¹ tn In v. 2 he is called simply a “man.” The word used here in v. 5 (so also in vv. 6, 13, 15), though usually referring to a young man or servant, may in this context designate a “fighting” man, i.e., a soldier.

² tc Instead of the MT “who was recounting this to him, ‘How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?’” the Syriac Peshitta reads “declare to me how Saul and his son Jonathan died.”

³ tn As P. K. McCarter (II Samuel [AB], 59) points out, the Polel of the verb מוּת (mut, “to die”) “refers to dispatching or ‘finishing off’ someone already wounded and near death.” Cf. NLT “put me out of my misery.”

⁴ tn Heb “the dizziness has seized me.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun translated “dizziness,” see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 59-60. The point seems to be that he is unable to kill himself because he is weak and disoriented.

⁵ tn The Hebrew text here is grammatically very awkward (Heb “because all still my life in me”). Whether the broken construct phrase is due to the fact that the alleged speaker is in a confused state of mind as he is on the verge of dying, or whether the MT has sustained corruption in the transmission process, is not entirely clear. The former seems likely, although P. K. McCarter understands the MT to be the result of conflation of two shorter forms of text (P. K. McCarter, II Samuel [AB], 57, n. 9). Early translators also struggled with the verse, apparently choosing to leave part of the Hebrew text untranslated. For example, the Lucianic recension of the LXX lacks “all,” while other witnesses (namely, one medieval Hebrew ms, codices A and B of the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta) lack “still.”

⁶ tn The Hebrew word used here refers to a foreigner whose social standing was something less than that of native residents of the land, but something more than that of a nonresident alien who was merely passing through.

⁷ tn Heb “young men.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (na’alah) used here is the Niphal perfect 3rd person masculine singular of עָלָה (’alah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon…especially of an army raising a siege…” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 244).

⁹ tc The Hebrew of the MT reads simply “and he said,” with no expressed subject for the verb. It is not likely that the text originally had no expressed subject for this verb, since the antecedent is not immediately clear from the context. We should probably restore to the Hebrew text the name “Ish-bosheth.” See a few medieval Hebrew mss, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and Vulgate. Perhaps the name was accidentally omitted by homoioarcton. Note that both the name Ishbosheth and the following preposition אֶל (’el) begin with the letter alef.

¹⁰ tn Heb “come to”; KJV, NRSV “gone in to”; NAB “been intimate with”; NIV “sleep with.”

¹¹ sn This accusation against Abner is a very serious one, since an act of sexual infringement on the king’s harem would probably have been understood as a blatant declaration of aspirations to kingship. As such it was not merely a matter of ethical impropriety but an act of grave political significance as well.

¹² tn Heb “Go, return.”

¹³ tn Heb “a leader and a great one.” The expression is a hendiadys.

¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Mephibosheth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Heb “What is your servant, that you turn to a dead dog which is like me?”

¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Heb “if Aram is stronger than me.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the messenger) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn Heb “and wash your feet.”

²¹ tn Heb “and there went out after him the gift of the king.”

²² tn On the chronology involved here see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 287.

²³ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta add “the prophet.” The words are included in a few modern English version (e.g., TEV, CEV, NLT).

²⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁶ tn The Hebrew text repeats “to him.”

²⁷ tn Heb “the man doing this [is] a son of death.” See 1 Sam 20:31 for another use of this expression, which must mean “he is as good as dead” or “he deserves to die,” as 1 Sam 20:32 makes clear.

²⁸ tn Heb “from upon me.”

²⁹ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss have “and they removed everyone” (Hiphil preterite with vav consecutive 3cp, rather than Qal preterite with vav consecutive 3cp).

³⁰ tn Heb “lie with me” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “come and have sexual relations with me.”

³¹ tn Heb “and Amnon hated her with very great hatred.”

³² tn Heb “for greater was the hatred with which he hated her than the love with which he loved her.”

³³ tn Heb “send this [one] from upon me to the outside.”

³⁴ tn Heb “your servant has sheepshearers.” The phrase “your servant” also occurs at the end of the verse.

³⁵ tn Heb “and not.”

³⁶ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא (vattavo’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר (vatto’mer, “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate.

³⁷ tn The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate.

³⁸ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss have “you” rather than “I.”

³⁹ tc The MT has here “forty,” but this is presumably a scribal error for “four.” The context will not tolerate a period of forty years prior to the rebellion of Absalom. The Lucianic Greek recension (τέσσαρα ἔτη, tessara ete), the Syriac Peshitta (’arba’ sanin), and Vulgate (post quattuor autem annos) in fact have the expected reading “four years.” Most English translations follow the versions in reading “four” here, although some (e.g. KJV, ASV, NASB, NKJV), following the MT, read “forty.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “say.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “Come and cross over.”

⁴² tn Heb “crossed over.”

⁴³ tn Heb “all the little ones.”

⁴⁴ tn Heb “to Absalom.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun “him” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “cheese of the herd,” probably referring to cheese from cow’s milk (rather than goat’s milk).

⁴⁶ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

⁴⁷ tn Heb “that the Lord has vindicated him from the hand of his enemies.”

⁴⁸ tn Heb “good news is in his mouth.”

⁴⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the runner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵⁰ tn Heb “take.”

⁵¹ tn Heb “in peace.”

⁵² tn The present translation follows the Masoretic accentuation, with the major mark of disjunction (i.e., the atnach) placed at the word “days.” However, some scholars have suggested moving the atnach to “Judah” a couple of words earlier. This would yield the following sense: “Three days, and you be present here with them.” The difference in meaning is slight, and the MT is acceptable as it stands.

⁵³ tn Heb “takes delight in.”

⁵⁴ tn After the preceding imperfect verbal form, the subordinated imperative indicates purpose/result. S. R. Driver comments, “…the imper. is used instead of the more normal voluntative, for the purpose of expressing with somewhat greater force the intention of the previous verb” (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 350).