18:24 Now David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, 8 and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate at the wall. When he looked, he saw a man running by himself.
18:26 Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called out to the gatekeeper, “There is another man running by himself.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.”
Now after he had crossed the Jordan, Shimei son of Gera threw himself down before the king.
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 Or “rest.”
5 tn In the Hebrew text the verb is apparently perfect with vav consecutive, which would normally suggest a future sense (“he will declare”; so the LXX, ἀπαγγελεῖ [apangelei]). But the context seems instead to call for a present or past nuance (“he declares” or “he has declared”). The synoptic passage in 1 Chr 17:10 has וָאַגִּד (va’aggid, “and I declared”). The construction used in 2 Sam 7:11 highlights this important statement.
6 tn Heb “the
7 tn Heb “house,” but used here in a metaphorical sense, referring to a royal dynasty. Here the
8 tn Heb “the two gates.”