2 Samuel 4:8

4:8 They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, “Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against ¹  Saul and his descendants!”

2 Samuel 12:18

12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us ²  when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” ³ 

2 Samuel 13:32

13:32 Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about ⁴  from the day that Amnon ⁵  humiliated his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men – they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. ⁶  Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army.

2 Samuel 18:33

18:33 (19:1) ⁷  The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, ⁸  Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁹ 

2 Samuel 19:7

19:7 So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to ¹⁰  your servants. For I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!”

2 Samuel 24:13

24:13 Gad went to David and told him, “Shall seven ¹¹  years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide ¹²  what I should tell the one who sent me.”

[4:8]  ¹ tn Heb “from.”

[12:18]  ² tn Heb “to our voice.”

[12:18]  ³ tn Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!

[13:32]  ³ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

[13:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ⁴ tc The LXX (with the exception of the recensions of Origen and Lucian) repeats the description as follows: “Just as a female bear bereft of cubs in a field.”

[18:33]  ⁵ sn This marks the beginning of ch. 19 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 18:33, the verse numbers through 19:43 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 18:33 ET = 19:1 HT, 19:1 ET = 19:2 HT, 19:2 ET = 19:3 HT, etc., through 19:43 ET = 19:44 HT. From 20:1 the versification in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible is again the same.

[18:33]  ⁶ tc One medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of the LXX, and the Vulgate lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

[18:33]  ⁷ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

[19:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and speak to the heart of.”

[24:13]  ⁷ tc The LXX has here “three” rather than “seven,” and is followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT. See 1 Chr 21:12.

[24:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “now know and see.”