2 Samuel 4:7

4:7 They had entered ¹  the house while Ish-bosheth ²  was resting on his bed in his bedroom. They mortally wounded him ³  and then cut off his head. ⁴  Taking his head, ⁵  they traveled on the way of the Arabah all that night.

2 Samuel 17:16

17:16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ⁶  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ⁷  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ⁸  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ⁹ 

[4:7]  ¹ tn After the concluding disjunctive clause at the end of v. 6, the author now begins a more detailed account of the murder and its aftermath.

[4:7]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ish-bosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:7]  ³ tn Heb “they struck him down and killed him.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.

[4:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they removed his head.” The Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate lack these words.

[4:7]  ⁵ tc The Lucianic Greek recension lacks the words “his head.”

[17:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”

[17:16]  ⁷ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV).

[17:16]  ⁸ tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”

[17:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “swallowed up.”