2 Samuel 3:17

3:17 Abner advised ¹  the elders of Israel, “Previously you were wanting David to be your king. ² 

2 Samuel 6:15

6:15 David and all Israel ³  were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets. ⁴ 

2 Samuel 7:17

7:17 Nathan told David all these words that were revealed to him. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 8:17-18

8:17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar ⁶  were priests; Seraiah was scribe; 8:18 Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised ⁷  the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. ⁸ 

2 Samuel 18:15

18:15 Then ten soldiers who were Joab’s armor bearers struck Absalom and finished him off.

2 Samuel 20:25

20:25 Sheva was the scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.

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¹ tn Heb “the word of Abner was with.”

² tn Heb “you were seeking David to be king over you.”

³ tc Heb “all the house of Israel.” A few medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack the words “the house.”

⁴ tn Heb “the shophar” (the ram’s horn trumpet).

⁵ tn Heb “according to all these words and according to all this revelation, so Nathan said to David.”

⁶ tc Here Ahimelech is called “the son of Abiathar,” but NCV, CEV, and REB reverse this to conform with 1 Sam 22:20. Most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) retain the order found in the MT.

⁷ tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate in reading “over,” rather than the simple conjunction that appears in MT. See also the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17.

⁸ sn That David’s sons could have been priests, in light of the fact that they were not of the priestly lineage, is strange. One must assume either (1) that the word “priest” (כֹּהֵן, kohen) during this period of time could be used in a broader sense of “chief ruler” (KJV); “chief minister” (ASV, NASB), or “royal adviser” (NIV), perhaps based on the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17 which has “the king’s leading officials”, or (2) that in David’s day members of the king’s family could function as a special category of “priests” (cf. NLT “priestly leaders”). The latter option seems to be the more straightforward way of understanding the word in 2 Sam 8:18.