2 Samuel 1:5

1:5 David said to the young man who was telling him this, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

2 Samuel 1:13-14

1:13 David said to the young man who told this to him, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am an Amalekite, the son of a resident foreigner.” 1:14 David replied to him, “How is it that you were not afraid to reach out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”

2 Samuel 2:3

2:3 David also brought along the men who were with him, each with his family. They settled in the cities of Hebron.

2 Samuel 3:16

3:16 Her husband went along behind her, weeping all the way to Bahurim. Finally Abner said to him, “Go back!” So he returned home.

2 Samuel 3:20

3:20 When Abner, accompanied by twenty men, came to David in Hebron, David prepared a banquet for Abner and the men who were with him.

2 Samuel 3:26

3:26 Then Joab left David and sent messengers after Abner. They brought him back from the well of Sirah. (But David was not aware of it.)

2 Samuel 3:31

3:31 David instructed Joab and all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes! Put on sackcloth! Lament before Abner!” Now King David followed behind the funeral bier.

2 Samuel 3:34

3:34 Your hands were not bound,

and your feet were not put into irons.

You fell the way one falls before criminals.”

All the people wept over him again.

2 Samuel 4:6

4:6 They entered the house under the pretense of getting wheat and mortally wounded him 10  in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah escaped.

2 Samuel 5:12

5:12 David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that he had elevated his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

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. 11 

2 Samuel 6:7

6:7 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, 12  he 13  killed him on the spot 14  for his negligence. 15  He died right there beside the ark of God.

2 Samuel 7:15

7:15 But my loyal love will not be removed from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

2 Samuel 8:4

8:4 David seized from him 1,700 charioteers 16  and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of the chariot horses. 17 

2 Samuel 9:4

9:4 The king asked him, “Where is he?” Ziba told the king, “He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.

2 Samuel 10:17

10:17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, 18  and came to Helam. The Arameans deployed their forces against David and fought with him.

2 Samuel 11:7-8

11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going. 19  11:8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.” 20  When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him. 21 

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 13:7

13:7 So David sent Tamar to the house saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare some food for him.”

2 Samuel 13:9

13:9 But when she took the pan and set it before him, he refused to eat. Instead Amnon said, “Get everyone out of here!” 22  So everyone left. 23 

2 Samuel 13:11-12

13:11 As she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come on! Get in bed with me, 24  my sister!”

13:12 But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this foolish thing!

2 Samuel 13:17

13:17 He called his personal attendant and said to him, “Take this woman out of my sight 25  and lock the door behind her!”

2 Samuel 13:26

13:26 Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, 26  then let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?”

2 Samuel 14:4

14:4 So the Tekoan woman went 27  to the king. She bowed down with her face to the ground in deference to him and said, “Please help me, 28  O king!”

2 Samuel 14:31

14:31 Then Joab got up and came to Absalom’s house. He said to him, “Why did your servants set my portion of field on fire?”

2 Samuel 15:3

15:3 Absalom would then say to him, “Look, your claims are legitimate and appropriate. 29  But there is no representative of the king who will listen to you.”

2 Samuel 15:22

15:22 So David said to Ittai, “Come along then.” 30  So Ittai the Gittite went along, 31  accompanied by all his men and all the dependents 32  who were with him.

2 Samuel 15:32

15:32 When David reached the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite met him with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

2 Samuel 16:16

16:16 When David’s friend Hushai the Arkite came to Absalom, Hushai said to him, 33  “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

2 Samuel 17:6

17:6 So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?”

2 Samuel 17:28

17:28 brought bedding, basins, and pottery utensils. They also brought food for David and all who were with him, including wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, 34 

2 Samuel 18:19

David Learns of Absalom’s Death

18:19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and give the king the good news that the Lord has vindicated him before his enemies.” 35 

2 Samuel 19:25

19:25 When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you go with me, Mephibosheth?”

2 Samuel 19:29-31

19:29 Then the king replied to him, “Why should you continue speaking like this? You and Ziba will inherit the field together.” 19:30 Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him have 36  the whole thing! My lord the king has returned safely 37  to his house!”

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. 38 

2 Samuel 19:38

19:38 The king replied, “Kimham will cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever I deem appropriate. And whatever you choose, I will do for you.”

2 Samuel 20:5

20:5 So Amasa went out to call Judah together. But in doing so he took longer than the time that the king had allotted him.

2 Samuel 20:14

20:14 Sheba 39  traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of 40  Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, 41  they too joined him.

2 Samuel 22:1

David Sings to the Lord

22:1 42 David sang 43  to the Lord the words of this song when 44  the Lord rescued him from the power 45  of all his enemies, including Saul. 46 

2 Samuel 22:31

22:31 The one true God acts in a faithful manner; 47 

the Lord’s promise is reliable; 48 

he is a shield to all who take shelter in him.

