2 Samuel 18:14

18:14 Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. ¹ 

2 Samuel 21:1

The Gibeonites Demand Revenge

21:1 During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the Lord. ²  The Lord said, “It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, ³  because he murdered the Gibeonites.”

2 Samuel 23:9

23:9 Next in command ⁴  was Eleazar son of Dodo, ⁵  the son of Ahohi. He was one of the three warriors who were with David when they defied the Philistines who were assembled there for battle. When the men of Israel retreated, ⁶ 

2 Samuel 23:16-17

23:16 So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord 23:17 and said, “O Lord, I will not do this! ⁷  It is equivalent to the blood of the men who risked their lives by going.” ⁸  So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three elite warriors. ⁹ 

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¹ tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”

² tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

⁴ tn Heb “after him.”

⁵ tc This follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading דֹּדוֹ (dodo) rather than the Kethib of the MT דֹּדַי (dodai; cf. ASV, NIV, NLT). But see 1 Chr 27:4.

⁶ tn Heb “went up.”

⁷ tn Heb “Far be it to me, O Lord, from doing this.”

⁸ tn Heb “[Is it not] the blood of the men who were going with their lives?”

⁹ tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”