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 the² bracelet which was on his arm. I have brought them here to my lord.”³

2 Samuel 8:10

8:10 he⁴ sent his son Joram⁵ to King David to extend his best wishes⁶ and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer.⁷ He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze.⁸

2 Samuel 11:21

11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone⁹ down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

2 Samuel 12:3-4

12:3 But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children.¹⁰ It used to¹¹ eat his food,¹² drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms.¹³ It was just like a daughter to him.

12:4 “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home,¹⁴ he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed¹⁵ the traveler who had come to visit him.¹⁶ Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked¹⁷ it for the man who had come to visit him.”

2 Samuel 13:5

13:5 Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick.¹⁸ When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch. Then I will eat from her hand.’”

2 Samuel 16:11

16:11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son, my very own flesh and blood,¹⁹ is trying to take my life. So also now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone so that he can curse, for the Lord has spoken to him.

2 Samuel 17:16

17:16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him,²⁰ “Don’t spend the night at the fords of the desert²¹ tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over,²² or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.”²³

2 Samuel 19:37

19:37 Let me²⁴ return so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. But look, here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever seems appropriate to you.”

2 Samuel 20:10

20:10 Amasa did not protect himself from the knife in Joab’s other hand, and Joab²⁵ stabbed him in the abdomen, causing Amasa’s²⁶ intestines to spill out on the ground. There was no need to stab him again; the first blow was fatal.²⁷ Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.

2 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Amasa was squirming in his own blood in the middle of the path, and this man had noticed that all the soldiers stopped. Having noticed that everyone who came across Amasa²⁸ stopped, the man²⁹ pulled him³⁰ away from the path and into the field and threw a garment over him.

2 Samuel 24:13

24:13 Gad went to David and told him, “Shall seven³¹ years of famine come upon your land? Or shall you flee for three months from your enemy with him in hot pursuit? Or shall there be three days of plague in your land? Now decide³² what I should tell the one who sent me.”

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

²tc 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”).

³sn 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.

⁴tn Heb “Toi.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵tn The name appears as “Hadoram” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:10.

⁶tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”

⁷tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Toi.”

⁸tn Heb “and in his hand were items of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.”

⁹sn The upper millstone (Heb “millstone of riding”) refers to the heavy circular stone that was commonly rolled over a circular base in order to crush and grind such things as olives.

¹⁰tn Heb “his sons.”

¹¹tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.

¹²tn Heb “from his morsel.”

¹³tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”

¹⁴tn Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.

¹⁵tn Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”

¹⁶tn Heb “who had come to him” (also a second time later in this verse). The word “visit” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

¹⁷tn Heb “and prepared.”

¹⁸tn This verb is used in the Hitpael stem only in this chapter of the Hebrew Bible. With the exception of v. 2 it describes not a real sickness but one pretended in order to entrap Tamar. The Hitpael sometimes, as here, describes the subject making oneself appear to be of a certain character. On this use of the stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

¹⁹tn Heb “who came out from my entrails.” David’s point is that is his own son, his child whom he himself had fathered, was now wanting to kill him.

²⁰tn Heb “send quickly and tell David saying.”

²¹tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV).

²²tn That is, “cross over the Jordan River.”

²³tn Heb “swallowed up.”

²⁴tn Heb “your servant.”

²⁵tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁶tn Heb “his”; the referent (Amasa) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁷tn Heb “and he did not repeat concerning him, and he died.”

²⁸tn Heb “him”; the referent (Amasa) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁹tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man who spoke up in v. 11) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁰tn Heb “Amasa.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.

³¹tc The LXX has here “three” rather than “seven,” and is followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT. See 1 Chr 21:12.

³²tn Heb “now know and see.”