2 Samuel 4:1

Ish-bosheth is killed

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

2 Samuel 8:10

8:10 he ³  sent his son Joram ⁴  to King David to extend his best wishes ⁵  and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer. ⁶  He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 14:19

14:19 The king said, “Did Joab put you up to all of this?” ⁸  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 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. ⁹ 

[4:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “his hands went slack.”

[8:10]  ³ tn Heb “Toi.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:10]  ⁴ tn The name appears as “Hadoram” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:10.

[8:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”

[8:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Toi.”

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “and in his hand were items of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.”

[14:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”

[20:8]  ⁹ 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.