2 Samuel 1:2

1:2 On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. ¹  When he approached David, the man ²  threw himself to the ground. ³ 

2 Samuel 1:4

1:4 David inquired, “How were things going? ⁴  Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them ⁵  fell dead. ⁶  Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!”

2 Samuel 1:6

1:6 The young man who was telling him this ⁷  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

2 Samuel 1:21

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ⁸ 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ⁹ 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 2:4-5

2:4 The men of Judah came and there they anointed David as king over the people ¹¹  of Judah.

David was told, ¹²  “The people ¹³  of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.” 2:5 So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness ¹⁴  to your lord Saul by burying him.

2 Samuel 3:10

3:10 namely, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah all the way from Dan to Beer Sheba!”

2 Samuel 3:13

3:13 So David said, “Good! I will make an agreement with you. I ask only one thing from you. You will not see my face unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to visit me.” ¹⁵ 

2 Samuel 5:2

5:2 In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. ¹⁶  The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”

2 Samuel 6:16

6:16 As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him. ¹⁷ 

2 Samuel 9:2

9:2 Now there was a servant from Saul’s house named Ziba, so he was summoned to David. The king asked him, “Are you Ziba?” He replied, “At your service.” ¹⁸ 

2 Samuel 9:6

9:6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed low with his face toward the ground. ¹⁹  David said, “Mephibosheth?” He replied, “Yes, at your service.” ²⁰ 

2 Samuel 12:7

12:7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I chose ²¹  you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.

2 Samuel 19:17

19:17 There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant ²²  of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed ²³  the Jordan within sight of the king.

2 Samuel 19:24

19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, ²⁴  came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely ²⁵  returned, Mephibosheth ²⁶  had not cared for his feet ²⁷  nor trimmed ²⁸  his mustache nor washed his clothes.

2 Samuel 21:1

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ²⁹  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ³⁰  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 Samuel 21:6

21:6 let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute ³¹  them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.” ³²  The king replied, “I will turn them over.”

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¹ sn Tearing one’s clothing and throwing dirt on one’s head were outward expressions of grief in the ancient Near East, where such demonstrable reactions were a common response to tragic news.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man mentioned at the beginning of v. 2) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion as to who fell to the ground.

³ tn Heb “he fell to the ground and did obeisance.”

⁴ tn Heb “What was the word?”

⁵ tn Heb “from the people.”

⁶ tn Heb “fell and died.”

⁷ tc The Syriac Peshitta and one ms of the LXX lack the words “who was telling him this” of the MT.

⁸ tc Instead of the MT’s “fields of grain offerings” the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “your high places are mountains of death.” Cf. the Old Latin montes mortis (“mountains of death”).

⁹ tn This is the only biblical occurrence of the Niphal of the verb גָּעַל (ga’al). This verb usually has the sense of “to abhor” or “loathe.” But here it seems to refer to the now dirty and unprotected condition of a previously well-maintained instrument of battle.

¹⁰ tc It is preferable to read here Hebrew מָשׁוּחַ (mashuakh) with many Hebrew mss, rather than מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh) of the MT. Although the Syriac Peshitta understands the statement to pertain to Saul, the point here is not that Saul is not anointed. Rather, it is the shield of Saul that lies discarded and is no longer anointed. In ancient Near Eastern practice a warrior’s shield that was in normal use would have to be anointed regularly in order to ensure that the leather did not become dry and brittle. Like other warriors of his day Saul would have carefully maintained his tools of trade. But now that he is dead, the once-cared-for shield of the mighty warrior lies sadly discarded and woefully neglected, a silent but eloquent commentary on how different things are now compared to the way they were during Saul’s lifetime.

¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

¹² tn Heb “and they told David.” The subject appears to be indefinite, allowing one to translate the verb as passive with David as subject.

¹³ tn Heb “men.”

¹⁴ tn Or “loyalty.”

¹⁵ tn The words “when you come to see my face,” though found in the Hebrew text, are somewhat redundant given the similar expression in the earlier part of the verse. The words are absent from the Syriac Peshitta.

¹⁶ tn Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”

¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “your servant.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”

²⁰ tn Heb “Look, your servant.”

²¹ tn Heb “anointed.”

²² tn Heb “youth.”

²³ tn Heb “rushed into.”

²⁴ tn Heb “son.”

²⁵ tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.

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

²⁷ tn Heb “done his feet.”

²⁸ tn Heb “done.”

²⁹ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

³⁰ tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

³¹ tn The exact nature of this execution is not altogether clear. The verb יָקַע (yaqa’) basically means “to dislocate” or “alienate.” In Gen 32:26 it is used of the dislocation of Jacob’s thigh. Figuratively it can refer to the removal of an individual from a group (e.g., Jer 6:8; Ezek 23:17) or to a type of punishment the specific identity of which is uncertain (e.g., here and Num 25:4); cf. NAB “dismember them”; NIV “to be killed and exposed.”

³² tc The LXX reads “at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord” (cf. 21:9). The present translation follows the MT, although a number of recent English translations follow the LXX reading here (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).