2 Samuel 1:12

1:12 They lamented and wept and fasted until evening because Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord’s people, and the house of Israel had fallen by the sword.

2 Samuel 1:16

1:16 David said to him, “Your blood be on your own head! Your own mouth has testified against you, saying ‘I have put the Lord’s anointed to death.’”

2 Samuel 2:5-6

2:5 So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness ¹  to your lord Saul by burying him. 2:6 Now may the Lord show you true kindness! ²  I also will reward you, ³  because you have done this deed.

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!

2 Samuel 4:9

4:9 David replied to Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered my life from all adversity,

2 Samuel 5:3

5:3 When all the leaders ⁴  of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them ⁵  in Hebron before the Lord. They designated ⁶  David as king over Israel.

2 Samuel 5:23-24

5:23 So David asked the Lord what he should do. ⁷  This time ⁸  the Lord ⁹  said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ¹⁰  5:24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army ¹¹  of the Philistines.”

2 Samuel 6:5

6:5 while David and all Israel ¹²  were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing ¹³  and playing various stringed instruments, ¹⁴  tambourines, rattles, ¹⁵  and cymbals.

2 Samuel 6:10

6:10 So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

2 Samuel 6:13

6:13 Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David ¹⁶  sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf.

2 Samuel 8:6

8:6 David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected ¹⁷  David wherever he campaigned. ¹⁸ 

2 Samuel 8:11

8:11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord, ¹⁹  along with the dedicated silver and gold that he had taken from ²⁰  all the nations that he had subdued,

2 Samuel 8:14

8:14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, ²¹  and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.

2 Samuel 12:1

Nathan the Prophet Confronts David

12:1 So the Lord sent Nathan ²²  to David. When he came to David, ²³  Nathan ²⁴  said, ²⁵  “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

2 Samuel 12:5

12:5 Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ²⁶ 

2 Samuel 12:13

12:13 Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!” Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven ²⁷  your sin. You are not going to die.

2 Samuel 12:22

12:22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ²⁸  ‘Perhaps ²⁹  the Lord will show pity and the child will live.

2 Samuel 12:24

12:24 So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. ³⁰  She gave birth to a son, and David ³¹  named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child ³² 

2 Samuel 15:7

15:7 After four ³³  years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron.

2 Samuel 15:21

15:21 But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king is, whether dead or alive, ³⁴  there I ³⁵  will be as well!”

2 Samuel 15:31

15:31 Now David ³⁶  had been told, “Ahithophel has sided with the conspirators who are with Absalom. So David prayed, ³⁷  “Make the advice of Ahithophel foolish, O Lord!”

2 Samuel 16:10

16:10 But the king said, “What do we have in common, ³⁸  you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this?’”

2 Samuel 16:18

16:18 Hushai replied to Absalom, “No, I will be loyal to the one whom the Lord, these people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. ³⁹ 

2 Samuel 18:19

David Learns of Absalom’s Death

18:19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and give the king the good news that the Lord has vindicated him before his enemies.” ⁴⁰ 

2 Samuel 18:31

18:31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, ⁴¹  “May my lord the king now receive the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today and delivered you from the hand of all who have rebelled against you!” ⁴² 

2 Samuel 20:19

20:19 I represent the peaceful and the faithful in Israel. You are attempting to destroy an important city ⁴³  in Israel. Why should you swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”

2 Samuel 21:3

21:3 David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you, and how can I make amends so that you will bless ⁴⁴  the Lord’s inheritance?”

2 Samuel 21:6-7

21:6 let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute ⁴⁵  them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.” ⁴⁶  The king replied, “I will turn them over.”

21:7 The king had mercy on Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, in light of the Lord’s oath that had been taken between David and Jonathan son of Saul.

2 Samuel 22:49

22:49 He delivers me from my enemies; ⁴⁷ 

you snatch me away ⁴⁸  from those who attack me; ⁴⁹ 

you rescue me from violent men.

2 Samuel 22:51

22:51 He gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ⁵⁰ 

he is faithful to his chosen ruler, ⁵¹ 

to David and to his descendants forever!”

2 Samuel 24:1

David Displeases the Lord by Taking a Census

24:1 The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah.” ⁵² 

2 Samuel 24:14-15

24:14 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” ⁵³ 

24:15 So the Lord sent a plague through Israel from the morning until the completion of the appointed time. Seventy thousand men died from Dan to Beer Sheba.

2 Samuel 24:18

David Acquires a Threshing Floor and Constructs an Altar There

24:18 So Gad went to David that day and told him, “Go up and build an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

[2:5]  ¹ tn Or “loyalty.”

[2:6]  ² tn Or “loyalty and devotion.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “will do with you this good.”

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “elders.”

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the king, David, cut for them a covenant.”

[5:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “anointed.”

[5:23]  ⁷ tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ⁸ tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:23]  ¹⁰ tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.

[5:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “camp” (so NAB).

[6:5]  ¹² tn Heb “all the house of Israel.”

[6:5]  ¹³ tc Heb “were celebrating before the Lord with all woods of fir” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). If the text is retained, the last expression must be elliptical, referring to musical instruments made from fir wood. But it is preferable to emend the text in light of 1 Chr 13:8, which reads “were celebrating before the Lord with all strength and with songs.”

