2 Samuel 3:7-8

3:7 Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ish-bosheth ¹  said to Abner, “Why did you have sexual relations with ²  my father’s concubine?” ³ 

3:8 These words of Ish-bosheth really angered Abner and he said, “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah? This very day I am demonstrating ⁴  loyalty to the house of Saul your father and to his relatives ⁵  and his friends! I have not betrayed you into the hand of David. Yet you have accused me of sinning with this woman today! ⁶ 

2 Samuel 4:5-6

4:5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite – Recab and Baanah – went at the hottest part of the day to the home of Ish-bosheth, as he was enjoying his midday rest. 4:6 They ⁷  entered the house under the pretense of getting wheat and mortally wounded him ⁸  in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.

2 Samuel 4:1

Ish-bosheth is killed

4:1 When Ish-bosheth ⁹  the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, ¹⁰  and all Israel was afraid.

2 Samuel 8:1

David Subjugates Nearby Nations

8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah ¹¹  from the Philistines. ¹² 

2 Samuel 9:1

David Finds Mephibosheth

9:1 ¹³ Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family ¹⁴  of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”

[3:7]  ¹ tc The Hebrew of the MT reads simply “and he said,” with no expressed subject for the verb. It is not likely that the text originally had no expressed subject for this verb, since the antecedent is not immediately clear from the context. We should probably restore to the Hebrew text the name “Ish-bosheth.” See a few medieval Hebrew mss, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Vulgate. Perhaps the name was accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. Note that both the name Ishbosheth and the following preposition אֶל (’el) begin with the letter alef.

[3:7]  ² tn Heb “come to”; KJV, NRSV “gone in to”; NAB “been intimate with”; NIV “sleep with.”

[3:7]  ³ sn This accusation against Abner is a very serious one, since an act of sexual infringement on the king’s harem would probably have been understood as a blatant declaration of aspirations to kingship. As such it was not merely a matter of ethical impropriety but an act of grave political significance as well.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “I do.”

[3:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “brothers.”

[3:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and you have laid upon me the guilt of the woman today.”

[4:6]  ⁷ tc For the MT’s וְהֵנָּה (vÿhennah, “and they,” feminine) read וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and behold”). See the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Targum.

[4:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they struck him down.”

[4:1]  ⁹ tn The MT does not specify the subject of the verb here, but the reference is to Ish-bosheth, so the name has been supplied in the translation for clarity. 4QSam^a and the LXX mistakenly read “Mephibosheth.”

[4:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his hands went slack.”

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).

[8:1]  ¹² tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”

[9:1]  ¹³ sn 2 Samuel 9–20 is known as the Succession Narrative. It is a literary unit that describes David’s efforts at consolidating his own kingdom following the demise of King Saul; it also provides the transition to subsequent leadership on the part of David’s successor Solomon.

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house.”