2 Samuel 1:10

1:10 So I stood over him and put him to death, since I knew that he couldn’t live in such a condition. ¹  Then I took the crown which was on his head and the ²  bracelet which was on his arm. I have brought them here to my lord.” ³ 

2 Samuel 4:8

4:8 They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, saying to the king, “Look! The head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life! The Lord has granted vengeance to my lord the king this day against ⁴  Saul and his descendants!”

2 Samuel 6:12

6:12 David was told, ⁵  “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David.

2 Samuel 8:2

8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ⁶  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 8:10

8:10 he ⁸  sent his son Joram ⁹  to King David to extend his best wishes ¹⁰  and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer. ¹¹  He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze. ¹² 

2 Samuel 12:20

12:20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate.

2 Samuel 14:2

14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning ¹³  and put on garments for mourning. Don’t anoint yourself with oil. Instead, act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for some time. ¹⁴ 

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¹ tn Heb “after his falling”; NAB “could not survive his wound”; CEV “was too badly wounded to live much longer.”

² tc The MT lacks the definite article, but this is likely due to textual corruption. It is preferable to read the alef (א) of אֶצְעָדָה (’ets’adah) as a ה (he) giving הַצְּעָדָה (hatsÿ’adah). There is no reason to think that the soldier confiscated from Saul’s dead body only one of two or more bracelets that he was wearing (cf. NLT “one of his bracelets”).

³ sn The claims that the soldier is making here seem to contradict the story of Saul’s death as presented in 1 Sam 31:3-5. In that passage it appears that Saul took his own life, not that he was slain by a passerby who happened on the scene. Some scholars account for the discrepancy by supposing that conflicting accounts have been brought together in the MT. However, it is likely that the young man is here fabricating the account in a self-serving way so as to gain favor with David, or so he supposes. He probably had come across Saul’s corpse, stolen the crown and bracelet from the body, and now hopes to curry favor with David by handing over to him these emblems of Saul’s royalty. But in so doing the Amalekite greatly miscalculated David’s response to this alleged participation in Saul’s death. The consequence of his lies will instead be his own death.

⁴ tn Heb “from.”

⁵ tn Heb “and it was told to David, saying.”

⁶ tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”

⁷ tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

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

⁹ tn The name appears as “Hadoram” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:10.

¹⁰ tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Toi.”

¹² tn Heb “and in his hand were items of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.”

¹³ tn The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.

¹⁴ tn Heb “these many days.”