2 Samuel 5:21

5:21 The Philistines ¹  abandoned their idols ²  there, and David and his men picked them up.

2 Samuel 22:23

22:23 For I am aware of all his regulations, ³ 

and I do not reject his rules. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 2:27

2:27 Joab replied, “As surely as God lives, if you had not said this, it would have been morning before the people would have abandoned pursuit ⁵  of their brothers!”

2 Samuel 18:13

18:13 If I had acted at risk of my own life ⁶  – and nothing is hidden from the king! – you would have abandoned me.” ⁷ 

[5:21]  ¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ² tc For “idols” the LXX and Vulgate have “gods.”

[22:23]  ³ tn Heb “for all his regulations are before me.” The term מִשְׁפָּטָו (mishpatav, “his regulations”) refers to God’s covenantal requirements, especially those which the king is responsible to follow (cf Deut 17:18-20). See also Pss 19:9 (cf vv. 7-8); 89:30; 147:20 (cf v. 19), as well as the numerous uses of the term in Ps 119.

[22:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “and his rules, I do not turn aside from it.” Ps 18:22 reads, “and his rules I do not turn aside from me.” The prefixed verbal form is probably an imperfect; David here generalizes about his loyalty to God’s commands. The Lord’s “rules” are the stipulations of the covenant which the king was responsible to obey (see Ps 89:31; cf v. 30 and Deut 17:18-20).

[2:27]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (na’alah) used here is the Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular of עָלָה (’alah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon…especially of an army raising a siege…” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 244).

[18:13]  ⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and a number of the ancient versions in reading בְנַפְשִׁי (vÿnafshi, “against my life”) rather than the MT בְנַפְשׁוֹ (vÿnafsho, “against his life”).

[18:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “stood aloof.”