Discovery Box2 Samuel 9:1 
Context9:1 1 Then David asked, “Is anyone still left from the family 2 of Saul, so that I may extend kindness to him for the sake of Jonathan?”
2 Samuel 15:4
Context15:4 Absalom would then say, “If only they would make me 3 a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint 4 could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement.”
2 Samuel 17:11
Context17:11 My advice therefore is this: Let all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba – in number like the sand by the sea! – be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle.
2 Samuel 18:13
Context18:13 If I had acted at risk of my own life 5 – and nothing is hidden from the king! – you would have abandoned me.” 6
2 Samuel 19:34
Context19:34 Barzillai replied to the king, “How many days do I have left to my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
2 Samuel 22:44
Context22:44 You rescue me from a hostile army; 7
you preserve me as a leader of nations;
people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects. 8
2 Samuel 24:14
Context24:14 David said to Gad, “I am very upset! I prefer that we be attacked by the Lord, for his mercy is great; I do not want to be attacked by men!” 9
1 sn 2 Samuel 9–20 is known as the Succession Narrative. It is a literary unit that describes David’s efforts at consolidating his own kingdom following the demise of King Saul; it also provides the transition to subsequent leadership on the part of David’s successor Solomon.
2 tn Heb “house.”
3 tn Heb “Who will make me?”
4 tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.
5 tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew
6 tn Heb “stood aloof.”
7 tn Heb “from the strivings of my people.” In this context רִיב (riv, “striving”) probably has a militaristic sense (as in Judg 12:2; Isa 41:11), and עַם (’am, “people”) probably refers more specifically to an army (for other examples, see the verses listed in BDB 766 s.v. עַם 2.d). The suffix “my” suggests David is referring to attacks by his own countrymen, the “people” being Israel. However, the parallel text in Ps 18:43 omits the suffix.
8 tn Heb “a people whom I did not know serve me.” In this context the verb “know” (יָדַע, yada’) probably refers to formal recognition by treaty. People who were once not under the psalmist’s authority now willingly submit to his rulership to avoid being conquered militarily (see vv. 45-46). The language may recall the events recorded in 2 Sam 8:9-10 and 10:19.
9 tn Heb “There is great distress to me. Let us fall into the hand of the
