2 Samuel 8:15

8:15 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people. ¹ 

2 Samuel 15:2-4

15:2 Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, “What city are you from?” The person would answer, “I, your servant, ²  am from one of the tribes of Israel.” 15:3 Absalom would then say to him, “Look, your claims are legitimate and appropriate. ³  But there is no representative of the king who will listen to you.” 15:4 Absalom would then say, “If only they would make me ⁴  a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint ⁵  could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement.”

2 Samuel 15:1

Absalom Leads an Insurrection against David

15:1 Some time later Absalom managed to acquire ⁶  a chariot and horses, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 3:9

3:9 God will severely judge Abner ⁸  if I do not do for David exactly what the Lord has promised him, ⁹ 

2 Samuel 3:28

3:28 When David later heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord of the shed blood of Abner son of Ner!

Psalms 72:1

Psalm 72 ¹⁰ 

For ¹¹  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ¹² 

Grant the king’s son ¹³  the ability to make fair decisions! ¹⁴ 

[8:15]  ¹ tn Heb “and David was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”

[15:2]  ² tn Heb “your servant.” So also in vv. 8, 15, 21.

[15:3]  ³ tn Heb “good and straight.”

[15:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “Who will make me?”

[15:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[15:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “acquired for himself.”

[15:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “So will God do to Abner and so he will add to him.”

[3:9]  ⁹ tc Heb “has sworn to David.” The LXX, with the exception of the recension of Origen, adds “in this day.”

[72:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16-17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2-15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2-7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9-14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15-17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18-19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42-72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.

[72:1]  ¹¹ tn The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.

[72:1]  ¹² tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ¹³ sn Grant the king…Grant the king’s son. It is not entirely clear whether v. 1 envisions one individual or two. The phrase “the king’s son” in the second line may simply refer to “the king” of the first line, drawing attention to the fact that he has inherited his dynastic rule. Another option is that v. 1 envisions a co-regency between father and son (a common phenomenon in ancient Israel) or simply expresses a hope for a dynasty that champions justice.

[72:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”