12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us 1 when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” 2
17:23 When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and returned to his house in his hometown. After setting his household in order, he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the grave 3 of his father.
20:6 Then David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bicri will cause greater disaster for us than Absalom did! Take your lord’s servants and pursue him. Otherwise he will secure 4 fortified cities for himself and get away from us.”
1 tn Heb “to our voice.”
2 tn Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!
3 tc The Greek recensions of Origen and Lucian have here “house” for “grave.”
4 tn Heb “find.” The perfect verbal form is unexpected with the preceding word “otherwise.” We should probably read instead the imperfect. Although it is possible to understand the perfect here as indicating that the feared result is thought of as already having taken place (cf. BDB 814 s.v. פֶּן 2), it is more likely that the perfect is simply the result of scribal error. In this context the imperfect would be more consistent with the following verb וְהִצִּיל (vÿhitsil, “and he will get away”).
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Amasa) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “and he did not repeat concerning him, and he died.”