2 Samuel 5:8

5:8 David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies ¹  by going through the water tunnel.” ²  For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.” 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 20:3

20:3 Then David went to his palace ⁶  in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement. ⁷  Though he provided for their needs, he did not have sexual relations with them. ⁸  They remained in confinement until the day they died, living out the rest of their lives as widows.

[5:8]  ¹ tc There is some confusion among the witnesses concerning this word. The Kethib is the Qal perfect 3cp שָׂנְאוּ (sanÿ’u, “they hated”), referring to the Jebusites’ attitude toward David. The Qere is the Qal passive participle construct plural שְׂנֻאֵי (sÿnu’e, “hated”), referring to David’s attitude toward the Jebusites. 4QSam^a has the Qal perfect 3rd person feminine singular שָׂנְאָה (sanÿ’ah, “hated”), the subject of which would be “the soul of David.” The difference is minor and the translation adopted above works for either the Kethib or the Qere.

[5:8]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term has been debated. For a survey of various views, see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 139-40.

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “the house.” TEV takes this as a reference to the temple (“the Lord’s house”).

[13:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

[13:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[20:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he placed them in a guarded house.”

[20:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “he did not come to them”; NAB “has no further relations with them”; NIV “did not lie with them”; TEV “did not have intercourse with them”; NLT “would no longer sleep with them.”