2 Samuel 12:23
12:23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!’”
2 Samuel 19:27
19:27 But my servant 1 has slandered me 2 to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like an angel of God. Do whatever seems appropriate to you.
2 Samuel 22:42
22:42 They cry out, 3 but there is no one to help them; 4
they cry out to the Lord, 5 but he does not answer them.
1 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “your servant.”
3 tc The translation follows one medieval Hebrew ms and the ancient versions in reading the Piel יְשַׁוְּעוּ (yÿshavvÿ’u, “they cry for help”) rather than the Qal of the MT יִשְׁעוּ (yish’u, “they look about for help”). See Ps 18:41 as well.
4 tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”
5 tn The words “they cry out” are not in the Hebrew text. This reference to the psalmists’ enemies crying out for help to the Lord suggests that the psalmist refers here to enemies within the covenant community, rather than foreigners. However, the militaristic context suggests foreign enemies are in view. Ancient Near Eastern literature indicates that defeated enemies would sometimes cry out for mercy to the god(s) of their conqueror. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 271.