2 Samuel 3:25

3:25 You know Abner the son of Ner! Surely he came here to spy on you and to determine when you leave and when you return ¹  and to discover everything that you are doing!”

2 Samuel 3:36

3:36 All the people noticed this and it pleased them. ²  In fact, everything the king did pleased all the people.

2 Samuel 7:11

7:11 and during the time when I appointed judges to lead my people Israel. Instead, I will give you relief ³  from all your enemies. The Lord declares ⁴  to you that he himself ⁵  will build a dynastic house ⁶  for you.

2 Samuel 8:12

8:12 including ⁷  Aram, ⁸  Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amelek. This also included some of the plunder taken from ⁹  King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.

2 Samuel 9:6

9:6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. ¹⁰  David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 9:11

9:11 Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do everything that my lord the king has instructed his servant to do.” So Mephibosheth was a regular guest ¹²  at David’s table, ¹³  just as though he were one of the king’s sons.

2 Samuel 13:24

13:24 Then Absalom went to the king and said, “My shearers have begun their work. ¹⁴  Let the king and his servants go with me.”

2 Samuel 13:33

13:33 Now don’t let my lord the king be concerned about the report that has come saying, ‘All the king’s sons are dead.’ It is only Amnon who is dead.”

2 Samuel 14:16

14:16 Yes! ¹⁵  The king may ¹⁶  listen and deliver his female servant ¹⁷  from the hand of the man who seeks to remove ¹⁸  both me and my son from the inheritance God has given us!’ ¹⁹ 

2 Samuel 17:3

17:3 and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone. ²⁰  The entire army will return unharmed.” ²¹ 

2 Samuel 21:13

21:13 David ²²  brought the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son from there; they also gathered up the bones of those who had been executed.

[3:25]  ¹ tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The expression is a merism. It specifically mentions the polar extremities of the actions but includes all activity in between the extremities as well, thus encompassing the entirety of one’s activities.

[3:36]  ² tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.”

[7:11]  ³ tn Or “rest.”

[7:11]  ⁴ tn In the Hebrew text the verb is apparently perfect with vav consecutive, which would normally suggest a future sense (“he will declare”; so the LXX, ἀπαγγελεῖ [apangelei]). But the context seems instead to call for a present or past nuance (“he declares” or “he has declared”). The synoptic passage in 1 Chr 17:10 has וָאַגִּד (va’aggid, “and I declared”). The construction used in 2 Sam 7:11 highlights this important statement.

[7:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord.”

[7:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “house,” but used here in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. Here the Lord’s use of the word plays off the literal sense that David had in mind as he contemplated building a temple for the Lord. To reflect this in the English translation the adjective “dynastic” has been supplied.

[8:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “from.”

[8:12]  ⁸ tc The present translation follows the MT; a few Hebrew mss along with the LXX and Syriac read “Edom” (cf. 2 Sam 8:14 and 1 Chr 18:11). Many modern English versions read “Edom” here (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[8:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and from the plunder of.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look, your servant.”

[9:11]  ¹² tn Heb “eating.”

[9:11]  ¹³ tc Heb “my table.” But the first person reference to David is awkward here since the quotation of David’s words has already been concluded in v. 10; nor does the “my” refer to Ziba, since the latter part of v. 11 does not seem to be part of Ziba’s response to the king. The ancient versions are not unanimous in the way that they render the phrase. The LXX has “the table of David” (τῆς τραπέζης Δαυιδ, th" trapezh" Dauid); the Syriac Peshitta has “the table of the king” (patureh demalka’); the Vulgate has “your table” (mensam tuam). The present translation follows the LXX.

[13:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your servant has sheepshearers.” The phrase “your servant” also occurs at the end of the verse.

[14:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “for.”

[14:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “will.” The imperfect verbal form can have either an indicative or modal nuance. The use of “perhaps” in v. 15b suggests the latter here.

[14:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in order to deliver his maid.”

[14:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “destroy.”

[14:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the inheritance of God.” The expression refers to the property that was granted to her family line in the division of the land authorized by God.

[17:3]  ²⁰ tc Heb “like the returning of all, the man whom you are seeking.” The LXX reads differently: “And I will return all the people to you the way a bride returns to her husband, except for the life of the one man whom you are seeking.” The other early versions also struggled with this verse. Modern translations are divided as well: the NAB, NRSV, REB, and NLT follow the LXX, while the NASB and NIV follow the Hebrew text.

[17:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “all of the people will be safe.”

[21:13]  ²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.