2 Samuel 4:2

4:2 Now Saul’s son ¹  had two men who were in charge of raiding units; one was named Baanah and the other Recab. They were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, who was a Benjaminite. (Beeroth is regarded as belonging to Benjamin,

2 Samuel 5:6

David Occupies Jerusalem

5:6 Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem ²  against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites ³  said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

2 Samuel 6:2

6:2 David and all the men who were with him traveled ⁴  to ⁵  Baalah ⁶  in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name ⁷  of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it.

2 Samuel 13:32

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 ⁸  from the day that Amnon ⁹  humiliated his sister Tamar.

2 Samuel 15:20

15:20 It seems like you arrived just yesterday. Today should I make you wander around by going with us? I go where I must go. But as for you, go back and take your men ¹⁰  with you. May genuine loyal love ¹¹  protect ¹²  you!”

2 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men – they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs. ¹³  Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army.

2 Samuel 17:12

17:12 We will come against him wherever he happens to be found. We will descend on him like the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of the men who are with him will be spared alive – not one of them!

2 Samuel 17:14

17:14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel.” Now the Lord had decided ¹⁴  to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.

2 Samuel 17:20

17:20 When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men ¹⁵  searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ 

2 Samuel 18:9

18:9 Then Absalom happened to come across David’s men. Now as Absalom was riding on his ¹⁷  mule, it ¹⁸  went under the branches of a large oak tree. His head got caught in the oak and he was suspended in midair, ¹⁹  while the mule he had been riding kept going.

2 Samuel 18:28

18:28 Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Greetings!” ²⁰  He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, “May the Lord your God be praised because he has defeated ²¹  the men who opposed ²²  my lord the king!”

2 Samuel 20:15

20:15 So Joab’s men ²³  came and laid siege against him in Abel of Beth Maacah. They prepared a siege ramp outside the city which stood against its outer rampart. As all of Joab’s soldiers were trying to break through ²⁴  the wall so that it would collapse,

2 Samuel 20:22

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 ²⁵  blew the trumpet, and his men ²⁶  dispersed from the city, each going to his own home. ²⁷  Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 21:17

21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to David’s aid, striking the Philistine down and killing him. Then David’s men took an oath saying, “You will not go out to battle with us again! You must not extinguish the lamp of Israel!”

---

¹ 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.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn The Hebrew text has “he” rather than “the Jebusites.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In the Syriac Peshitta and some mss of the Targum the verb is plural rather than singular.

⁴ tn Heb “arose and went.”

⁵ tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.

⁶ tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).

⁷ tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew mss in the first occurrence point the word differently and read the adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”). This is also the understanding of the Syriac Peshitta (Syr., taman). While this yields an acceptable understanding to the text, it is more likely that the MT dittographic here. The present translation therefore reads שֵׁם only once.

⁸ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “brothers,” but see v. 22.

¹¹ tn Heb “loyal love and truth.” The expression is a hendiadys.

¹² tn Heb “be with.”

¹³ 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.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “commanded.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referents (Absalom’s men) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁷ tn Heb “the.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “the donkey.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “between the sky and the ground.”

²⁰ tn Heb “Peace.”

²¹ tn Heb “delivered over.”

²² tn Heb “lifted their hand against.”

²³ tn Heb “they.” The following context makes it clear that this refers to Joab and his army.

²⁴ 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).

²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Joab’s men) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁷ tn Heb “his tents.”