2 Samuel 9:8

9:8 Then Mephibosheth ¹  bowed and said, “Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?” ² 

2 Samuel 12:22

12:22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ³  ‘Perhaps ⁴  the Lord will show pity and the child will live.

2 Samuel 24:23

24:23 I, the servant of my lord ⁵  the king, give it all to the king!” Araunah also told the king, “May the Lord your God show you favor!”

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

² tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”

³ tn Heb “said.”

⁴ tn Heb “Who knows?”

⁵ tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The translation reads עֶבֶד אֲדֹנָי (’eved ’adoni, “the servant of my lord”) rather than the MT’s אֲרַוְנָה (’Aravnah). In normal court etiquette a subject would not use his own name in this way, but would more likely refer to himself in the third person. The MT probably first sustained loss of עֶבֶד (’eved, “servant”), leading to confusion of the word for “my lord” with the name of the Jebusite referred to here.