2 Samuel 5:2

5:2 In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. ¹  The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”

2 Samuel 6:21

6:21 David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family ²  and appointed me as leader over the Lord’s people Israel.

2 Samuel 7:8

7:8 “So now, say this to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd ³  to make you leader of my people Israel.

2 Samuel 20:26

20:26 Ira the Jairite was David’s personal priest. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 8:18

8:18 Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised ⁵  the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. ⁶ 

2 Samuel 22:51

22:51 He gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ⁷ 

he is faithful to his chosen ruler, ⁸ 

to David and to his descendants forever!”

2 Samuel 2:10

2:10 Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people ⁹  of Judah followed David.

2 Samuel 3:10

3:10 namely, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah all the way from Dan to Beer Sheba!”

2 Samuel 19:10

19:10 But Absalom, whom we anointed as our king, ¹⁰  has died in battle. So now why do you hesitate to bring the king back?” ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 22:44

22:44 You rescue me from a hostile army; ¹² 

you preserve me as a leader of nations;

people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects. ¹³ 

2 Samuel 23:3

23:3 The God of Israel spoke,

the protector ¹⁴  of Israel spoke to me.

The one who rules fairly among men,

the one who rules in the fear of God,

2 Samuel 7:7

7:7 Wherever I moved among all the Israelites, I did not say ¹⁵  to any of the leaders ¹⁶  whom I appointed to care for ¹⁷  my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house made from cedar?”’

2 Samuel 23:1

David’s Final Words

23:1 These are the final words of David:

“The oracle of David son of Jesse,

the oracle of the man raised up as

the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, ¹⁸ 

Israel’s beloved ¹⁹  singer of songs:

[5:2]  ¹ tn Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”

[6:21]  ² tn Heb “all his house”; CEV “anyone else in your family.”

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “and from after the sheep.”

[20:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “priest for David.” KJV (“a chief ruler about David”) and ASV (“chief minister unto David”) regarded this office as political.

[8:18]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate in reading “over,” rather than the simple conjunction that appears in MT. See also the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17.

[8:18]  ⁶ sn That David’s sons could have been priests, in light of the fact that they were not of the priestly lineage, is strange. One must assume either (1) that the word “priest” (כֹּהֵן, kohen) during this period of time could be used in a broader sense of “chief ruler” (KJV); “chief minister” (ASV, NASB), or “royal adviser” (NIV), perhaps based on the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17 which has “the king’s leading officials”, or (2) that in David’s day members of the king’s family could function as a special category of “priests” (cf. NLT “priestly leaders”). The latter option seems to be the more straightforward way of understanding the word in 2 Sam 8:18.

[22:51]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the Kethib and the ancient versions in reading מַגְדִּיל (magdil, “he magnifies”) rather than the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss of the MT which read מִגְדּוֹל (migdol, “tower”). See Ps 18:50.

[22:51]  ⁷ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty to his anointed one.”

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[19:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “over us.”

[19:10]  ⁹ tc The LXX includes the following words at the end of v. 11: “And what all Israel was saying came to the king’s attention.” The words are misplaced in the LXX from v. 12 (although the same statement appears there in the LXX as well).

[22:44]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the strivings of my people.” In this context רִיב (riv, “striving”) probably has a militaristic sense (as in Judg 12:2; Isa 41:11), and עַם (’am, “people”) probably refers more specifically to an army (for other examples, see the verses listed in BDB 766 s.v. עַם 2.d). The suffix “my” suggests David is referring to attacks by his own countrymen, the “people” being Israel. However, the parallel text in Ps 18:43 omits the suffix.

[22:44]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a people whom I did not know serve me.” In this context the verb “know” (יָדַע, yada’) probably refers to formal recognition by treaty. People who were once not under the psalmist’s authority now willingly submit to his rulership to avoid being conquered militarily (see vv. 45-46). The language may recall the events recorded in 2 Sam 8:9-10 and 10:19.

[23:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “rock,” used as a metaphor of divine protection.

[7:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Did I speak a word?” In the Hebrew text the statement is phrased as a rhetorical question.

[7:7]  ¹² tn Heb “tribes” (so KJV, NASB, NCV), but the parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:6 has “judges.”

[7:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “whom I commanded to shepherd” (so NIV, NRSV).

[23:1]  ¹² tn Heb “the anointed one of the God of Jacob.”

[23:1]  ¹³ tn Or “pleasant.”