2 Samuel 12:3

12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. ¹  It used to ²  eat his food, ³  drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. ⁴  It was just like a daughter to him.

2 Samuel 18:3

18:3 But the soldiers replied, ⁵  “You should not do this! ⁶  For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be too concerned about us. ⁷  Even if half of us should die, they won’t be too concerned about us. But you ⁸  are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.”

[12:3]  ¹ tn Heb “his sons.”

[12:3]  ² tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.

[12:3]  ³ tn Heb “from his morsel.”

[12:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”

[18:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the people said.”

[18:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “march out.”

[18:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “they will not place to us heart.”

[18:3]  ⁸ tc The translation follows the LXX (except for the Lucianic recension), Symmachus, and Vulgate in reading אָתָּה (’atta, “you”) rather than MT עָתָּה (’atta, “now”).