2 Samuel 3:29

3:29 May his blood whirl over ¹  the head of Joab and the entire house of his father! ²  May the males of Joab’s house ³  never cease to have ⁴  someone with a running sore or a skin disease or one who works at the spindle ⁵  or one who falls by the sword or one who lacks food!”

2 Samuel 9:7

9:7 David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” ⁶ 

2 Samuel 11:25

11:25 David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing upset you. ⁷  There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. ⁸  Press the battle against the city and conquer ⁹  it.’ Encourage him with these words.” ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 13:20

13:20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!” ¹¹  Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.

2 Samuel 13:28

13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk ¹²  and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” ¹³ 

2 Samuel 14:2

14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ¹⁴  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ¹⁵ 

2 Samuel 14:18

14:18 Then the king replied to the woman, “Don’t hide any information from me when I question you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king speak!”

2 Samuel 17:16

17:16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ¹⁶  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ¹⁷  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ¹⁸  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ¹⁹ 

[3:29]  ¹ tn Heb “and may they whirl over.” In the Hebrew text the subject of the plural verb is unexpressed. The most likely subject is Abner’s “shed blood” (v. 28), which is a masculine plural form in Hebrew. The verb חוּל (khul, “whirl”) is used with the preposition עַל (’al) only here and in Jer 23:19; 30:23.

[3:29]  ² tc 4QSam^a has “of Joab” rather than “of his father” read by the MT.

[3:29]  ³ tn Heb “the house of Joab.” However, it is necessary to specify that David’s curse is aimed at Joab’s male descendants; otherwise it would not be clear that “one who works at the spindle” refers to a man doing woman’s work rather than a woman.

[3:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “and may there not be cut off from the house of Joab.”

[3:29]  ⁵ tn The expression used here is difficult. The translation “one who works at the spindle” follows a suggestion of S. R. Driver that the expression pejoratively describes an effeminate man who, rather than being a mighty warrior, is occupied with tasks that are normally fulfilled by women (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 250-51; cf. NAB “one unmanly”; TEV “fit only to do a woman’s work”; CEV “cowards”). But P. K. McCarter, following an alleged Phoenician usage of the noun to refer to “crutches,” adopts a different view. He translates the phrase “clings to a crutch,” seeing here a further description of physical lameness (II Samuel [AB], 118). Such an idea fits the present context well and is followed by NIV, NCV, and NLT, although the evidence for this meaning is questionable. According to DNWSI 2:915-16, the noun consistently refers to a spindle in Phoenician, as it does in Ugaritic (see UT 468).

[9:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and you will eat food over my table continually.”

[11:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “let not this matter be evil in your eyes.”

[11:25]  ¹² tn Heb “according to this and according to this the sword devours.”

[11:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “overthrow.”

[11:25]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text does not have “with these words.” They are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[13:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Don’t set your heart to this thing!”

[13:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”

[13:28]  ²² tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”

[14:2]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.

[14:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “these many days.”

[17:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”

[17:16]  ³² tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV).

[17:16]  ³³ tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”

[17:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “swallowed up.”