2 Samuel 1:2

1:2 On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. ¹  When he approached David, the man ²  threw himself to the ground. ³ 

2 Samuel 1:4

1:4 David inquired, “How were things going? ⁴  Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them ⁵  fell dead. ⁶  Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!”

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 1:21

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ⁷ 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ⁸ 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 2:4-5

2:4 The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people ¹⁰  of Judah.

David was told, ¹¹  “The people ¹²  of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.” 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 ¹³  to your lord Saul by burying him.

2 Samuel 2:10

2:10 Ish-bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he began to rule over Israel. He ruled two years. However, the people ¹⁴  of Judah followed David.

2 Samuel 3:13-14

3:13 So David said, “Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to visit me.” ¹⁵ 

3:14 David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth son of Saul with this demand: ¹⁶  “Give me my wife Michal whom I acquired ¹⁷  for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

2 Samuel 4:2

4:2 Now Saul’s son ¹⁸  had two men who were in charge of raiding units; one was named Baanah and the other Recab. They were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, who was a Benjaminite. (Beeroth is regarded as belonging to Benjamin,

2 Samuel 4:10

4:10 when someone told me that Saul was dead – even though he thought he was bringing good news ¹⁹  – I seized him and killed him in Ziklag. That was the good news I gave to him!

2 Samuel 5:2

5:2 In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. ²⁰  The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”

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. ²¹ 

2 Samuel 6:20

6:20 When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, ²²  Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to meet him. ²³  She said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished ²⁴  himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants’ slave girls the way a vulgar fool ²⁵  might do!”

2 Samuel 9:3

9:3 The king asked, “Is there not someone left from Saul’s family, ²⁶  that I may extend God’s kindness to him?” Ziba said to the king, “One of Jonathan’s sons is left; both of his feet are crippled.”

2 Samuel 9:7

9:7 David said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because I will certainly extend kindness to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. You will be a regular guest at my table.” ²⁷ 

2 Samuel 12:7

12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose ²⁸  you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.

2 Samuel 16:5

Shimei Curses David and His Men

16:5 Then King David reached ²⁹  Bahurim. There a man from Saul’s extended family named Shimei son of Gera came out, yelling curses as he approached. ³⁰ 

2 Samuel 16:8

16:8 The Lord has punished you for ³¹  all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule. Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. Disaster has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed!”

2 Samuel 19:17

19:17 There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant ³²  of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed ³³  the Jordan within sight of the king.

2 Samuel 19:24

19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, ³⁴  came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely ³⁵  returned, Mephibosheth ³⁶  had not cared for his feet ³⁷  nor trimmed ³⁸  his mustache nor washed his clothes.

2 Samuel 21:1-2

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ³⁹  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ⁴⁰  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

21:2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to ⁴¹  them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)

2 Samuel 21:4

21:4 The Gibeonites said to him, “We ⁴²  have no claim to silver or gold from Saul or from his family, ⁴³  nor would we be justified in putting to death anyone in Israel.” David asked, ⁴⁴  “What then are you asking me to do for you?”

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 ⁴⁵  whom she had born to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

2 Samuel 21:14

21:14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin at Zela in the grave of his father Kish. After they had done everything ⁴⁶  that the king had commanded, God responded to their prayers ⁴⁷  for the land.

[1:2]  ¹ sn Tearing one’s clothing and throwing dirt on one’s head were outward expressions of grief in the ancient Near East, where such demonstrable reactions were a common response to tragic news.

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned at the beginning of v. 2) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion as to who fell to the ground.

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “he fell to the ground and did obeisance.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “What was the word?”

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the people.”

[1:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “fell and died.”

[1:21]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[2:4]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “men.”

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Or “loyalty.”

[2:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[3:13]  ¹⁵ tn The words “when you come to see my face,” though found in the Hebrew text, are somewhat redundant given the similar expression in the earlier part of the verse. The words are absent from the Syriac Peshitta.

[3:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to Ish-bosheth son of Saul saying.” To avoid excessive sibilance (especially when read aloud) the translation renders “saying” as “with this demand.”

[3:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “whom I betrothed to myself.”

[4:2]  ¹⁸ tc The present translation, “Saul’s son had two men,” is based on the reading “to the son of Saul,” rather than the MT’s “the son of Saul.” The context requires the preposition to indicate the family relationship.

[4:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he was like a bearer of good news in his eyes.”

[5:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”

[6:16]  ²¹ 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.”

[6:20]  ²² tn Heb “and David returned to bless his house.”

[6:20]  ²³ tn Heb “David.” The name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “honored.”

[6:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “one of the foolish ones.”

[9:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[9:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and you will eat food over my table continually.”

[12:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “anointed.”

[16:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “came to.” The form of the verb in the MT is odd. Some prefer to read וַיַּבֹא (vayyavo’), preterite with vav consecutive) rather than וּבָא (uva’), apparently perfect with vav), but this is probably an instance where the narrative offline vÿqatal construction introduces a new scene.

[16:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “And look, from there a man was coming out from the clan of the house of Saul and his name was Shimei son of Gera, continually going out and cursing.”

[16:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “has brought back upon you.”

[19:17]  ³² tn Heb “youth.”

[19:17]  ³³ tn Heb “rushed into.”

[19:24]  ³⁴ tn Heb “son.”

[19:24]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.

[19:24]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:24]  ³⁷ tn Heb “done his feet.”

[19:24]  ³⁸ tn Heb “done.”

[21:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

[21:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

[21:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “swore an oath to.”

[21:4]  ⁴² tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading לָנוּ (lanu, “to us”) rather than the MT לִי (li, “to me”). But for a contrary opinion see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 53, 350.

[21:4]  ⁴³ tn Heb “house.”

[21:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:8]  ⁴⁵ tc The MT reads “Michal” here, but two Hebrew manuscripts read “Merab,” along with some LXX manuscripts. Cf. 1 Sam 18:19.

[21:14]  ⁴⁶ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss have here כְּכֹל (kÿkhol, “according to all”).

[21:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “was entreated.” The verb is an example of the so-called niphal tolerativum, with the sense that God allowed himself to be supplicated through prayer (cf. GKC 137 §51.c).