2 Samuel 2:29

2:29 Abner and his men went through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan River ¹  and went through the whole region of Bitron ²  and came to Mahanaim.

2 Samuel 20:14

20:14 Sheba ³  traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of ⁴  Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, ⁵  they too joined him.

2 Samuel 24:6

24:6 Then they went on to Gilead and to the region of Tahtim Hodshi, coming to Dan Jaan and on around to Sidon. ⁶ 

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¹ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “and they went, all the Bitron.” The meaning of the Hebrew word “Bitron,” which is used only here in the OT, is disputed. The translation above follows BDB 144 s.v. בִּתְרוֹן in taking the word to be a proper name of an area east of the Jordan. A different understanding was advocated by W. R. Arnold, who took the word to refer to the forenoon or morning; a number of modern scholars and translations have adopted this view (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT). See W. R. Arnold, “The Meaning of בתרון,” AJSL 28 (1911-1912): 274-83. In this case one could translate “and they traveled all morning long.”

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

⁴ tc In keeping with the form of the name in v. 15, the translation deletes the “and” found in the MT.

⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ (vayyiqqahalu, “and they were gathered together”) rather than the Kethib of the MT וַיִּקְלֻהוּ (vayyiqluhu, “and they cursed him”). The Kethib is the result of metathesis.

⁶ map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.