[6:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with zithers [?] and with harps.”

[6:5]  ¹⁵ tn That is, “sistrums” (so NAB, NIV); ASV, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT “castanets.”

[6:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:6]  ¹⁷ tn Or “delivered.”

[8:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “wherever he went.”

[8:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.”

[8:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from.”

[8:14]  ²¹ tc The MT is repetitious here: “He placed in Edom garrisons; in all Edom he placed garrisons.” The Vulgate lacks “in all Edom”; most of the Greek tradition (with the exception of the Lucianic recension and the recension of Origen) and the Syriac Peshitta lack “he placed garrisons.” The MT reading appears here to be the result of a conflation of variant readings.

[12:1]  ²² tc A few medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta add “the prophet.” The words are included in a few modern English version (e.g., TEV, CEV, NLT).

[12:1]  ²³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text repeats “to him.”

[12:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the man doing this [is] a son of death.” See 1 Sam 20:31 for another use of this expression, which must mean “he is as good as dead” or “he deserves to die,” as 1 Sam 20:32 makes clear.

[12:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “removed.”

[12:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “said.”

[12:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Who knows?”

[12:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and he lay with her.”

[12:24]  ³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. While some translations render the pronoun as third person plural (“they”), implying that both David and Bathsheba together named the child, it is likely that the name “Solomon,” which is related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (and may be derived from it) had special significance for David, who would have regarded the birth of a second child to Bathsheba as a confirming sign that God had forgiven his sin and was at peace with him.

[12:24]  ³² tn Heb “him,” referring to the child.

[15:7]  ³³ tc The MT has here “forty,” but this is presumably a scribal error for “four.” The context will not tolerate a period of forty years prior to the rebellion of Absalom. The Lucianic Greek recension (τέσσαρα ἔτη, tessara ete), the Syriac Peshitta (’arba’ sanin), and Vulgate (post quattuor autem annos) in fact have the expected reading “four years.” Most English translations follow the versions in reading “four” here, although some (e.g. KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), following the MT, read “forty.”

[15:21]  ³⁴ tn Heb “whether for death or for life.”

[15:21]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your servant.”

[15:31]  ³⁶ tc The translation follows 4QSam^a, part of the Greek tradition, the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate uldavid in reading “and to David,” rather than MT וְדָוִד (vÿdavid, “and David”). As Driver points out, the Hebrew verb הִגִּיד (higgid, “he related”) never uses the accusative for the person to whom something is told (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 316).

[15:31]  ³⁷ tn Heb “said.”

[16:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “What to me and to you?”

[16:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “No for with the one whom the Lord has chosen, and this people, and all the men of Israel, I will be and with him I will stay.” The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading לוֹ (lo, “[I will be] to him”) rather than the MT לֹא (lo’, “[I will] not be”), which makes very little sense here.

[18:19]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “that the Lord has vindicated him from the hand of his enemies.”

[18:31]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And look, the Cushite came and the Cushite said.”

[18:31]  ⁴² tn Heb “for the Lord has vindicated you today from the hand of all those rising against you.”

[20:19]  ⁴³ tn Heb “a city and a mother.” The expression is a hendiadys, meaning that this city was an important one in Israel and had smaller cities dependent on it.

[21:3]  ⁴⁴ tn After the preceding imperfect verbal form, the subordinated imperative indicates purpose/result. S. R. Driver comments, “…the imper. is used instead of the more normal voluntative, for the purpose of expressing with somewhat greater force the intention of the previous verb” (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 350).

[21:6]  ⁴⁵ tn The exact nature of this execution is not altogether clear. The verb יָקַע (yaqa’) basically means “to dislocate” or “alienate.” In Gen 32:26 it is used of the dislocation of Jacob’s thigh. Figuratively it can refer to the removal of an individual from a group (e.g., Jer 6:8; Ezek 23:17) or to a type of punishment the specific identity of which is uncertain (e.g., here and Num 25:4); cf. NAB “dismember them”; NIV “to be killed and exposed.”

[21:6]  ⁴⁶ tc The LXX reads “at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord” (cf. 21:9). The present translation follows the MT, although a number of recent English translations follow the LXX reading here (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[22:49]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and [the one who] brings me out from my enemies.”

[22:49]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “you lift me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רוּם (rum) probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt; elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given him victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority.

[22:49]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[22:51]  ⁵⁰ tc The translation follows the Kethib and the ancient versions in reading מַגְדִּיל (magdil, “he magnifies”) rather than the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss of the MT which read מִגְדּוֹל (migdol, “tower”). See Ps 18:50.

[22:51]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty to his anointed one.”

[24:1]  ⁵² sn The parallel text in 1 Chr 21:1 says, “An adversary opposed Israel, inciting David to count how many warriors Israel had.” The Samuel version gives an underlying theological perspective, while the Chronicler simply describes what happened from a human perspective. The adversary in 1 Chr 21:1 is likely a human enemy, probably a nearby nation whose hostility against Israel pressured David into numbering the people so he could assess his military strength. See the note at 1 Chr 21:1.

[24:14]  ⁵³ tn Heb “There is great distress to me. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for great is his mercy, but into the hand of man let me not fall.”