2 Samuel 21:15-17

Israel Engages in Various Battles with the Philistines

21:15 Another battle was fought between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his soldiers ¹  and fought the Philistines. David became exhausted. 21:16 Now Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, ²  had a spear ³  that weighed three hundred bronze shekels, ⁴  and he was armed with a new weapon. ⁵  He had said that he would kill David. 21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David’s men took an oath saying, “You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!”

Psalms 90:9-10

90:9 Yes, ⁶  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ⁷ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ⁸ 

90:10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, ⁹ 

or eighty, if one is especially strong. ¹⁰ 

But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. ¹¹ 

Yes, ¹²  they pass quickly ¹³  and we fly away. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 102:23

102:23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life; ¹⁵ 

he has cut short my days.

Zechariah 8:4

8:4 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘Old men and women will once more live in the plazas of Jerusalem, each one leaning on a cane because of advanced age.

[21:15]  ¹ tn Heb “his servants.”

[21:16]  ² tn This name has the definite article and may be intended to refer to a group of people rather than a single individual with this name.

[21:16]  ³ tn This is the only occurrence of this Hebrew word in the OT. Its precise meaning is therefore somewhat uncertain. As early as the LXX the word was understood to refer to a “spear,” and this seems to be the most likely possibility. Some scholars have proposed emending the text of 2 Sam 21:16 to כוֹבַעוֹ (khova’o; “his helmet”), but in spite of the fact that the word “helmet” appears in 1 Sam 17:5, there is not much evidence for reading that word here.

[21:16]  ⁴ tn Either the word “shekels” should be supplied here, or the Hebrew word מִשְׁקַל (mishqal, “weight”) right before “bronze” is a corrupted form of the word for shekel. If the latter is the case the problem probably resulted from another occurrence of the word מִשְׁקַל just four words earlier in the verse.

[21:16]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads simply “a new [thing],” prompting one to ask “A new what?” Several possibilities have been proposed to resolve the problem: perhaps a word has dropped out of the Hebrew text here; or perhaps the word “new” is the result of misreading a different, less common, word; or perhaps a word (e.g., “sword,” so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT) is simply to be inferred. The translation generally follows the latter possibility, while at the same time being deliberately nonspecific (“weapon”).

[90:9]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

[90:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “the days of our years, in them [are] seventy years.”

[90:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “or if [there is] strength, eighty years.”

[90:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and their pride [is] destruction and wickedness.” The Hebrew noun רֹהַב (rohav) occurs only here. BDB 923 s.v. assigns the meaning “pride,” deriving the noun from the verbal root רהב (“to act stormily [boisterously, arrogantly]”). Here the “pride” of one’s days (see v. 9) probably refers to one’s most productive years in the prime of life. The words translated “destruction and wickedness” are also paired in Ps 10:7. They also appear in proximity in Pss 7:14 and 55:10. The oppressive and abusive actions of evil men are probably in view (see Job 4:8; 5:6; 15:35; Isa 10:1; 59:4).

[90:10]  ¹² tn or “for.”

[90:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “it passes quickly.” The subject of the verb is probably “their pride” (see the preceding line). The verb גּוּז (guz) means “to pass” here; it occurs only here and in Num 11:31.

[90:10]  ¹⁴ sn We fly away. The psalmist compares life to a bird that quickly flies off (see Job 20:8).

[102:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he has afflicted my strength in the way.” The term “way” refers here to the course of the psalmist’s life, which appears to be ending prematurely (vv. 23b-24).