2 Samuel 11:21

11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone¹ down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

2 Samuel 12:9

12:9 Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my² sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife as your own!³ You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 16:2

16:2 The king asked Ziba, “Why did you bring these things?”⁴ Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on, the loaves of bread⁵ and the summer fruit are for the attendants to eat, and the wine is for those who get exhausted in the desert.”⁶

2 Samuel 18:22

18:22 Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again spoke to Joab, “Whatever happens, let me go after the Cushite.” But Joab said, “Why is it that you want to go, my son? You have no good news that will bring you a reward.”

2 Samuel 19:11

19:11 Then King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests saying, “Tell the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back to his palace,⁷ when everything Israel is saying has come to the king’s attention.⁸

2 Samuel 19:35

19:35 I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I⁹ taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I¹⁰ continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

2 Samuel 19:41-42

19:41 Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan – and not only him but all of David’s men as well?”

19:42 All the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “Because the king is our close relative! Why are you so upset about this? Have we eaten at the king’s expense?¹¹ Or have we misappropriated anything for our own use?”

¹sn The upper millstone (Heb “millstone of riding”) refers to the heavy circular stone that was commonly rolled over a circular base in order to crush and grind such things as olives.

²tc So the Qere; the Kethib has “his.”

³tn Heb “to you for a wife.” This expression also occurs at the end of v. 10.

⁴tn Heb “What are these to you?”

⁵tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וְהַלֶּחֶם (vÿhallekhem, “and the bread”) rather than וּלְהַלֶּחֶם (ulÿhallekhem, “and to the bread”) of the Kethib. The syntax of the MT is confused here by the needless repetition of the preposition, probably taken from the preceding word.

⁶tn The Hebrew text adds “to drink.”

⁷tn Heb “his house.”

⁸tc The Hebrew text adds “to his house” (= palace), but the phrase, which also appears earlier in the verse, is probably accidentally repeated here.

⁹tn Heb “your servant.”

¹⁰tn Heb “your servant.”

¹¹tn Heb “from the king.”