2 Samuel 3:1

3:1 However, the war was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David. David was becoming steadily stronger, while the house of Saul was becoming increasingly weaker.

2 Samuel 3:35

3:35 Then all the people came and encouraged David to eat food while it was still day. But David took an oath saying, “God will punish me severely ¹  if I taste bread or anything whatsoever before the sun sets!”

2 Samuel 7:2

7:2 The king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look! I am living in a palace made from cedar, while the ark of God sits in the middle of a tent.”

2 Samuel 10:8

10:8 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

2 Samuel 12:21

12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While ²  the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”

2 Samuel 13:8

13:8 So Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother, who was lying down. She took the dough, kneaded it, made some cakes while he watched, ³  and baked them. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 15:12

15:12 While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s adviser, ⁵  to come from his city, Giloh. ⁶  The conspiracy was gaining momentum, and the people were starting to side with Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:4

18:4 Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”

So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.

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. ⁷ 

2 Samuel 23:21

23:21 He also killed an impressive-looking Egyptian. ⁸  The Egyptian wielded a spear, while Benaiah attacked ⁹  him with a club. He grabbed the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

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¹ tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”

² tc For the MT בַּעֲבוּר (ba’avur, “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד (bÿ’od, “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.

³ tn Heb “in his sight.”

⁴ tn Heb “the cakes.”

⁵ tn Traditionally, “counselor,” but this term is more often associated with psychological counseling today, so “adviser” was used in the translation instead.

⁶ tn Heb “Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the adviser of David, from his city, from Giloh, while he was sacrificing.” It is not entirely clear who (Absalom or Ahithophel) was offering the sacrifices.

⁷ 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.”

⁸ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who”).

⁹ tn Heb “and he went down to.”