¹ tn Heb “and Caleb son of Hezron fathered [children] with Azubah, a wife, and with Jerioth.” Jerioth could be viewed as a second wife (so NLT; cf. also NASB, NIV, NRSV), but the following context mentions only “her [presumably Azubah’s] sons.” Another option, the one chosen in the translation, is that Jerioth is another name for Azubah.

² tn Heb “And after the death of Hezron in Caleb Ephrathah, and the wife of Hezron, Abijah, and she bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.” Perhaps one could translate: “After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah, Hezron’s wife, bore to him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the text suggests that Abijah was born after his father’s death. Because of the awkward syntax and the odd appearance of “Caleb Ephrathah” as a place name, some prefer to emend the text. Some alter בְּכָלֵב אֶפְרָתָה (bÿkhalev ’efratah, “in Caleb Ephrathah”) to בָּא כָלֵב אֶפְרָתָה (bo’ khalev ’efratah, “Caleb had sexual relations with Ephrath”) and then change אֲבִיָּה (’aviyyah, “Abijah”) to אָבִיהוּ (’avihu, “his father”). This results in the following translation: “And after Hezron’s death, Caleb had sexual relations with Ephrath, his father Hezron’s wife, and she bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa” (cf. NAB). This would mean that Caleb’s second wife Ephrath had actually been his late father’s wife (probably Caleb’s stepmother). Perhaps the text was subsequently altered because Caleb’s actions appeared improper in light of the injunctions in Lev 18:8; 20:11; Deut 22:30; 27:20 (which probably refer, however, to a son having sexual relations with his stepmother while his father is still alive).

³ tn Heb “and [one] for a leader [was] from him.” This probably refers to the Davidic king.

⁴ tn Heb “Tilgath-pilneser,” a variant spelling of Tiglath-pileser (also in v. 26).

⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Beerah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Some translations treat the terms שֻׁפִּים (shuppim) and חֻפִּים (khuppim) as proper names of individuals (“Huppim” and “Shuppim”), but others consider these forms to be plurals and refer to tribal or clan names.

⁷ tn Heb “and the name of the second was Zelophehad.”

⁸ tc The Hebrew text has בֹּכְרוּ (bokhÿru), which some understand as a name: “Bocheru” (so, e.g., NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). But the form should probably be revocalized בְּכֹרוֹ (bÿkhoru, “his firstborn”). A name has accidentally dropped from the list, and a scribe apparently read בֹּכְרוּ as one of the names.

⁹ tc The Lucianic recension of the LXX inserts another name here, καὶ Ἀζαριας (kai Azarias, “and Azariah”), presumably to make up the six sons mentioned at the beginning of the verse (see the previous tc note on “firstborn”). Cf. NAB.

¹⁰ tn Heb “stuck close after.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the Philistines.” The translation has substituted the pronoun “they” to avoid redundancy.

¹² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tn Heb “and these were the heads of the warriors who were David’s, who held strongly with him in his kingdom and with all Israel to make him king, according to the word of the Lord, over Israel.”

¹⁴ tn Or “more than.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “and David consulted with the officers of thousands and hundreds, to every ruler.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “to us.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “him.” In this case, seeking God’s will is what is implied.

¹⁸ tn Heb “in the days of Saul.”

¹⁹ tn Or “to steady.”

²⁰ tn Heb “and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah.”

²¹ tn Heb “because he stretched out his hand over the ark.”

²² sn The modern reader might think God seemed to overreact here, but Israel needed a vivid object lesson of God’s holiness. By loading the ark on a cart, David had violated the instructions in God’s law (Exod 25:12-14; Num 4:5-6, 15). Uzzah’s action, however innocent it may seem, betrayed a certain lack of reverence for God’s presence. God had to remind his people that his holiness could not under any circumstances be violated.

²³ tn The Hebrew text adds, “their brothers.”

²⁴ tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., due] his name.”

²⁵ tn Or “in holy splendor.”

²⁶ tn Perhaps this refers to the refrain of their songs of praise (see Ps 136). In this case one could translate, “to give thanks to the Lord with songs using the refrain, ‘For his loyal love endures.’”

²⁷ tn Heb “and it will be when your days are full to go with your ancestors.”

²⁸ tn Heb “your seed.”

²⁹ tn Heb “and now, O Lord, the word which you spoke concerning your servant and concerning his house, may it be established permanently.”

³⁰ tn Heb “as you have spoken.”

³¹ tn Heb “hand.”

³² tn Heb “when he went to set up his hand at the Euphrates River.” The Hebrew word יָד (yad, “hand”) is usually understood to mean “control” or “dominion” here. However, since יָד does occasionally refer to a monument, perhaps one could translate, “to set up his monument at the Euphrates River” (i.e., as a visible marker of the limits of his dominion). For another example of the Hiphil of נָצַב (natsav) used with יָד (“monument”), see 1 Sam 15:12.

³³ tn Heb “they fell.”

³⁴ tn Heb “his servants.”

³⁵ tn Heb “nostrils.”

³⁶ tn Heb “the leader.”

³⁷ tn Heb “from all my sons, for many sons the Lord has given to me, he chose Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.”

³⁸ tn Heb “if he is strong to do my commands and my regulations like this day.”

³⁹ tn Heb “for the porch.” The word “temple” was supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁴⁰ tn Or “storerooms.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “house.”

⁴² tn Heb “listened to him.”

⁴³ tn Heb “with all his reign and his might, and the times which passed over him and over Israel and over all the kingdoms of the lands.”