¹ tn Heb “after his falling”; NAB “could not survive his wound”; CEV “was too badly wounded to live much longer.”

² tc The MT lacks the definite article, but this is likely due to textual corruption. It is preferable to read the alef (א) of אֶצְעָדָה (’ets’adah) as a ה (he) giving הַצְּעָדָה (hatsÿ’adah). There is no reason to think that the soldier confiscated from Saul’s dead body only one of two or more bracelets that he was wearing (cf. NLT “one of his bracelets”).

³ sn The claims that the soldier is making here seem to contradict the story of Saul’s death as presented in 1 Sam 31:3-5. In that passage it appears that Saul took his own life, not that he was slain by a passerby who happened on the scene. Some scholars account for the discrepancy by supposing that conflicting accounts have been brought together in the MT. However, it is likely that the young man is here fabricating the account in a self-serving way so as to gain favor with David, or so he supposes. He probably had come across Saul’s corpse, stolen the crown and bracelet from the body, and now hopes to curry favor with David by handing over to him these emblems of Saul’s royalty. But in so doing the Amalekite greatly miscalculated David’s response to this alleged participation in Saul’s death. The consequence of his lies will instead be his own death.

⁴ tn After the cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

⁵ tn Heb “arose and went.”

⁶ tn Heb “from,” but the following context indicates they traveled to this location.

⁷ tn This is another name for Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Chr 13:6).

⁸ tc The MT has here a double reference to the name (שֵׁם שֵׁם, shem shem). Many medieval Hebrew mss in the first occurrence point the word differently and read the adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”). This is also the understanding of the Syriac Peshitta (Syr., taman). While this yields an acceptable understanding to the text, it is more likely that the MT dittographic here. The present translation therefore reads שֵׁם only once.

⁹ tn Heb “and it was told to David, saying.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “eating.”

¹¹ tc Heb “my table.” But the first person reference to David is awkward here since the quotation of David’s words has already been concluded in v. 10; nor does the “my” refer to Ziba, since the latter part of v. 11 does not seem to be part of Ziba’s response to the king. The ancient versions are not unanimous in the way that they render the phrase. The LXX has “the table of David” (τῆς τραπέζης Δαυιδ, th" trapezh" Dauid); the Syriac Peshitta has “the table of the king” (patureh demalka’); the Vulgate has “your table” (mensam tuam). The present translation follows the LXX.

¹² tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

¹³ tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”

¹⁴ tc So the Qere; the Kethib has “his.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “to you for a wife.” This expression also occurs at the end of v. 10.

¹⁶ tn Heb “raise up against you disaster.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”

¹⁸ tn Or “friend.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “will lie with” (so NIV, NRSV); TEV “will have intercourse with”; CEV, NLT “will go to bed with.”

²⁰ tn Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”

²¹ tn Heb “it was placed on the mouth of Absalom.”

²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amnon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²³ tc The LXX (ὄψεταί με, opsetai me) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי (yerÿ’uni, Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא (yare’, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error.

²⁴ tn Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (’amah), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice.

²⁵ tn Heb “blessed.”

²⁶ tc The present translation reads with the Qere “your” rather than the MT “his.”

²⁷ tn Heb “who came out from my entrails.” David’s point is that is his own son, his child whom he himself had fathered, was now wanting to kill him.

²⁸ tn Heb “and speak to the heart of.”

²⁹ tn Heb “father.”

³⁰ tn Heb “and you placed your servant among those who eat at your table.”

³¹ tn Heb “to cry out to.”

³² tn Heb “your servant.”

³³ tn Heb “your servant.”

³⁴ tn Heb “your servant.”

³⁵ tn Heb “find.” The perfect verbal form is unexpected with the preceding word “otherwise.” We should probably read instead the imperfect. Although it is possible to understand the perfect here as indicating that the feared result is thought of as already having taken place (cf. BDB 814 s.v. פֶּן 2), it is more likely that the perfect is simply the result of scribal error. In this context the imperfect would be more consistent with the following verb וְהִצִּיל (vÿhitsil, “and he will get away”).

³⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading שְׁבַעְתָּם (shÿva’tam, “the seven of them”) rather than MT שִׁבַעְתִּים (shiva’tim, “seventy”).

³⁷ tn Heb “fell.”

³⁸ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בִּתְחִלַּת (bithkhillat, “in the beginning”) rather than MT תְחִלַּת (tÿkhillat, “beginning of”).

³⁹ tn Heb “arose.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “his hand.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “fifty shekels of silver.” This would have been about 20 ounces (568 grams) of silver by weight.