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. ¹  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ²  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 Samuel 23:18

23:18 Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ³  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ⁴ 

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

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

[23:18]  ³ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and Vulgate in reading הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה (hashÿlosa, “the three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT הַשָּׁלִשִׁי (hashalisi, “the third,” or “adjutant”). Two medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta have “thirty.”

[23:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain, and to him there was a name among the three.”