuel 15:14

15:14 So David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, ¹³  “Come on! ¹⁴  Let’s escape! ¹⁵  Otherwise no one will be delivered from Absalom! Go immediately, or else he will quickly overtake us and bring ¹⁶  disaster on us and kill the city’s residents with the sword.” ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 16:8

16:8 The Lord has punished you for ¹⁸  all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule. Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. Disaster has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed!”

2 Samuel 17:20

17:20 When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men ¹⁹  searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. ²⁰ 

2 Samuel 18:5

18:5 The king gave this order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake deal gently with the young man Absalom.” Now the entire army was listening when the king gave all the leaders this order concerning Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:9

18:9 Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his ²¹  mule, it ²²  went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, ²³  while the mule he had been riding kept going.

2 Samuel 18:17

18:17 They took Absalom, threw him into a large pit in the forest, and stacked a huge pile of stones over him. In the meantime all the Israelite soldiers fled to their homes. ²⁴ 

2 Samuel 19:6

19:6 You seem to love your enemies and hate your friends! For you have as much as declared today that leaders and servants don’t matter to you. I realize now ²⁵  that if ²⁶  Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, ²⁷  it would be all right with you.

2 Samuel 19:9

19:9 All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

2 Samuel 20:6

20:6 Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure ²⁸  fortified cities for himself and get away from us.”

[15:2]  ¹ tn Heb “your servant.” So also in vv. 8, 15, 21.

[13:25]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:25]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:28]  ³ tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”

[13:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”

[14:30]  ⁴ tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….”

[14:30]  ⁵ tn The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.

[14:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.

[15:14]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “Arise!”

[15:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “let’s flee.”

[15:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “thrust.”

[15:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”

[16:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “has brought back upon you.”

[17:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referents (Absalom’s men) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:20]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[18:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “the.”

[18:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the donkey.”

[18:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “between the sky and the ground.”

[18:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all Israel fled, each to his tent.” In this context this refers to the supporters of Absalom (see vv. 6-7, 16).

[19:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “today.”

[19:6]  ¹² tc The translation follows the Qere, 4QSam^a, and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading לוּ (lu, “if”) rather than MT לֹא (lo’, “not”).

[19:6]  ¹³ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack “today.”

[20:6]  ¹² tn Heb “find.” The perfect verbal form is unexpected with the preceding word “otherwise.” We should probably read instead the imperfect. Although it is possible to understand the perfect here as indicating that the feared result is thought of as already having taken place (cf. BDB 814 s.v. פֶּן 2), it is more likely that the perfect is simply the result of scribal error. In this context the imperfect would be more consistent with the following verb וְהִצִּיל (vÿhitsil, “and he will get away”).