10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, 6 they 7 sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, 8 in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. 9
12:18 On the seventh day the child died. But the servants of David were afraid to inform him that the child had died, for they said, “While the child was still alive he would not listen to us 10 when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He will do himself harm!” 11
13:32 Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not say, ‘They have killed all the young men who are the king’s sons.’ For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about 12 from the day that Amnon 13 humiliated his sister Tamar.
15:30 As David was going up the Mount of Olives, he was weeping as he went; his head was covered and his feet were bare. All the people who were with him also had their heads covered and were weeping as they went up.
19:8 So the king got up and sat at the city gate. When all the people were informed that the king was sitting at the city gate, they 18 all came before him.
But the Israelite soldiers 19 had all fled to their own homes. 20
19:41 Then all the men of Israel began coming to the king. They asked the king, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, sneak the king away and help the king and his household cross the Jordan – and not only him but all of David’s men as well?”
20:22 Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice and they cut off Sheba’s head and threw it out to Joab. Joab 23 blew the trumpet, and his men 24 dispersed from the city, each going to his own home. 25 Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.
21:2 So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them. (Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to 26 them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
1 tn After the cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.
2 tc The present translation, “Saul’s son had two men,” is based on the reading “to the son of Saul,” rather than the MT’s “the son of Saul.” The context requires the preposition to indicate the family relationship.
3 tn Heb “from.”
4 tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”
5 tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”
6 tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”
7 tn Heb “the Ammonites.”
8 tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”
9 tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.
10 tn Heb “to our voice.”
11 tn Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!
12 tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”
13 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn The words “in that case” are not in the Hebrew text, but may be inferred from the context. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification.
15 tn Heb “let the king remember.”
16 tn Heb “of your son.”
17 tc The LXX (with the exception of the recensions of Origen and Lucian) repeats the description as follows: “Just as a female bear bereft of cubs in a field.”
18 tn Heb “all the people.”
19 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” (see 18:16-17).
20 tn Heb “had fled, each to his tent.”
21 tn Heb “they.” The following context makes it clear that this refers to Joab and his army.
22 tc The LXX has here ἐνοοῦσαν (enoousan, “were devising”), which apparently presupposes the Hebrew word מַחֲשָׁבִים (makhashavim) rather than the MT מַשְׁחִיתִם (mashkhitim, “were destroying”). With a number of other scholars Driver thinks that the Greek variant may preserve the original reading, but this seems to be an unnecessary conclusion (but see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 346).
23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn Heb “they”; the referent (Joab’s men) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Heb “his tents.”
26 tn Heb “swore an oath to.”