Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 30 Jan. 2022
Read my translation of the text, starting at v.21: Then Abner said to David, “Please let me get up and go and assemble all Israel to my master the king, so that they will contract a covenant with you and you will reign in every respect that your soul desires.” So David commissioned Abner, and he went in peace. Then, see, David’s servicemen with Joab came from the fray, and they were bringing a bunch of loot with them. Now, Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because he had commissioned him and he had gone in peace. But when Joab and all the army that was with him came, {it was} communicated to Joab saying, “Abner son of Ner came to {David}, and he commissioned him, so he went in peace.” Then Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done?! See, Abner came to you; why is this, that you commissioned him and he went [and] got away? {Don’t} you know Abner son of Ner? Really, it was in order to infiltrate you that he came, and to know your deployment and your movements and to know all that you are doing!” Then Joab went out from being with David and sent messengers after Abner, and they got him to come back from the well of Sirah, but David wasn’t aware. And when Abner returned {to} Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gateway to speak with him casually, then struck him here {through} the abdomen so that he died for murdering his brother Asahel. Now, when David heard about it afterward he said, “I and my administration are innocent before Yahweh for ever of the murder of Abner son of Ner, it shall boomerang {onto} the head of Joab and upon everyone in his father’s house, such that there will never be severed from the house of Joab someone with a discharge and with leprosy and who has to keep a firm grip on his staff and who falls by the sword and who is short on food.” Anyway, Joab and Abishai his brother had murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon during the battle. Now, David said to Joab (and to all the people who were with him), “Tear your clothes and strap on sackcloths and mourn in front of Abner!” And David the King walked behind the casket. Then they buried Abner in Hebron while the king raised his voice and wept {over} the grave of Abner and all the people wept. And the king sang a lament {over} Abner and said, “Should Abner have died like a fool dies? Your hand{s} were not bound, and your feet had not been attached to metal-cuffs. You fell like one who falls in front of men who are charactarized by wrongdoing!” Then all the people wept over him some more. Presently, all the people came to get David to eat some food while it was still day, but David took an oath saying, “May God do thus to me and do more also if, before the going-down of the sun, I taste food or any thing-else. So all the people took note of everything that the king did in the eyes of all the people {}, and it was good in their eyes {}, and all the people – that is, all of Israel – understood on that day that it was not from the king to put Abner son of Ner to death. Presently, the King spoke to his servants, “Don’t y’all realize, that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? and that today I have been soft as the anointed king? But those men – the sons of Tseruiah are too hard for me; Yahweh will bring closure for the one who does the evil according to his evil.”
Picking back up where we left off in the middle of 2 Samuel chapter 3, we have David as king over the southern tribe of Judah with Joab as his army general, and we have Ishbosheth as a puppet-king set up over the northern tribes of Israel by Abner, his army general, but Abner has decided to cut Ishbosheth out of the political picture, so he has met with the tribal leaders throughout the northern part of Israel to recruit them to renounce Ishbosheth and accept David as king, and he has travelled down to David’s capitol in Hebron to get David to draw up a constitution that will be acceptable to the northern tribes, and now Abner is heading back to those northern tribal leaders to get them to ratify the constitution that he and David drew up.
The problem was that Abner had not factored David’s army general Joab into his plans!
He had done all this while Joab was away on army duty – the word translated “raid” in v.22 is the same word used for Ish-Bosheth’s two army divisions at the beginning of the next chapter, so that’s probably who Joab had been fighting.
Likely, the constitution that David worked out with Abner (while Joab was away) had some provisions to diminish Joab’s leadership to make room for Abner in political leadership of the new union.
But, more importantly, there was a blood-feud between Abner and Joab, because Abner had killed Joab’s little brother in the previous battle, and Joab wanted revenge.
So, in v. 23, when Joab rolls into Hebron after his deployment and discovers that Abner has just made a covenant with David, he flips out.
In v.24 he scolds David for letting Abner get away clean. “David, Abner is your enemy. You don’t make agreements with enemies! You don’t give free movement to your enemies! Don’t you understand, I’ve been risking my life defending you because Abner’s soldiers are shooting and killing us. He’s the bad guy. What the heck did you think you were doing? He was probably just spying on you to figure out how to beat you in the next battle! This is not how you treat enemies. You don’t feed them a meal and talk to them, for heaven’s sake; you kill them!”
Romans 12:17ff says otherwise: “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to [God’s] wrath; for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21, NKJV)
Joab doesn’t seem to be factoring God into the current events any more than Abner.
We need to remember that there is a God who is even more angry at evil than we are and who has the power to actually cause things to turn out justly.
And we need to remember that God calls us to overcome evil by doing what is good.
Abner must have left Hebron just as Joab arrived, and Joab must not have wasted much time scolding David, because Abner has only gotten two and a half miles up the road before Joab’s messengers catch up to him and bring him back to Hebron.
Joab treats Abner with the kind of deceit that he imagined Abner to be using, casually, quietly maneuvering Abner to the center of the gateway in Hebron, perhaps pretending to have a private word with him (although city gates in middle eastern cities were very public places, so it would have been in full view of lots of people), then stabbing him in exactly the same way that Abner had stabbed Asahel (the Hebrew wording is the same as the description of Asahel’s death in the previous chapter).
On the one hand, Abner should have known better than to be off his guard, and he had been brutal in his killing of Asahel, and he was a worldly man who depended on human might and manipulation, so we are not terribly sad that he died.
But on the other hand, