2 Samuel 1:21

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ¹ 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ² 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ³ 

2 Samuel 2:26

2:26 Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?”

2 Samuel 4:4

4:4 Now Saul’s son Jonathan had a son who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan arrived from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but in her haste to get away, he fell and was injured. ⁴  Mephibosheth was his name.

2 Samuel 6:16

6:16 As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 11:4

11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. ⁶  She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. ⁷  (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) ⁸  Then she returned to her home.

2 Samuel 17:16

17:16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him, ⁹  “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert ¹⁰  tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over, ¹¹  or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.” ¹² 

2 Samuel 19:9

19:9 All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

2 Samuel 19:11

19:11 Then King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests saying, “Tell the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back to his palace, ¹³  when everything Israel is saying has come to the king’s attention. ¹⁴ 

2 Samuel 19:41

19:41 Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan – and not only him but all of David’s men as well?”

2 Samuel 20:3

20:3 Then David went to his palace ¹⁵  in Jerusalem. The king took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace and placed them under confinement. ¹⁶  Though he provided for their needs, he did not have sexual relations with them. ¹⁷  They remained in confinement until the day they died, living out the rest of their lives as widows.

2 Samuel 24:16

24:16 When the angel ¹⁸  extended his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented from his judgment. ¹⁹  He told the angel who was killing the people, “That’s enough! Stop now!” ²⁰  (Now the Lord’s angel was near the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)

[1:21]  ¹ tc Instead of the MT’s “fields of grain offerings” the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “your high places are mountains of death.” Cf. the Old Latin montes mortis (“mountains of death”).

[1:21]  ² tn This is the only biblical occurrence of the Niphal of the verb גָּעַל (ga’al). This verb usually has the sense of “to abhor” or “loathe.” But here it seems to refer to the now dirty and unprotected condition of a previously well-maintained instrument of battle.

[1:21]  ³ tc It is preferable to read here Hebrew מָשׁוּחַ (mashuakh) with many Hebrew mss, rather than מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh) of the MT. Although the Syriac Peshitta understands the statement to pertain to Saul, the point here is not that Saul is not anointed. Rather, it is the shield of Saul that lies discarded and is no longer anointed. In ancient Near Eastern practice a warrior’s shield that was in normal use would have to be anointed regularly in order to ensure that the leather did not become dry and brittle. Like other warriors of his day Saul would have carefully maintained his tools of trade. But now that he is dead, the once-cared-for shield of the mighty warrior lies sadly discarded and woefully neglected, a silent but eloquent commentary on how different things are now compared to the way they were during Saul’s lifetime.

[4:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and was lame.”

[6:16]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”

[11:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”

[11:4]  ⁸ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child.

[17:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV).

[17:16]  ¹¹ tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”

[17:16]  ¹² tn Heb “swallowed up.”

[19:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “his house.”

[19:11]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text adds “to his house” (= palace), but the phrase, which also appears earlier in the verse, is probably accidentally repeated here.

[20:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[20:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he placed them in a guarded house.”

[20:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he did not come to them”; NAB “has no further relations with them”; NIV “did not lie with them”; TEV “did not have intercourse with them”; NLT “would no longer sleep with them.”

[24:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “messenger.”

[24:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “concerning the calamity.”

[24:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Now, drop your hand.”