Discovery Box2 Samuel 1:1 
Context1:1 After the death of Saul, 1 when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, 2 he stayed at Ziklag 3 for two days.
2 Samuel 3:30
Context3:30 So Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner, because he had killed their brother Asahel in Gibeon during the battle.
2 Samuel 9:5
Context9:5 So King David had him brought 4 from the house of Makir son of Ammiel in 5 Lo Debar.
2 Samuel 11:22
Context11:22 So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him.
2 Samuel 13:39
Context13:39 The king longed 6 to go to Absalom, for he had since been consoled over the death of Amnon. 7
2 Samuel 14:27
Context14:27 Absalom had 8 three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very attractive woman. 9
2 Samuel 20:13
Context20:13 Once he had removed Amasa 10 from the path, everyone followed Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bicri.
2 Samuel 24:11
Context24:11 When David got up the next morning, the Lord had already spoken 11 to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:
1 sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.
2 sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).
3 sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.
4 tn Heb “sent and took him.”
5 tn Heb “from.”
6 tc The translation follows 4QSama in reading רוּחַ הַמֶּלֶךְ (ruakh hammelekh, “the spirit of the king”) rather than the MT דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ (david hammelekh, “David the king”). The understanding reflected in the translation above is that David, though alienated during this time from his son Absalom, still had an abiding love and concern for him. He longed for reconciliation with him. A rather different interpretation of the verse supposes that David’s interest in taking military action against Absalom grew slack with the passing of time, and this in turn enabled David’s advisers to encourage him toward reconciliation with Absalom. For the latter view, see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 344, and cf. CEV.
7 tn Heb “was consoled over Amnon, because he was dead.”
8 tn Heb “and there were born.”
9 tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And she became a wife to Rehoboam the son of Solomon and bore to him Abia.”
10 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Amasa) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “and the word of the
