¹ tc The Syriac Peshitta and one ms of the LXX lack the words “who was telling him this” of the MT.

² tn Heb “young men.” So also elsewhere.

³ tn The words “when you come to see my face,” though found in the Hebrew text, are somewhat redundant given the similar expression in the earlier part of the verse. The words are absent from the Syriac Peshitta.

⁴ tc The present translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading “I will save,” rather than the MT “he saved.” The context calls for the 1st person common singular imperfect of the verb rather than the 3rd person masculine singular perfect.

⁵ tn Heb “from the hand of.”

⁶ tn Heb “Look, Abner.”

⁷ tc The LXX adds “in peace.”

⁸ tn Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”

⁹ tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the following verb.

¹⁰ tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”

¹¹ tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.

¹² tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.

¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.

¹⁵ tn Heb “house.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “he fell on his face and bowed down.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “Look, your servant.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹ tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁰ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

²¹ tn Heb “and came out to us.”

²² tn Heb “but we were on them.”

²³ tn Heb “anointed.”

²⁴ tc For the MT בַּעֲבוּר (ba’avur, “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד (bÿ’od, “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.

²⁵ tn Heb “and he said to him.”

²⁶ tn An more idiomatic translation might be “Why are you of all people…?”

²⁷ tn Heb “No, because this great evil is [worse] than the other which you did with me, by sending me away.” Perhaps the broken syntax reflects her hysteria and outrage.

²⁸ tn Heb “Don’t set your heart to this thing!”

²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁰ tc Here and in v. 27 the translation follows 4QSam^a ויצפר (vayyitspar, “and he pressed”) rather than the MT וַיִּפְרָץ (vayyiprats, “and he broke through”). This emended reading seems also to underlie the translations of the LXX (καὶ ἐβιάσατο, kai ebiasato), the Syriac Peshitta (we’alseh), and Vulgate (cogeret eum).

³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³² tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³³ tn Heb “turn aside.”

³⁴ tn Heb “turned aside.”

³⁵ tn The word “new” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to make it clear that David refers to Absalom, not himself.

³⁶ tn Heb “place.”

³⁷ tn The Greek tradition understands the Hebrew word as an imperative (“see”). Most Greek mss have ἴδετε (idete); the Lucianic recension has βλέπε (blepe). It could just as well be taken as a question: “Don’t you see what is happening?” The present translation takes the word as a question, with the implication that Zadok is a priest and not a prophet (i.e., “seer”) and therefore unable to know what the future holds.

³⁸ tn Heb “And Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, two of your sons, with you.” The pronominal suffix on the last word is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.

³⁹ tn Heb “son.”

⁴⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁴¹ tn Heb “my father’s.”

⁴² tn Heb “but this day you will not bear good news.”

⁴³ tn Heb “And look, the Cushite came and the Cushite said.”

⁴⁴ tn Heb “for the Lord has vindicated you today from the hand of all those rising against you.”

⁴⁵ tn Heb “came to.”

⁴⁶ tn Heb “what to me and to you.”

⁴⁷ tn Heb “your servant.”

⁴⁸ tn Heb “your servant.”

⁴⁹ tn Heb “sought the face of the Lord.”

⁵⁰ tn Heb “and the house of bloodshed.”

⁵¹ tn This name has the definite article and may be intended to refer to a group of people rather than a single individual with this name.

⁵² tn This is the only occurrence of this Hebrew word in the OT. Its precise meaning is therefore somewhat uncertain. As early as the LXX the word was understood to refer to a “spear,” and this seems to be the most likely possibility. Some scholars have proposed emending the text of 2 Sam 21:16 to כוֹבַעוֹ (khova’o; “his helmet”), but in spite of the fact that the word “helmet” appears in 1 Sam 17:5, there is not much evidence for reading that word here.

⁵³ tn Either the word “shekels” should be supplied here, or the Hebrew word מִשְׁקַל (mishqal, “weight”) right before “bronze” is a corrupted form of the word for shekel. If the latter is the case the problem probably resulted from another occurrence of the word מִשְׁקַל just four words earlier in the verse.

sn Three hundred bronze shekels would have weighed about 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg).

⁵⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads simply “a new [thing],” prompting one to ask “A new what?” Several possibilities have been proposed to resolve the problem: perhaps a word has dropped out of the Hebrew text here; or perhaps the word “new” is the result of misreading a different, less common, word; or perhaps a word (e.g., “sword,” so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT) is simply to be inferred. The translation generally follows the latter possibility, while at the same time being deliberately nonspecific (“weapon”).

⁵⁵ tn Heb “Far be it to me, O Lord, from doing this.”

⁵⁶ tn Heb “[Is it not] the blood of the men who were going with their lives?”

⁵⁷ tn Heb “These things the three warriors did.”

⁵⁸ tn Heb “and the heart of David struck him.”

⁵⁹ tn Heb “let your hand be against me and against the house of my father.”