2 Samuel 6:1

David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

6:1 David again assembled ¹  all the best ²  men in Israel, thirty thousand in number.

2 Samuel 12:11

12:11 This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on you ³  from inside your own household! ⁴  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. ⁵  He will have sexual relations with ⁶  your wives in broad daylight! ⁷ 

2 Samuel 18:12

18:12 The man replied to Joab, “Even if ⁸  I were receiving ⁹  a thousand pieces of silver, ¹⁰  I would not strike ¹¹  the king’s son! In our very presence ¹²  the king gave this order to you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ ¹³ 

2 Samuel 22:14

22:14 The Lord thundered ¹⁴  from the sky;

the sovereign One ¹⁵  shouted loudly. ¹⁶ 

[6:1]  ¹ tn The translation understands the verb to be a defective spelling of וַיְּאֱסֹף (vayyÿ’esof) due to quiescence of the letter א (alef). The root therefore is אסף (’sf, “to gather”). The Masoretes, however, pointed the verb as וַיֹּסֶף (vayyosef), understanding it to be a form of יָסַף (yasaf, “to add”). This does not fit the context, which calls for a verb of gathering.

[6:1]  ² tn Or “chosen.”

[12:11]  ³ tn Heb “raise up against you disaster.”

[12:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”

[12:11]  ⁵ tn Or “friend.”

[12:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “will lie with” (so NIV, NRSV); TEV “will have intercourse with”; CEV, NLT “will go to bed with.”

[12:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”

[18:12]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וְלוּ (vÿlu, “and if”) rather than MT וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

[18:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “weighing out in my hand.”

[18:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “a thousand [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 25 pounds (11.4 kg) of silver by weight.

[18:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “extend my hand against.”

[18:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “in our ears.”

[18:12]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text is very difficult here. The MT reads מִי (mi, “who”), apparently yielding the following sense: “Show care, whoever you might be, for the youth Absalom.” The Syriac Peshitta reads li (“for me”), the Hebrew counterpart of which may also lie behind the LXX rendering μοι (moi, “for me”). This reading seems preferable here, since it restores sense to the passage and most easily explains the rise of the variant.

[22:14]  ⁷ tn The shortened theme vowel indicates that the prefixed verbal form is a preterite.

[22:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[22:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “offered his voice.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the preterite form in the preceding line. The text of Ps 18:13 adds at this point, “hail and coals of fire.” These words are probably accidentally added from v. 12b; they do not appear in 2 Sam 22:14.