2 Samuel 15:23

15:23 All the land was weeping loudly ¹  as all these people were leaving. ²  As the king was crossing over the Kidron Valley, all the people were leaving ³  on the road that leads to the desert.

2 Samuel 18:9

18:9 Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his ⁴  mule, it ⁵  went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, ⁶  while the mule he had been riding kept going.

2 Samuel 18:29

18:29 The king replied, “How is the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was all about.”

2 Samuel 20:8

20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 23:10

23:10 he stood his ground ⁸  and fought the Philistines until his hand grew so tired that it ⁹  seemed stuck to his sword. The Lord gave a great victory on that day. When the army returned to him, the only thing left to do was to plunder the corpses.

[15:23]  ¹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[15:23]  ² tn Heb “crossing over.”

[15:23]  ³ tn Heb “crossing near the face of.”

[18:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the.”

[18:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the donkey.”

[18:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “between the sky and the ground.”

[20:8]  ⁷ sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.

[23:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “arose.”

[23:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his hand.”