11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. 1 She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. 2 (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) 3 Then she returned to her home.
17:21 After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan 6 climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream 7 quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.” 8
1 tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”
2 tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”
3 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.
4 tc Heb “like the returning of all, the man whom you are seeking.” The LXX reads differently: “And I will return all the people to you the way a bride returns to her husband, except for the life of the one man whom you are seeking.” The other early versions also struggled with this verse. Modern translations are divided as well: the NAB, NRSV, REB, and NLT follow the LXX, while the NASB and NIV follow the Hebrew text.
5 tn Heb “all of the people will be safe.”
6 tn Heb “they”; the referents (Ahimaaz and Jonathan) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “the water.”
8 tn Heb “for thus Ahithophel has devised against you.” The expression “thus” is narrative shorthand, referring to the plan outlined by Ahithophel (see vv. 1-3). The men would surely have outlined the plan in as much detail as they had been given by the messenger.
9 tn Heb “your servant.”
10 tn Heb “your servant.”