2 Samuel 11:23

11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us ¹  in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way ²  to the door of the city gate.

2 Samuel 12:21

12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While ³  the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”

2 Samuel 14:9

14:9 The Tekoan woman said to the king, “My lord the king, let any blame fall on me and on the house of my father. But let the king and his throne be innocent!”

2 Samuel 15:7

15:7 After four ⁴  years Absalom said to the king, “Let me go and repay my vow that I made to the Lord while I was in Hebron.

2 Samuel 16:3-4

16:3 The king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?” ⁵  Ziba replied to the king, “He remains in Jerusalem, ⁶  for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will give back to me my grandfather’s ⁷  kingdom.’” 16:4 The king said to Ziba, “Everything that was Mephibosheth’s now belongs to you.” Ziba replied, “I bow before you. May I find favor in your sight, my lord the king.”

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. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 18:31

18:31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, ⁹  “May my lord the king now receive the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today and delivered you from the hand of all who have rebelled against you!” ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 24:3

24:3 Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God make the army a hundred times larger right before the eyes of my lord the king! But why does my master the king want to do this?”

[11:23]  ¹ tn Heb “and came out to us.”

[11:23]  ² tn Heb “but we were on them.”

[12:21]  ³ tc For the MT בַּעֲבוּר (ba’avur, “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד (bÿ’od, “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.

[15:7]  ⁴ tc The MT has here “forty,” but this is presumably a scribal error for “four.” The context will not tolerate a period of forty years prior to the rebellion of Absalom. The Lucianic Greek recension (τέσσαρα ἔτη, tessara ete), the Syriac Peshitta (’arba’ sanin), and Vulgate (post quattuor autem annos) in fact have the expected reading “four years.” Most English translations follow the versions in reading “four” here, although some (e.g. KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), following the MT, read “forty.”

[16:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “son.”

[16:3]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “my father’s.”

[16:18]  ⁸ 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.

[18:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “And look, the Cushite came and the Cushite said.”

[18:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the Lord has vindicated you today from the hand of all those rising against you.”