2 Samuel 4:4

4:4 Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. ¹  Mephibosheth was his name.

2 Samuel 5:20

5:20 So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. ² 

2 Samuel 7:23

7:23 Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation ³  on the earth? Their God ⁴  went ⁵  to claim ⁶  a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, ⁷  before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 16:5

Shimei Curses David and His Men

16:5 Then King David reached ⁹  Bahurim. There a man from Saul’s extended family named Shimei son of Gera came out, yelling curses as he approached. ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 17:25

17:25 Absalom had made Amasa general in command of the army in place of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of an Israelite man named Jether, who had married ¹¹  Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.)

2 Samuel 20:1

Sheba’s Rebellion

20:1 Now a wicked man ¹²  named Sheba son of Bicri, a Benjaminite, ¹³  happened to be there. He blew the trumpet ¹⁴  and said,

“We have no share in David;

we have no inheritance in this son of Jesse!

Every man go home, ¹⁵  O Israel!”

2 Samuel 23:8

David’s Warriors

23:8 These are the names of David’s warriors:

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. ¹⁶  He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle. ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 23:18

23:18 Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was head of the three. ¹⁸  He killed three hundred men with his spear and gained fame among the three. ¹⁹ 

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and was lame.”

[5:20]  ² tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”

[7:23]  ³ tn Heb “a nation, one.”

[7:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “whose God” or “because God.” In the Hebrew text this clause is subordinated to what precedes. The clauses are separated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ⁵ tn The verb is plural in Hebrew, agreeing grammatically with the divine name, which is a plural of degree.

[7:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “redeem.”

[7:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “and to do for you [plural form] the great [thing] and awesome [things] for your land.”

[7:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “from Egypt, nations and their gods.” The LXX has “nations and tents,” which reflects a mistaken metathesis of letters in אֶלֹהָיו (e’lohav, “its gods”) and אֹהָלָיו (’ohalav, “its tents”).

[16:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “came to.” The form of the verb in the MT is odd. Some prefer to read וַיַּבֹא (vayyavo’), preterite with vav consecutive) rather than וּבָא (uva’), apparently perfect with vav), but this is probably an instance where the narrative offline vÿqatal construction introduces a new scene.

[16:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “And look, from there a man was coming out from the clan of the house of Saul and his name was Shimei son of Gera, continually going out and cursing.”

[17:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “come to.”

[20:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man of worthlessness.”

[20:1]  ⁷ tn The expression used here יְמִינִי (yÿmini) is a short form of the more common “Benjamin.” It appears elsewhere in 1 Sam 9:4 and Esth 2:5. Cf. 1 Sam 9:1.

[20:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet). So also v. 22.

[20:1]  ⁹ tc The MT reads לְאֹהָלָיו (lÿ’ohalav, “to his tents”). For a similar idiom, see 19:9. An ancient scribal tradition understands the reading to be לְאלֹהָיו (le’lohav, “to his gods”). The word is a tiqqun sopherim, and the scribes indicate that they changed the word from “gods” to “tents” so as to soften its theological implications. In a consonantal Hebrew text the change involved only the metathesis of two letters.

[23:8]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word is sometimes rendered as “the three,” but BDB is probably correct in taking it to refer to military officers (BDB 1026 s.v. שְׁלִישִׁי). In that case the etymological connection of this word to the Hebrew numerical adjective for “three” can be explained as originating with a designation for the third warrior in a chariot.

[23:8]  ⁸ tc The translation follows some LXX mss (see 1 Chr 11:11 as well) in reading הוּא עוֹרֵר אֶת־חֲנִיתוֹ (hu’ ’orer ’et khanito, “he raised up his spear”) rather than the MT’s הוּא עֲדִינוֹ הָעֶצְנִי (hu’ ’adino ha’etsni [Kethib = הָעֶצְנוֹ, ha’etsno]; “Adino the Ezenite”). The emended text reads literally “he was wielding his spear against eight hundred, [who were] slain at one time.”

[23:18]  ⁸ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and Vulgate in reading הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה (hashÿlosa, “the three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT הַשָּׁלִשִׁי (hashalisi, “the third,” or “adjutant”). Two medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta have “thirty.”

[23:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain, and to him there was a name among the three.”