2 Samuel 1:1

David Learns of the Deaths of Saul and Jonathan

1:1 After the death of Saul, ¹  when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, ²  he stayed at Ziklag ³  for two days.

2 Samuel 2:4

2:4 The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people ⁴  of Judah.

David was told, ⁵  “The people ⁶  of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.”

2 Samuel 2:15

2:15 So they got up and crossed over by number: twelve belonging to Benjamin and to Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David.

2 Samuel 2:24

2:24 So Joab and Abishai chased Abner. At sunset they came to the hill of Ammah near Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

2 Samuel 3:37

3:37 All the people and all Israel realized on that day that the killing of Abner son of Ner was not done at the king’s instigation. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 3:39

3:39 Today I am weak, even though I am anointed as king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too much for me to bear! ⁸  May the Lord punish appropriately the one who has done this evil thing!” ⁹ 

2 Samuel 5:24

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 ¹⁰  of the Philistines.”

2 Samuel 10:8

10:8 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

2 Samuel 11:23

11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us ¹¹  in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way ¹²  to the door of the city gate.

2 Samuel 13:2

13:2 But Amnon became frustrated because he was so lovesick ¹³  over his sister Tamar. For she was a virgin, and to Amnon it seemed out of the question to do anything to her.

2 Samuel 13:16

13:16 But she said to him, “No I won’t, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!” ¹⁴  But he refused to listen to her.

2 Samuel 15:4

15:4 Absalom would then say, “If only they would make me ¹⁵  a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint ¹⁶  could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement.”

2 Samuel 15:10

15:10 Then Absalom sent spies through all the tribes of Israel who said, “When you hear the sound of the horn, you may assume ¹⁷  that Absalom rules 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, ¹⁸  there I ¹⁹  will be as well!”

2 Samuel 16:19

16:19 Moreover, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.” ²⁰ 

2 Samuel 18:5

18:5 The king gave this order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake deal gently with the young man Absalom.” Now the entire army was listening when the king gave all the leaders this order concerning Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:29

18:29 The king replied, “How is the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was all about.”

2 Samuel 19:15-17

19:15 So the king returned and came to the Jordan River. ²¹ 

Now the people of Judah ²²  had come to Gilgal to meet the king and to help him ²³  cross the Jordan. 19:16 Shimei son of Gera the Benjaminite from Bahurim came down quickly with the men of Judah to meet King David. 19:17 There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant ²⁴  of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed ²⁵  the Jordan within sight of the king.

2 Samuel 19:24

19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, ²⁶  came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely ²⁷  returned, Mephibosheth ²⁸  had not cared for his feet ²⁹  nor trimmed ³⁰  his mustache nor washed his clothes.

2 Samuel 21:5

21:5 They replied to the king, “As for this man who exterminated us and who schemed against us so that we were destroyed and left without status throughout all the borders of Israel –

2 Samuel 21:7

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 24:25

24:25 Then David built an altar for the Lord there and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings. And the Lord accepted prayers for the land, and the plague was removed from Israel.

[1:1]  ¹ sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.

[1:1]  ² sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).

[1:1]  ³ sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[2:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they told David.” The subject appears to be indefinite, allowing one to translate the verb as passive with David as subject.

[2:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “men.”

[3:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the king.”

[3:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “are hard from me.”

[3:39]  ⁹ tn Heb “May the Lord repay the doer of the evil according to his evil” (NASB similar).

[5:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “camp” (so NAB).

[11:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and came out to us.”

[11:23]  ¹² tn Heb “but we were on them.”

[13:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and there was distress to Amnon so that he made himself sick.”

[13:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “No, because this great evil is [worse] than the other which you did with me, by sending me away.” Perhaps the broken syntax reflects her hysteria and outrage.

[15:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Who will make me?”

[15:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[15:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “say.”

[15:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “whether for death or for life.”

[15:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your servant.”

[16:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Just as I served before your father, so I will be before you.”

[19:15]  ²¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:15]  ²² tn The Hebrew text has simply “Judah.”

[19:15]  ²³ tn Heb “the king.” The pronoun (“him”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.

[19:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “youth.”

[19:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “rushed into.”

[19:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “son.”

[19:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.

[19:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:24]  ²⁹ tn Heb “done his feet.”

[19:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “done.”