2 Samuel 5:9

5:9 So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards.

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 1:9

1:9 He said to me, ‘Stand over me and finish me off! ²  I’m very dizzy, ³  even though I’m still alive.’ ⁴ 

2 Samuel 1:5

1:5 David said to the young man ⁵  who was telling him this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶ 

2 Samuel 1:14

1:14 David replied to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to reach out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

Psalms 48:12-13

48:12 Walk around ⁷  Zion! Encircle it!

Count its towers!

48:13 Consider its defenses! ⁸ 

Walk through ⁹  its fortresses,

so you can tell the next generation about it! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 125:1-2

Psalm 125 ¹¹ 

A song of ascents. ¹² 

125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;

it cannot be upended and will endure forever.

125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, ¹³ 

so the Lord surrounds his people,

now and forevermore.

Isaiah 22:10

22:10 You counted the houses in Jerusalem, ¹⁴ 

and demolished houses so you could have material to reinforce the wall. ¹⁵ 

Lamentations 4:12

ל (Lamed)

4:12 Neither the kings of the earth

nor the people of the lands ¹⁶  ever thought ¹⁷ 

that enemy or foe would enter

the gates ¹⁸  of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ 

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

[1:9]  ² tn As P. K. McCarter (II Samuel [AB], 59) points out, the Polel of the verb מוּת (mut, “to die”) “refers to dispatching or ‘finishing off’ someone already wounded and near death.” Cf. NLT “put me out of my misery.”

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “the dizziness has seized me.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun translated “dizziness,” see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 59-60. The point seems to be that he is unable to kill himself because he is weak and disoriented.

[1:9]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text here is grammatically very awkward (Heb “because all still my life in me”). Whether the broken construct phrase is due to the fact that the alleged speaker is in a confused state of mind as he is on the verge of dying, or whether the MT has sustained corruption in the transmission process, is not entirely clear. The former seems likely, although P. K. McCarter understands the MT to be the result of conflation of two shorter forms of text (P. K. McCarter, II Samuel [AB], 57, n. 9). Early translators also struggled with the verse, apparently choosing to leave part of the Hebrew text untranslated. For example, the Lucianic recension of the LXX lacks “all,” while other witnesses (namely, one medieval Hebrew ms, codices A and B of the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta) lack “still.”

[1:5]  ⁵ tn In v. 2 he is called simply a “man.” The word used here in v. 5 (so also in vv. 6, 13, 15), though usually referring to a young man or servant, may in this context designate a “fighting” man, i.e., a soldier.

[1:5]  ⁶ tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”

[48:12]  ⁷ tn The verb forms in vv. 12-13 are plural; the entire Judahite community is addressed.

[48:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “set your heart to its rampart.”

[48:13]  ⁹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word translated “walk through,” which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Cf. NEB “pass…in review”; NIV “view.”

[48:13]  ¹⁰ sn The city’s towers, defenses, and fortresses are outward reminders and tangible symbols of the divine protection the city enjoys.

[125:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 125. The psalmist affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection and justice.

[125:1]  ¹² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[125:2]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:10]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you demolished the houses to fortify the wall.”

[4:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “inhabitants of the mainland.”

[4:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they did not believe that.” The verb הֶאֱמִינוּ (he’eminu), Hiphil perfect 3rd person common plural from אָמַן (’aman, “to believe”), ordinarily is a term of faith and trust, but occasionally it functions cognitively: “to think that” (Job 9:16; 15:22; Ps 116:10; Lam 4:12) and “to be convinced that” (Ps 27:13) (HALOT 64 s.v. I אמן hif.1). The semantic relationship between “to believe” = “to think” is metonymical, that is, effect for cause.

[4:12]  ¹⁸ sn The expression “to enter the gates” of a city is an idiom referring to the military conquest of that city. Ancient Near Eastern fortified cities typically featured double and sometimes triple city gates – the bulwark of the defense of the city. Because fortified cities were enclosed with protective walls, the Achilles tendon of every city was the city gates – the weak point in the defense and the perennial point of attack by enemies (e.g., Judg 5:8, 11; 1 Sam 17:52; Isa 29:6; Jer 17:27; 51:54; Ezek 21:20, 27; Mic 1:9, 12; Neh 1:3; 2:3, 13, 17).

[4:12]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.