2:26 Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?”
6:16 As the ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out the window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him. 1
11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings 5 normally conduct wars, 6 David sent out Joab with his officers 7 and the entire Israelite army. 8 They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 9
17:21 After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan 13 climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream 14 quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.” 15
So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
18:26 Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called out to the gatekeeper, “There is another man running by himself.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.”
20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. 16
1 tn The Hebrew text adds “in her heart.” Cf. CEV “she was disgusted (+ with him TEV)”; NLT “was filled with contempt for him”; NCV “she hated him.”
2 tn Heb “to all the people, to all the throng of Israel.”
3 tn The Hebrew word used here אֶשְׁפָּר (’espar) is found in the OT only here and in the parallel passage found in 1 Chr 16:3. Its exact meaning is uncertain, although the context indicates that it was a food of some sort (cf. KJV “a good piece of flesh”; NRSV “a portion of meat”). The translation adopted here (“date cake”) follows the lead of the Greek translations of the LXX, Aquila, and Symmachus (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).
4 tn Heb “and all the people went, each to his house.”
5 tc Codex Leningrad (B19A), on which BHS is based, has here “messengers” (הַמַּלְאכִים, hammal’khim), probably as the result of contamination from the occurrence of that word in v. 4. The present translation follows most Hebrew
6 tn Heb “go out.”
7 tn Heb “and his servants with him.”
8 tn Heb “all Israel.”
9 tn The disjunctive clause contrasts David’s inactivity with the army’s activity.
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
10 tn Heb “and there was distress to Amnon so that he made himself sick.”
11 tn Heb “and I will come upon him.”
12 tn Heb “exhausted and slack of hands.”
13 tn Heb “they”; the referents (Ahimaaz and Jonathan) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “the water.”
15 tn Heb “for thus Ahithophel has devised against you.” The expression “thus” is narrative shorthand, referring to the plan outlined by Ahithophel (see vv. 1-3). The men would surely have outlined the plan in as much detail as they had been given by the messenger.
16 sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.
17 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
18 tn Heb “and he went down to.”