Discovery Box2 Samuel 24:11
Context24:11 When David got up the next morning, the Lord had already spoken 1 to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:
2 Samuel 24:1
Context24:1 The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” 2
2 Samuel 21:9
Context21:9 He turned them over to the Gibeonites, and they executed them on a hill before the Lord. The seven of them 3 died 4 together; they were put to death during harvest time – during the first days of the beginning 5 of the barley harvest.
2 Samuel 1:1-2
Context1:1 After the death of Saul, 6 when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, 7 he stayed at Ziklag 8 for two days. 1:2 On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 9 When he approached David, the man 10 threw himself to the ground. 11
2 Samuel 1:25
Context1:25 How the warriors have fallen
in the midst of battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your high places!
[24:11] 1 tn Heb “and the word of the
[24:1] 2 sn The parallel text in 1 Chr 21:1 says, “An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.” The Samuel version gives an underlying theological perspective, while the Chronicler simply describes what happened from a human perspective. The adversary in 1 Chr 21:1 is likely a human enemy, probably a nearby nation whose hostility against Israel pressured David into numbering the people so he could assess his military strength. See the note at 1 Chr 21:1.
[21:9] 3 tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew
[21:9] 5 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
[1:1] 6 sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.
[1:1] 7 sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).
[1:1] 8 sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.
[1:2] 9 sn Tearing one’s clothing and throwing dirt on one’s head were outward expressions of grief in the ancient Near East, where such demonstrable reactions were a common response to tragic news.
[1:2] 10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned at the beginning of v. 2) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion as to who fell to the ground.
