2 Samuel 5:21-22

5:21 The Philistines ¹  abandoned their idols ²  there, and David and his men picked them up.

5:22 The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim.

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 14:23

14:23 So Joab got up and went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem. ⁵ 

2 Samuel 15:9

15:9 The king replied to him, “Go in peace.” So Absalom ⁶  got up and went to Hebron.

2 Samuel 20:20

20:20 Joab answered, “Get serious! ⁷  I don’t want to swallow up or destroy anything!

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¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tc For “idols” the LXX and Vulgate have “gods.”

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

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “Far be it, far be it from me.” The expression is clearly emphatic, as may be seen in part by the repetition. P. K. McCarter, however, understands it to be coarser than the translation adopted here. He renders it as “I’ll be damned if…” (II Samuel [AB], 426, 429), which (while it is not a literal translation) may not be too far removed from the way a soldier might have expressed himself.