2 Samuel 13:25

13:25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom 1  pressed 2  him, the king 3  was not willing to go. Instead, David 4  blessed him.

2 Samuel 15:27

15:27 The king said to Zadok the priest, “Are you a seer? 5  Go back to the city in peace! Your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan may go with you and Abiathar. 6 

2 Samuel 17:17

17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En Rogel. A female servant would go and inform them, and they would then go and inform King David. It was not advisable for them to be seen going into the city.

2 Samuel 18:23

18:23 But he said, 7  “Whatever happens, I want to go!” So Joab 8  said to him, “Then go!” So Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Jordan plain, and he passed the Cushite.

1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

2 tc Here and in v. 27 the translation follows 4QSama ויצפר (vayyitspar, “and he pressed”) rather than the MT וַיִּפְרָץ (vayyiprats, “and he broke through”). This emended reading seems also to underlie the translations of the LXX (καὶ ἐβιάσατο, kai ebiasato), the Syriac Peshitta (we’alseh), and Vulgate (cogeret eum).

3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

5 tn The Greek tradition understands the Hebrew word as an imperative (“see”). Most Greek mss have ἴδετε (idete); the Lucianic recension has βλέπε (blepe). It could just as well be taken as a question: “Don’t you see what is happening?” The present translation takes the word as a question, with the implication that Zadok is a priest and not a prophet (i.e., “seer”) and therefore unable to know what the future holds.

6 tn Heb “And Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, two of your sons, with you.” The pronominal suffix on the last word is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.

7 tn The words “but he said” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.