3:24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Abner 6 has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he’s gone on his way! 7
4:5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite – Recab and Baanah – went at the hottest part of the day to the home of Ish-bosheth, as he was enjoying his midday rest.
6:21 David replied to Michal, “It was before the Lord! I was celebrating before the Lord, who chose me over your father and his entire family 10 and appointed me as leader over the Lord’s people Israel.
9:9 Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him, “Everything that belonged to Saul and to his entire house I hereby give to your master’s grandson.
11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings 13 normally conduct wars, 14 David sent out Joab with his officers 15 and the entire Israelite army. 16 They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 17
11:10 So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?”
12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While 18 the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”
12:24 So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. 19 She gave birth to a son, and David 20 named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child 21
13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk 23 and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” 24 13:29 So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon exactly what Absalom had instructed. Then all the king’s sons got up; each one rode away on his mule and fled.
14:33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king 30 summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom 31 bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. 32
16:13 So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them. 37
18:14 Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. 38
19:5 So Joab visited 39 the king at his home. He said, “Today you have embarrassed all your servants who have saved your life this day, as well as the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your concubines.
20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. 42
20:9 Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” With his right hand Joab took hold of Amasa’s beard as if to greet him with a kiss.
21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. 43 The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, 44 because he murdered the Gibeonites.”
22:16 The depths 47 of the sea were exposed;
the inner regions 48 of the world were uncovered
by the Lord’s battle cry, 49
by the powerful breath from his nose. 50
23:8 These are the names of David’s warriors:
Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was head of the officers. 51 He killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle. 52
1 tn Heb “What was the word?”
2 tn Heb “from the people.”
3 tn Heb “fell and died.”
4 tc The Syriac Peshitta and one
5 tn Heb “young men.” So also elsewhere.
6 tn Heb “Look, Abner.”
7 tc The LXX adds “in peace.”
8 tn Heb “and he struck him down there [in] the stomach.”
9 tn Heb “and he [i.e., Abner] died on account of the blood of Asahel his [i.e., Joab’s] brother.”
10 tn Heb “all his house”; CEV “anyone else in your family.”
11 tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”
12 tn Heb “Look, your servant.”
13 tc Codex Leningrad (B19A), on which BHS is based, has here “messengers” (הַמַּלְאכִים, hammal’khim), probably as the result of contamination from the occurrence of that word in v. 4. The present translation follows most Hebrew
14 tn Heb “go out.”
15 tn Heb “and his servants with him.”
16 tn Heb “all Israel.”
17 tn The disjunctive clause contrasts David’s inactivity with the army’s activity.
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
18 tc For the MT בַּעֲבוּר (ba’avur, “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד (bÿ’od, “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.
19 tn Heb “and he lay with her.”
20 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. While some translations render the pronoun as third person plural (“they”), implying that both David and Bathsheba together named the child, it is likely that the name “Solomon,” which is related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (and may be derived from it) had special significance for David, who would have regarded the birth of a second child to Bathsheba as a confirming sign that God had forgiven his sin and was at peace with him.
21 tn Heb “him,” referring to the child.
22 tn Heb “and there was distress to Amnon so that he made himself sick.”
23 tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”
24 tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”
25 tn Or “for.”
26 tn Or “will.” The imperfect verbal form can have either an indicative or modal nuance. The use of “perhaps” in v. 15b suggests the latter here.
27 tn Heb “in order to deliver his maid.”
28 tn Heb “destroy.”
29 tn Heb “from the inheritance of God.” The expression refers to the property that was granted to her family line in the division of the land authorized by God.
30 tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.
31 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.
33 tn Traditionally, “counselor,” but this term is more often associated with psychological counseling today, so “adviser” was used in the translation instead.
34 tn Heb “Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the adviser of David, from his city, from Giloh, while he was sacrificing.” It is not entirely clear who (Absalom or Ahithophel) was offering the sacrifices.
35 tn Heb “crossing over near his hand.”
36 tn Heb “crossing over near the face of.”
37 tn Heb “and he cursed and threw stones, opposite him, pelting [them] with dirt.” The offline vÿqatal construction in the last clause indicates an action that was complementary to the action described in the preceding clause. He simultaneously threw stones and dirt.
38 tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”
39 tn Heb “came to.”
40 tn Heb “youth.”
41 tn Heb “rushed into.”
42 sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.
43 tn Heb “sought the face of the
44 tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”
45 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.”
46 tc The LXX reads “at Gibeon on the mountain of the
47 tn Or “channels.”
48 tn Or “foundations.”
49 tn The noun is derived from the verb גָעַר (nag’ar) which is often understood to mean “rebuke.” In some cases it is apparent that scolding or threatening is in view (see Gen 37:10; Ruth 2:16; Zech 3:2). However, in militaristic contexts this translation is inadequate, for the verb refers in this setting to the warrior’s battle cry, which terrifies and paralyzes the enemy. See A. Caquot, TDOT 3:53, and note the use of the verb in Pss 68:30; 106:9; and Nah 1:4, as well as the related noun in Job 26:11; Pss 9:5; 76:6; 104:7; Isa 50:2; 51:20; 66:15.
50 tn Heb “blast of the breath” (literally, “breath of breath”) employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
51 tn The Hebrew word is sometimes rendered as “the three,” but BDB is probably correct in taking it to refer to military officers (BDB 1026 s.v. שְׁלִישִׁי). In that case the etymological connection of this word to the Hebrew numerical adjective for “three” can be explained as originating with a designation for the third warrior in a chariot.
52 tc The translation follows some LXX
53 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
54 tn Heb “and he went down to.”