2 Samuel 1:27

1:27 How the warriors have fallen!

The weapons of war ¹  are destroyed!

2 Samuel 4:1

Ish-bosheth is killed

4:1 When Ish-bosheth ²  the son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he was very disheartened, ³  and all Israel was afraid.

2 Samuel 7:29

7:29 Now be willing to bless your servant’s dynasty ⁴  so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O sovereign Lord, have spoken. By your blessing may your servant’s dynasty be blessed on into the future!” ⁵ 

2 Samuel 11:25

11:25 David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing upset you. ⁶  There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down. ⁷  Press the battle against the city and conquer ⁸  it.’ Encourage him with these words.” ⁹ 

2 Samuel 12:18

12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us ¹⁰  when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 13:21

13:21 Now King David heard about all these things and was very angry. ¹² 

2 Samuel 17:13-14

17:13 If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!”

17:14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel.” Now the Lord had decided ¹³  to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:17

17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En Rogel. A female servant would go and inform them, and they would then go and inform King David. It was not advisable for them to be seen going into the city.

2 Samuel 19:9

19:9 All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

2 Samuel 21:1

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ¹⁴  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ¹⁵  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 Samuel 22:21

22:21 The Lord repaid ¹⁶  me for my godly deeds; ¹⁷ 

he rewarded ¹⁸  my blameless behavior. ¹⁹ 

2 Samuel 22:37

22:37 You widen my path; ²⁰ 

my feet ²¹  do not slip.

2 Samuel 22:46

22:46 Foreigners lose their courage; ²² 

they shake with fear ²³  as they leave ²⁴  their strongholds. ²⁵ 

2 Samuel 23:37

23:37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite (the armor-bearer ²⁶  of Joab son of Zeruiah),

[1:27]  ¹ sn The expression weapons of war may here be a figurative way of referring to Saul and Jonathan.

[4:1]  ² tn The MT does not specify the subject of the verb here, but the reference is to Ish-bosheth, so the name has been supplied in the translation for clarity. 4QSam^a and the LXX mistakenly read “Mephibosheth.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “his hands went slack.”

[7:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “house” (again later in this verse). See the note on “dynastic house” in v. 27.

[7:29]  ⁵ tn Or “permanently”; cf. NLT “it is an eternal blessing.”

[11:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “let not this matter be evil in your eyes.”

[11:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “according to this and according to this the sword devours.”

[11:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “overthrow.”

[11:25]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text does not have “with these words.” They are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[12:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to our voice.”

[12:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!

[13:21]  ¹² tc The LXX and part of the Old Latin tradition include the following addition to v. 21, also included in some English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, CEV): “But he did not grieve the spirit of Amnon his son, because he loved him, since he was his firstborn.” Note David’s attitude toward his son Adonijah in 1 Kgs 1:6.

[17:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “commanded.”

[21:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

[21:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

[22:21]  ¹⁶ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.

[22:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” As vv. 22-25 make clear, David refers here to his unwavering obedience to God’s commands. He explains that the Lord was pleased with him and willing to deliver him because he had been loyal to God and obedient to his commandments. Ancient Near Eastern literature contains numerous parallels. A superior (a god or king) would typically reward a subject (a king or the servant of a king, respectively) for loyalty and obedience. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 211-13.

[22:21]  ¹⁸ tn The unreduced Hiphil prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, in which case the psalmist would be generalizing. However, both the preceding and following contexts (see especially v. 25) suggest he is narrating his experience. Despite its unreduced form, the verb is better taken as a preterite. For other examples of unreduced Hiphil preterites, see Pss 55:14a; 68:9a, 10b; 80:8a; 89:43a; 107:38b; 116:6b.

[22:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” Hands suggest activity and behavior.

[22:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “step.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives him the capacity to run quickly.

[22:37]  ²¹ tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”

[22:46]  ²² tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

[22:46]  ²³ tc The translation assumes a reading וְיַחְרְגוּ (vÿyakhrÿgu, “and they quaked”) rather than the MT וְיַחְגְּרוּ (vÿyakhgÿru, “and they girded themselves”). See the note at Ps 18:45.

[22:46]  ²⁴ tn Heb “from.”

[22:46]  ²⁵ tn Heb “prisons.” Their besieged cities are compared to prisons.

[23:37]  ²⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the singular rather than the plural of the Kethib of the MT.