2tn The Hebrew text does not have the word “son.” So also in vv. 3-5.

3tn Heb “wife.”

4tn The Hebrew text does not have “sons.”

5tn Heb “was strengthening himself.” The statement may have a negative sense here, perhaps suggesting that Abner was overstepping the bounds of political propriety in a self-serving way.

6tc 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.

7tn Heb “come to”; KJV, NRSV “gone in to”; NAB “been intimate with”; NIV “sleep with.”

8sn 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.

9tn Heb “I do.”

10tn Heb “brothers.”

11tn Heb “and you have laid upon me the guilt of the woman today.”

12tn Heb “So will God do to Abner and so he will add to him.”

13tc Heb “has sworn to David.” The LXX, with the exception of the recension of Origen, adds “in this day.”

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

15tn The Hebrew text adds here, “on his behalf.”

16tn Heb “cut a covenant.” So also in vv. 13, 21.

17tn Heb “and behold, my hand is with you.”

18tn 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.

19tn Heb “to Ish-bosheth son of Saul saying.” To avoid excessive sibilance (especially when read aloud) the translation renders “saying” as “with this demand.”

20tn Heb “whom I betrothed to myself.”

21tn Heb “sent and took her.”

22tn In 1 Sam 25:44 this name appears as “Palti.”

23tn Heb “Go, return.”

24tn Heb “the word of Abner was with.”

25tn Heb “you were seeking David to be king over you.”

26tc 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.

27tn Heb “from the hand of.”

28tn Heb “into the ears of.”

29tn Heb “also Abner went to speak into the ears of David in Hebron.”

30tn Heb “all which was good in the eyes of Israel and in the eyes of all the house of Benjamin.”

31tn After the cohortatives, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

32tn Heb “And look, the servants of David.”

33tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

34tn Heb “Look, Abner.”

35tc The LXX adds “in peace.”

36tn Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The expression is a merism. It specifically mentions the polar extremities of the actions but includes all activity in between the extremities as well, thus encompassing the entirety of one’s activities.

37tn Heb “and he struck him down there [in] the stomach.”

38tn Heb “and he [i.e., Abner] died on account of the blood of Asahel his [i.e., Joab’s] brother.”

39tn Heb “and may they whirl over.” In the Hebrew text the subject of the plural verb is unexpressed. The most likely subject is Abner’s “shed blood” (v. 28), which is a masculine plural form in Hebrew. The verb חוּל (khul, “whirl”) is used with the preposition עַל (’al) only here and in Jer 23:19; 30:23.

40tc 4QSam^a has “of Joab” rather than “of his father” read by the MT.

41tn Heb “the house of Joab.” However, it is necessary to specify that David’s curse is aimed at Joab’s male descendants; otherwise it would not be clear that “one who works at the spindle” refers to a man doing woman’s work rather than a woman.

42tn Heb “and may there not be cut off from the house of Joab.”

43tn The expression used here is difficult. The translation “one who works at the spindle” follows a suggestion of S. R. Driver that the expression pejoratively describes an effeminate man who, rather than being a mighty warrior, is occupied with tasks that are normally fulfilled by women (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 250-51; cf. NAB “one unmanly”; TEV “fit only to do a woman’s work”; CEV “cowards”). But P. K. McCarter, following an alleged Phoenician usage of the noun to refer to “crutches,” adopts a different view. He translates the phrase “clings to a crutch,” seeing here a further description of physical lameness (II Samuel [AB], 118). Such an idea fits the present context well and is followed by NIV, NCV, and NLT, although the evidence for this meaning is questionable. According to DNWSI 2:915-16, the noun consistently refers to a spindle in Phoenician, as it does in Ugaritic (see UT 468).

44tn Heb “was walking.”

45tn Heb “lifted up his voice and wept.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.

46tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew manuscripts and several ancient versions in reading “your hands,” rather than “your hand.”

47tc 4QSam^a lacks the words “all the people.”

48tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”

49tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.”

50tn Heb “from the king.”

51tn Heb “a leader and a great one.” The expression is a hendiadys.

52tn Heb “are hard from me.”

53tn Heb “May the Lord repay the doer of the evil according to his evil” (NASB similar).