2 Samuel 23:23

23:23 He received honor from 49  the thirty warriors, though he was not one of the three elite warriors. David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

2 Samuel 24:18

David Acquires a Threshing Floor and Constructs an Altar There

24:18 So Gad went to David that day and told him, “Go up and build an altar for the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

2 Samuel 24:20

24:20 When Araunah looked out and saw the king and his servants approaching him, he 50  went out and bowed to the king with his face 51  to the ground.


tn In v. 2 he is called simply a “man.” The word used here in v. 5 (so also in vv. 6, 13, 15), though usually referring to a young man or servant, may in this context designate a “fighting” man, i.e., a soldier.

tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”

tn The Hebrew word used here refers to a foreigner whose social standing was something less than that of native residents of the land, but something more than that of a nonresident alien who was merely passing through.

tc The expression “the cities of Hebron” is odd; we would expect the noun to be in the singular, if used at all. Although the Syriac Peshitta has the expected reading “in Hebron,” the MT is clearly the more difficult reading and should probably be retained here.

tn Heb “Go, return.”

tn Heb “was walking.”

tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew manuscripts and several ancient versions in reading “your hands,” rather than “your hand.”

tc 4QSama lacks the words “all the people.”

tc For the MT’s וְהֵנָּה (vÿhennah, “and they,” feminine) read וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, “and behold”). See the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Targum.

10 tn Heb “and they struck him down.”

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

12 tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”

13 tn Heb “God.”

14 tc Heb “there.” Since this same term occurs later in the verse it is translated “on the spot” here for stylistic reasons.

15 tc The phrase “his negligence” is absent from the LXX.

16 tc The LXX has “one thousand chariots and seven thousand charioteers,” a reading adopted in the text of the NIV. See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:4.

17 tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them a hundred chariot horses.”

18 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

19 tn Heb “concerning the peace of Joab and concerning the peace of the people and concerning the peace of the battle.”

20 tn Heb “and wash your feet.”

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

22 tn Heb “from upon me.”

23 tc A few medieval Hebrew mss have “and they removed everyone” (Hiphil preterite with vav consecutive 3cp, rather than Qal preterite with vav consecutive 3cp).

24 tn Heb “lie with me” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “come and have sexual relations with me.”

25 tn Heb “send this [one] from upon me to the outside.”

26 tn Heb “and not.”

27 tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavo’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vattomer, “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.

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

29 tn Heb “good and straight.”

30 tn Heb “Come and cross over.”

31 tn Heb “crossed over.”

32 tn Heb “all the little ones.”

33 tn Heb “to Absalom.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

34 tc The MT adds “roasted grain” וְקָלִי (vÿqali) at the end of v. 28, apparently accidentally repeating the word from its earlier occurrence in this verse. With the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and an Old Latin ms the translation deletes this second occurrence of the word.

35 tn Heb “that the Lord has vindicated him from the hand of his enemies.”

36 tn Heb “take.”

37 tn Heb “in peace.”

38 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”).

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

40 tc In keeping with the form of the name in v. 15, the translation deletes the “and” found in the MT.

41 tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ (vayyiqqahalu, “and they were gathered together”) rather than the Kethib of the MT וַיִּקְלֻהוּ (vayyiqluhu, “and they cursed him”). The Kethib is the result of metathesis.

42 sn In this long song of thanks, David affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. His experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the song appears in Ps 18.

43 tn Heb “spoke.”

44 tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

45 tn Heb “hand.”

46 tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”

47 tn Heb “[As for] the God, his way is blameless.” The term הָאֵל (hael, “the God”) stands as a nominative (or genitive) absolute in apposition to the resumptive pronominal suffix on “way.” The prefixed article emphasizes his distinctiveness as the one true God (see BDB 42 s.v. II אֵל 6; Deut 33:26). God’s “way” in this context refers to his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 103:7; 138:5; 145:17).

48 tn Heb “the word of the Lord is purified.” The Lord’s “word” probably refers here to his oracle(s) of victory delivered to the psalmist before the battle(s) described in the following context. See also Pss 12:5-7 and 138:2-3. David frequently received such oracles before going into battle (see 1 Sam 23:2, 4-5, 10-12; 30:8; 2 Sam 5:19). The Lord’s word of promise is absolutely reliable; it is compared to metal that has been refined in fire and cleansed of impurities. See Ps 12:6. In the ancient Near East kings would typically seek and receive oracles from their god(s) prior to battle. For examples, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 241-42.

49 tn Or “more than.”

50 tn Heb “Araunah.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

51 tn Heb “nostrils.”