2 Samuel 1:23

1:23 Saul and Jonathan were greatly loved ¹  during their lives,

and not even in their deaths were they separated.

They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

2 Samuel 2:5

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 ²  to your lord Saul by burying him.

2 Samuel 2:29

2:29 Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan River ³  and went through the whole region of Bitron ⁴  and came to Mahanaim.

2 Samuel 8:4

8:4 David seized from him 1,700 charioteers ⁵  and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of the chariot horses. ⁶ 

2 Samuel 11:10

11:10 So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?”

2 Samuel 13:19

13:19 Then Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went on her way, wailing as she went.

2 Samuel 13:34

13:34 In the meantime Absalom fled. When the servant who was the watchman looked up, he saw many people coming from the west ⁷  on a road beside the hill.

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 ⁸  that Absalom rules in Hebron.”

2 Samuel 16:18

16:18 Hushai replied to Absalom, “No, I will be loyal to the one whom the Lord, these people, and all the men of Israel have chosen. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 17:27

17:27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim

2 Samuel 18:4

18:4 Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

2 Samuel 19:15

19:15 So the king returned and came to the Jordan River. ¹⁰ 

Now the people of Judah ¹¹  had come to Gilgal to meet the king and to help him ¹²  cross the Jordan.

2 Samuel 20:14

20:14 Sheba ¹³  traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of ¹⁴  Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, ¹⁵  they too joined him.

2 Samuel 20:17

20:17 When he approached her, the woman asked, “Are you Joab?” He replied, “I am.” She said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” He said, “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

2 Samuel 22:3

22:3 My God ¹⁶  is my rocky summit where I take shelter, ¹⁷ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ¹⁸  my stronghold,

my refuge, my savior. You save me from violence! ¹⁹ 

2 Samuel 24:20

24:20 When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants approaching him, he ²⁰  went out and bowed to the king with his face ²¹  to the ground.

[1:23]  ¹ tn Heb “beloved and dear.”

[2:5]  ² tn Or “loyalty.”

[2:29]  ³ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they went, all the Bitron.” The meaning of the Hebrew word “Bitron,” which is used only here in the OT, is disputed. The translation above follows BDB 144 s.v. בִּתְרוֹן in taking the word to be a proper name of an area east of the Jordan. A different understanding was advocated by W. R. Arnold, who took the word to refer to the forenoon or morning; a number of modern scholars and translations have adopted this view (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT). See W. R. Arnold, “The Meaning of בתרון,” AJSL 28 (1911-1912): 274-83. In this case one could translate “and they traveled all morning long.”

[8:4]  ⁵ tc The LXX has “one thousand chariots and seven thousand charioteers,” a reading adopted in the text of the NIV. See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:4.

[8:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them a hundred chariot horses.”

[13:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “behind him.”

[15:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “say.”

[16:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “No for with the one whom the Lord has chosen, and this people, and all the men of Israel, I will be and with him I will stay.” The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading לוֹ (lo, “[I will be] to him”) rather than the MT לֹא (lo’, “[I will] not be”), which makes very little sense here.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:15]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has simply “Judah.”

[19:15]  ¹² tn Heb “the king.” The pronoun (“him”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.

[20:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sheba) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:14]  ¹⁴ tc In keeping with the form of the name in v. 15, the translation deletes the “and” found in the MT.

[20:14]  ¹⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ (vayyiqqahalu, “and they were gathered together”) rather than the Kethib of the MT וַיִּקְלֻהוּ (vayyiqluhu, “and they cursed him”). The Kethib is the result of metathesis.

[22:3]  ¹⁶ tc The translation (along with many English versions, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) follows the LXX in reading אֱלֹהִי (’elohi, “my God”) rather than MT’s אֱלֹהֵי (’elohe, “the God of”). See Ps 18:2.

[22:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “in whom.”

[22:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation,” or “my saving horn.”

[22:3]  sn Though some see “horn” as referring to a horn-shaped peak of a hill, or to the “horns” of an altar where one could find refuge, it is more likely that the horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that uses its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36. 2 Sam 22:3 uses the metaphor of the horn in a slightly different manner. Here the Lord himself is compared to a horn. He is to the psalmist what the horn is to the ox, a source of defense and victory.

[22:3]  ¹⁹ tn The parallel version of the song in Ps 18 does not include this last line.

[24:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Araunah.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[24:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “nostrils.”