2 Samuel 18:31-33

18:31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, ¹  “May my lord the king now receive the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today and delivered you from the hand of all who have rebelled against you!” ²  18:32 The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young man Absalom?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you ³  be like that young man!”

18:33 (19:1) ⁴  The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, ⁵  Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁶ 

[18:31]  ¹ tn Heb “And look, the Cushite came and the Cushite said.”

[18:31]  ² tn Heb “for the Lord has vindicated you today from the hand of all those rising against you.”

[18:32]  ³ tn Heb “and all those rising against you for evil.”

[18:33]  ⁴ sn This marks the beginning of ch. 19 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 18:33, the verse numbers through 19:43 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 18:33 ET = 19:1 HT, 19:1 ET = 19:2 HT, 19:2 ET = 19:3 HT, etc., through 19:43 ET = 19:44 HT. From 20:1 the versification in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible is again the same.

[18:33]  ⁵ tc One medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of the LXX, and the Vulgate lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

[18:33]  ⁶ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.