2 Samuel 2:22

2:22 So Abner spoke again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me! I do not want to strike you to the ground. ¹  How then could I show ²  my face in the presence of Joab your brother?”

2 Samuel 3:12

3:12 Then Abner sent messengers ³  to David saying, “To whom does the land belong? Make an agreement ⁴  with me, and I will do whatever I can ⁵  to cause all Israel to turn to you.”

2 Samuel 21:6

21:6 let seven of his male descendants be turned over to us, and we will execute ⁶  them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, who was the Lord’s chosen one.” ⁷  The king replied, “I will turn them over.”

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¹ tn Heb “Why should I strike you to the ground?”

² tn Heb “lift.”

³ tn The Hebrew text adds here, “on his behalf.”

⁴ tn Heb “cut a covenant.” So also in vv. 13, 21.

⁵ tn Heb “and behold, my hand is with you.”

⁶ tn The exact nature of this execution is not altogether clear. The verb יָקַע (yaqa’) basically means “to dislocate” or “alienate.” In Gen 32:26 it is used of the dislocation of Jacob’s thigh. Figuratively it can refer to the removal of an individual from a group (e.g., Jer 6:8; Ezek 23:17) or to a type of punishment the specific identity of which is uncertain (e.g., here and Num 25:4); cf. NAB “dismember them”; NIV “to be killed and exposed.”

⁷ tc The LXX reads “at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord” (cf. 21:9). The present translation follows the MT, although a number of recent English translations follow the LXX reading here (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).