2 Samuel 2:1

David is Anointed King

2:1 Afterward David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” The Lord told him, “Go up.” David asked, “Where should I go?” The Lord replied, ¹  “To Hebron.”

2 Samuel 3:35

3:35 Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, “God will punish me severely ²  if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!”

2 Samuel 13:32

13:32 Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about ³  from the day that Amnon ⁴  humiliated his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 14:19

14:19 The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?” ⁵  The woman answered, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in your servant’s mouth.

2 Samuel 14:22

14:22 Then Joab bowed down with his face toward the ground and thanked ⁶  the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, because the king has granted the request of your ⁷  servant!”

2 Samuel 17:20

17:20 When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men ⁸  searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 20:8

20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. ¹⁰ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “he said.” The referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[3:35]  ² tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”

[13:32]  ³ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

[13:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”

[14:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “blessed.”

[14:22]  ⁷ tc The present translation reads with the Qere “your” rather than the MT “his.”

[17:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referents (Absalom’s men) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:20]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[20:8]  ¹⁰ sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.