Discovery Box2 Samuel 1:4 
Context1:4 David inquired, “How were things going? 1 Tell me!” He replied, “The people fled from the battle and many of them 2 fell dead. 3 Even Saul and his son Jonathan are dead!”
2 Samuel 2:5
Context2:5 So David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh Gilead and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord because you have shown this kindness 4 to your lord Saul by burying him.
2 Samuel 5:3
Context5:3 When all the leaders 5 of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them 6 in Hebron before the Lord. They designated 7 David as king over Israel.
2 Samuel 5:19-20
Context5:19 So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed 8 hand the Philistines over to you.”
5:20 So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. 9
2 Samuel 7:6
Context7:6 I have not lived in a house from the time I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day. Instead, I was traveling with them and living in a tent. 10
2 Samuel 10:4-5
Context10:4 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, 11 and then sent them away. 10:5 Messengers 12 told David what had happened, 13 so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho 14 until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”
2 Samuel 11:23
Context11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us 15 in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way 16 to the door of the city gate.
2 Samuel 13:8
Context13:8 So Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother, who was lying down. She took the dough, kneaded it, made some cakes while he watched, 17 and baked them. 18
2 Samuel 13:10
Context13:10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the cakes into the bedroom; then I will eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes that she had prepared and brought them to her brother Amnon in the bedroom.
2 Samuel 16:13
Context16:13 So David and his men went on their way. But Shimei kept going along the side of the hill opposite him, yelling curses as he threw stones and dirt at them. 19
2 Samuel 18:4
Context18:4 Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”
So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands.
2 Samuel 18:14
Context18:14 Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. 20
2 Samuel 20:8
Context20:8 When they were near the big rock that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire and had a dagger in its sheath belted to his waist. When he advanced, it fell out. 21
2 Samuel 24:12
Context24:12 “Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three forms of judgment. Pick one of them and I will carry it out against you.’”
1 tn Heb “What was the word?”
2 tn Heb “from the people.”
3 tn Heb “fell and died.”
4 tn Or “loyalty.”
5 tn Heb “elders.”
6 tn Heb “and the king, David, cut for them a covenant.”
7 tn Heb “anointed.”
8 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the following verb.
9 tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”
10 tn Heb “in a tent and in a dwelling.” The expression is a hendiadys, using two terms to express one idea.
11 tn Heb “and he cut their robes in the middle unto their buttocks.”
12 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
15 tn Heb “and came out to us.”
16 tn Heb “but we were on them.”
17 tn Heb “in his sight.”
18 tn Heb “the cakes.”
19 tn Heb “and he cursed and threw stones, opposite him, pelting [them] with dirt.” The offline vÿqatal construction in the last clause indicates an action that was complementary to the action described in the preceding clause. He simultaneously threw stones and dirt.
20 tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”
21 sn The significance of the statement it fell out here is unclear. If the dagger fell out of its sheath before Joab got to Amasa, how then did he kill him? Josephus, Ant. 7.11.7 (7.284), suggested that as Joab approached Amasa he deliberately caused the dagger to fall to the ground at an opportune moment as though by accident. When he bent over and picked it up, he then stabbed Amasa with it. Others have tried to make a case for thinking that two swords are referred to – the one that fell out and another that Joab kept concealed until the last moment. But nothing in the text clearly supports this view. Perhaps Josephus’ understanding is best, but it is by no means obvious in the text either.
