2 Samuel 1:18

1:18 (He gave instructions that the people of Judah should be taught “The Bow.” ¹  Indeed, it is written down in the Book of Yashar.) ² 

2 Samuel 5:25

5:25 David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer. ³ 

2 Samuel 11:8-9

11:8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” ⁴  When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. ⁵  11:9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all ⁶  the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.

2 Samuel 11:15

11:15 In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”

2 Samuel 13:31

13:31 Then the king stood up and tore his garments and lay down on the ground. All his servants were standing there with torn garments as well.

2 Samuel 14:4

14:4 So the Tekoan woman went ⁷  to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me, ⁸  O king!”

2 Samuel 19:31

19:31 Now when Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim, he crossed the Jordan with the king so he could send him on his way from there. ⁹ 

2 Samuel 21:15

Israel Engages in Various Battles with the Philistines

21:15 Another battle was fought between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his soldiers ¹⁰  and fought the Philistines. David became exhausted.

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¹ tn Heb “be taught the bow.” The reference to “the bow” is very difficult here. Some interpreters (e.g., S. R. Driver, P. K. McCarter, Jr.) suggest deleting the word from the text (cf. NAB, TEV), but there does not seem to be sufficient evidence for doing so. Others (cf. KJV) understand the reference to be elliptical, meaning “the use of the bow.” The verse would then imply that with the deaths of Saul and Jonathan having occurred, a period of trying warfare is about to begin, requiring adequate preparation for war on the part of the younger generation. Various other views may also be found in the secondary literature. However, it seems best to understand the word here to be a reference to the name of a song (i.e., “The Bow”), most likely the poem that follows in vv. 19-27 (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT); NIV “this lament of the bow.” To make this clear the words “the song of” are supplied in the translation.

² sn The Book of Yashar is a noncanonical writing no longer in existence. It is referred to here and in Josh 10:12-13 and 1 Kgs 8:12-13. It apparently was “a collection of ancient national poetry” (so BDB 449 s.v. יָשָׁר).

³ tn Heb “from Gibeon until you enter Gezer.”

⁴ tn Heb “and wash your feet.”

⁵ tn Heb “and there went out after him the gift of the king.”

⁶ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation lacks the word “all.”

⁷ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavo’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vatto’mer, “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate.

⁸ tn The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate.

⁹ tc The MT reading אֶת־בַיַּרְדֵּן (’et-vayyarden, “in the Jordan”) is odd syntactically. The use of the preposition after the object marker אֶת (’et) is difficult to explain. Graphic confusion is likely in the MT; the translation assumes the reading מִיַּרְדֵּן (miyyarden, “from the Jordan”). Another possibility is to read the definite article on the front of “Jordan” (הַיַּרְדֵּן, hayyarden; “the Jordan”).

¹⁰ tn Heb “his servants.”