2 Samuel 10:15

10:15 When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they consolidated their forces. ¹ 

2 Samuel 12:27

12:27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city. ² 

2 Samuel 19:36

19:36 I will cross the Jordan with the king and go a short distance. ³  Why should the king reward me in this way?

2 Samuel 20:4

20:4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together for me in three days, ⁴  and you be present here with them too.”

2 Samuel 22:36

22:36 You give me ⁵  your protective shield; ⁶ 

your willingness to help enables me to prevail. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 24:23

24:23 I, the servant of my lord ⁸  the king, give it all to the king!” Araunah also told the king, “May the Lord your God show you favor!”

[10:15]  ¹ tn Heb “were gathered together.”

[12:27]  ² sn The expression translated the water supply of the city (Heb “the city of the waters”) apparently refers to that part of the fortified city that guarded the water supply of the entire city. Joab had already captured this part of the city, but he now defers to King David for the capture of the rest of the city. In this way the king will receive the credit for this achievement.

[19:36]  ³ tn Heb “Like a little your servant will cross the Jordan with the king.”

[20:4]  ⁴ tn The present translation follows the Masoretic accentuation, with the major mark of disjunction (i.e., the atnach) placed at the word “days.” However, some scholars have suggested moving the atnach to “Judah” a couple of words earlier. This would yield the following sense: “Three days, and you be present here with them.” The difference in meaning is slight, and the MT is acceptable as it stands.

[22:36]  ⁵ tn Another option is to translate the prefixed verb with vav consecutive with a past tense, “you gave me.” Several prefixed verbal forms with vav consecutive also appear in vv. 38-44. The present translation understands this section as a description of what generally happened when the author charged into battle, but another option is to understand the section as narrative and translate accordingly.

[22:36]  ⁶ tc Ps 18:35 contains an additional line following this one, which reads “your right hand supports me.” It may be omitted here due to homoioarcton. See the note at Ps 18:35.

[22:36]  tn Heb “and you give me the shield of your deliverance”; KJV, ASV “the shield of thy (your NRSV, NLT) salvation”; NIV “your shield of victory.” Ancient Near Eastern literature often refers to a god giving a king special weapons. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 260-61.

[22:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “your answer makes me great.” David refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer.

[24:23]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The translation reads עֶבֶד אֲדֹנָי (’eved ’adoni, “the servant of my lord”) rather than the MT’s אֲרַוְנָה (’Aravnah). In normal court etiquette a subject would not use his own name in this way, but would more likely refer to himself in the third person. The MT probably first sustained loss of עֶבֶד (’eved, “servant”), leading to confusion of the word for “my lord” with the name of the Jebusite referred to here.