2 Samuel 3:12-21

3:12 Then Abner sent messengers ¹  to David saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement ²  with me, and I will do whatever I can ³  to cause all Israel to turn to you.” 3:13 So David said, “Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to visit me.” ⁴ 

3:14 David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth son of Saul with this demand: ⁵  “Give me my wife Michal whom I acquired ⁶  for a hundred Philistine foreskins.” 3:15 So Ish-bosheth took her ⁷  from her husband Paltiel ⁸  son of Laish. 3:16 Her husband went along behind her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Finally Abner said to him, “Go back!” ⁹  So he returned home.

3:17 Abner advised ¹⁰  the elders of Israel, “Previously you were wanting David to be your king. ¹¹  3:18 Act now! For the Lord has said to David, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save ¹²  my people Israel from ¹³  the Philistines and from all their enemies.’”

3:19 Then Abner spoke privately ¹⁴  with the Benjaminites. Abner also went to Hebron to inform David privately ¹⁵  of all that Israel and the entire house of Benjamin had agreed to. ¹⁶  3:20 When Abner, accompanied by twenty men, came to David in Hebron, David prepared a banquet for Abner and the men who were with him. 3:21 Abner said to David, “Let me leave so that I may go and gather all Israel to my lord the king so that they may make an agreement ¹⁷  with you. Then you will rule over all that you desire.” So David sent Abner away, and he left in peace.

[3:12]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text adds here, “on his behalf.”

[3:12]  ² tn Heb “cut a covenant.” So also in vv. 13, 21.

[3:12]  ³ tn Heb “and behold, my hand is with you.”

[3:13]  ⁴ tn The words “when you come to see my face,” though found in the Hebrew text, are somewhat redundant given the similar expression in the earlier part of the verse. The words are absent from the Syriac Peshitta.

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “to Ish-bosheth son of Saul saying.” To avoid excessive sibilance (especially when read aloud) the translation renders “saying” as “with this demand.”

[3:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “whom I betrothed to myself.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sent and took her.”

[3:15]  ¹¹ tn In 1 Sam 25:44 this name appears as “Palti.”

[3:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “Go, return.”

[3:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the word of Abner was with.”

[3:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you were seeking David to be king over you.”

[3:18]  ¹⁹ tc The present translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading “I will save,” rather than the MT “he saved.” The context calls for the 1st person common singular imperfect of the verb rather than the 3rd person masculine singular perfect.

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from the hand of.”

[3:19]  ²² tn Heb “into the ears of.”

[3:19]  ²³ tn Heb “also Abner went to speak into the ears of David in Hebron.”

[3:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all which was good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all the house of Benjamin.”

[3:21]  ²⁵ tn After the cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.