1tn Heb “acquired for himself.” 2tn Heb “to run ahead of him.” 3tn Heb “your servant.” So also in vv. 8, 15, 21. 4tn Heb “good and straight.” 5tn Heb “Who will make me?” 6tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys. 7tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 8tn Heb “stole the heart.” 9tn Heb “the men.” 10tc 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.” 11tn Heb “for your servant vowed a vow.” The formal court style of referring to one’s self in third person (“your servant”) has been translated here as first person for clarity. 12map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 13tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 14tn Heb “say.” 15tn Heb “being invited and going naively and they did not know anything.” 16tn Traditionally, “counselor,” but this term is more often associated with psychological counseling today, so “adviser” was used in the translation instead. 17tn Heb “Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the adviser of David, from his city, from Giloh, while he was sacrificing.” It is not entirely clear who (Absalom or Ahithophel) was offering the sacrifices. 18tn Heb “the heart of the men of Israel is with Absalom.” 19map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 20tn Heb “Arise!” 21tn Heb “let’s flee.” 22tn Heb “thrust.” 23tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 24tn Heb “according to all that my lord the king will choose, behold your servants!” 25tn Heb “and all his house.” 26tn Heb “women, concubines.” 27tn Heb “and they stood.” 28tn Heb “house.” 29tn Heb “crossing over near his hand.” 30tn Heb “crossing over near the face of.” 31tn 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. 32tn Heb “place.” 33tn Heb “brothers,” but see v. 22. 34tn Heb “loyal love and truth.” The expression is a hendiadys. 35tn Heb “be with.” 36tn Heb “whether for death or for life.” 37tn Heb “your servant.” 38tn Heb “Come and cross over.” 39tn Heb “crossed over.” 40tn Heb “all the little ones.” 41tn Heb “with a great voice.” 42tn Heb “crossing over.” 43tn Heb “crossing near the face of.” 44tn Heb “crossing from.” 45tn Heb “as [is] good in his eyes.” 46tn 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. 47tn 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. 48tn The pronoun is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar. 49tc The translation follows 4QSama, part of the Greek tradition, the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate uldavid in reading “and to David,” rather than MT וְדָוִד (v˙david, “and David”). As Driver points out, the Hebrew verb הִגִּיד (higgid, “he related”) never uses the accusative for the person to whom something is told (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 316). 50tn Heb “said.” 51tn Heb “cross over.” 52tn Heb “Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you?” The rhetorical question draws attention to the fact that Hushai will not be alone. 53tn Heb “from the house of the king.” 54tn Heb “and you must send by their hand to me every word which you hear.” Both of the second person verb forms are plural with Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai being the understood subjects.
1tn Heb “acquired for himself.”
2tn Heb “to run ahead of him.”
3tn Heb “your servant.” So also in vv. 8, 15, 21.
4tn Heb “good and straight.”
5tn Heb “Who will make me?”
6tn Heb “a complaint and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.
7tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8tn Heb “stole the heart.”
9tn Heb “the men.”
10tc 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.”
11tn Heb “for your servant vowed a vow.” The formal court style of referring to one’s self in third person (“your servant”) has been translated here as first person for clarity.
12map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
13tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14tn Heb “say.”
15tn Heb “being invited and going naively and they did not know anything.”
16tn Traditionally, “counselor,” but this term is more often associated with psychological counseling today, so “adviser” was used in the translation instead.
17tn Heb “Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the adviser of David, from his city, from Giloh, while he was sacrificing.” It is not entirely clear who (Absalom or Ahithophel) was offering the sacrifices.
18tn Heb “the heart of the men of Israel is with Absalom.”
19map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
20tn Heb “Arise!”
21tn Heb “let’s flee.”
22tn Heb “thrust.”
23tn Heb “and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
24tn Heb “according to all that my lord the king will choose, behold your servants!”
25tn Heb “and all his house.”
26tn Heb “women, concubines.”
27tn Heb “and they stood.”
28tn Heb “house.”
29tn Heb “crossing over near his hand.”
30tn Heb “crossing over near the face of.”
31tn 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.
32tn Heb “place.”
33tn Heb “brothers,” but see v. 22.
34tn Heb “loyal love and truth.” The expression is a hendiadys.
35tn Heb “be with.”
36tn Heb “whether for death or for life.”
37tn Heb “your servant.”
38tn Heb “Come and cross over.”
39tn Heb “crossed over.”
40tn Heb “all the little ones.”
41tn Heb “with a great voice.”
42tn Heb “crossing over.”
43tn Heb “crossing near the face of.”
44tn Heb “crossing from.”
45tn Heb “as [is] good in his eyes.”
46tn 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.
47tn 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.
48tn The pronoun is plural, referring to Zadok and Abiathar.
49tc The translation follows 4QSama, part of the Greek tradition, the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate uldavid in reading “and to David,” rather than MT וְדָוִד (v˙david, “and David”). As Driver points out, the Hebrew verb הִגִּיד (higgid, “he related”) never uses the accusative for the person to whom something is told (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 316).
50tn Heb “said.”
51tn Heb “cross over.”
52tn Heb “Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you?” The rhetorical question draws attention to the fact that Hushai will not be alone.
53tn Heb “from the house of the king.”
54tn Heb “and you must send by their hand to me every word which you hear.” Both of the second person verb forms are plural with Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai being the understood subjects.