2 Samuel 7:19

7:19 And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ¹  Is this your usual way of dealing with men, ²  O Lord God?

2 Samuel 10:4

10:4 So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved off half of each one’s beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, ³  and then sent them away.

2 Samuel 12:21

12:21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While ⁴  the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!”

2 Samuel 13:28-29

13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk ⁵  and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” ⁶  13:29 So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon exactly what Absalom had instructed. Then all the king’s sons got up; each one rode away on his mule and fled.

2 Samuel 15:18

15:18 All his servants were leaving with him, ⁷  along with all the Kerethites, all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites – some six hundred men who had come on foot from Gath. They were leaving with ⁸  the king.

2 Samuel 16:6

16:6 He threw stones at David and all of King David’s servants, as well as all the people and the soldiers who were on his right and on his left.

2 Samuel 19:5

19:5 So Joab visited ⁹  the king at his home. He said, “Today you have embarrassed all your servants who have saved your life this day, as well as the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your concubines.

2 Samuel 19:14

19:14 He ¹⁰  won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man. Then they sent word to the king saying, “Return, you and all your servants as well.”

2 Samuel 19:17

19:17 There were a thousand men from Benjamin with him, along with Ziba the servant ¹¹  of Saul’s household, and with him his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They hurriedly crossed ¹²  the Jordan within sight of the king.

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¹ tn Heb “and this was small in your eyes, O Lord God, so you spoke concerning the house of your servant for a distance.”

² tn Heb “and this [is] the law of man”; KJV “is this the manner of man, O Lord God?”; NAB “this too you have shown to man”; NRSV “May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God!” This part of the verse is very enigmatic; no completely satisfying solution has yet been suggested. The present translation tries to make sense of the MT by understanding the phrase as a question that underscores the uniqueness of God’s dealings with David as described here. The parallel passage in 1 Chr 17:17 reads differently (see the note there).

³ tn Heb “and he cut their robes in the middle unto their buttocks.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”

⁶ tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”

⁷ tn Heb “crossing over near his hand.”

⁸ tn Heb “crossing over near the face of.”

⁹ tn Heb “came to.”

¹⁰ tn The referent of “he” is not entirely clear: cf. NCV “David”; TEV “David’s words”; NRSV, NLT “Amasa.”

¹¹ tn Heb “youth.”

¹² tn Heb “rushed into.”