2 Samuel 17:3

17:3 and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone. ¹  The entire army will return unharmed.” ² 

2 Samuel 18:13

18:13 If I had acted at risk of my own life ³  – and nothing is hidden from the king! – you would have abandoned me.” ⁴ 

[17:3]  ¹ tc Heb “like the returning of all, the man whom you are seeking.” The LXX reads differently: “And I will return all the people to you the way a bride returns to her husband, except for the life of the one man whom you are seeking.” The other early versions also struggled with this verse. Modern translations are divided as well: the NAB, NRSV, REB, and NLT follow the LXX, while the NASB and NIV follow the Hebrew text.

[17:3]  ² tn Heb “all of the people will be safe.”

[18:13]  ³ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and a number of the ancient versions in reading בְנַפְשִׁי (vÿnafshi, “against my life”) rather than the MT בְנַפְשׁוֹ (vÿnafsho, “against his life”).

[18:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “stood aloof.”