2 Samuel 1:21

1:21 O mountains of Gilboa,

may there be no dew or rain on you, nor fields of grain offerings! ¹ 

For it was there that the shield of warriors was defiled; ² 

the shield of Saul lies neglected without oil. ³ 

2 Samuel 7:18

David Offers a Prayer to God

7:18 King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, ⁴  that you should have brought me to this point?

2 Samuel 7:27

7:27 for you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have told ⁵  your servant, ‘I will build you a dynastic house.’ ⁶  That is why your servant has had the courage ⁷  to pray this prayer to you.

2 Samuel 7:29

7:29 Now be willing to bless your servant’s dynasty ⁸  so that it may stand permanently before you, for you, O sovereign Lord, have spoken. By your blessing may your servant’s dynasty be blessed on into the future!” ⁹ 

2 Samuel 23:17

23:17 and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ¹⁰  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ¹¹  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ¹² 

2 Samuel 24:10

24:10 David felt guilty ¹³  after he had numbered the army. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by doing this! Now, O Lord, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

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¹ 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”).

² 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.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “house.”

⁵ tn Heb “have uncovered the ear of.”

⁶ tn Heb “a house.” This maintains the wordplay from v. 11 (see the note on the word “house” there) and is continued in v. 29.

⁷ tn Heb “has found his heart.”

⁸ tn Heb “house” (again later in this verse). See the note on “dynastic house” in v. 27.

⁹ tn Or “permanently”; cf. NLT “it is an eternal blessing.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Far be it to me, O Lord, from doing this.”

¹¹ tn Heb “[Is it not] the blood of the men who were going with their lives?”

¹² tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”

¹³ tn Heb “and the heart of David struck him.”