2 Samuel 5:8

5:8 David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies ¹  by going through the water tunnel.” ²  For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.” ³ 

2 Samuel 12:4

12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, ⁴  he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed ⁵  the traveler who had come to visit him. ⁶  Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked ⁷  it for the man who had come to visit him.”

2 Samuel 17:9

17:9 At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first, ⁸  whoever hears about it will say, ‘Absalom’s army has been slaughtered!’

2 Samuel 21:8

21:8 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah whom she had born to Saul, and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab ⁹  whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

[5:8]  ¹ tc There is some confusion among the witnesses concerning this word. The Kethib is the Qal perfect 3cp שָׂנְאוּ (sanÿ’u, “they hated”), referring to the Jebusites’ attitude toward David. The Qere is the Qal passive participle construct plural שְׂנֻאֵי (sÿnu’e, “hated”), referring to David’s attitude toward the Jebusites. 4QSam^a has the Qal perfect 3rd person feminine singular שָׂנְאָה (sanÿ’ah, “hated”), the subject of which would be “the soul of David.” The difference is minor and the translation adopted above works for either the Kethib or the Qere.

[5:8]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term has been debated. For a survey of various views, see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 139-40.

[5:8]  sn If a water tunnel is in view here, it is probably the so-called Warren’s Shaft that extends up from Hezekiah’s tunnel. It would have provided a means for surprise attack against the occupants of the city of David. The LXX seems not to understand the reference here, translating “by the water shaft” as “with a small knife.”

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “the house.” TEV takes this as a reference to the temple (“the Lord’s house”).

[12:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.

[12:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”

[12:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “who had come to him” (also a second time later in this verse). The word “visit” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[12:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and prepared.”

[17:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “that he falls on them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] at the first [encounter]; or “that some of them [i.e., Absalom’s troops] fall at the first [encounter].”

[21:8]  ⁹ tc The MT reads “Michal” here, but two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab,” along with some LXX manuscripts. Cf. 1 Sam 18:19.