David was told, 3 “The people 4 of Jabesh Gilead are the ones who buried Saul.”
5:3 When all the leaders 7 of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them 8 in Hebron before the Lord. They designated 9 David as king over Israel.
11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. 12 She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. 13 (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) 14 Then she returned to her home.
14:33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king 15 summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom 16 bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. 17
17:27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim
Now the people of Judah 19 had come to Gilgal to meet the king and to help him 20 cross the Jordan.
19:24 Now Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, 21 came down to meet the king. From the day the king had left until the day he safely 22 returned, Mephibosheth 23 had not cared for his feet 24 nor trimmed 25 his mustache nor washed his clothes.
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. 26
1 tc The Syriac Peshitta and one
2 tn Heb “house.”
3 tn Heb “and they told David.” The subject appears to be indefinite, allowing one to translate the verb as passive with David as subject.
4 tn Heb “men.”
5 tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The expression is a merism. It specifically mentions the polar extremities of the actions but includes all activity in between the extremities as well, thus encompassing the entirety of one’s activities.
6 tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”
7 tn Heb “elders.”
8 tn Heb “and the king, David, cut for them a covenant.”
9 tn Heb “anointed.”
10 tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”
11 tn Heb “Look, your servant.”
12 tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”
13 tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”
14 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child.
15 tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.
16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.
18 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
19 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Judah.”
20 tn Heb “the king.” The pronoun (“him”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
21 tn Heb “son.”
22 tn Heb “in peace.” So also in v. 31.
23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Heb “done his feet.”
25 tn Heb “done.”
26 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.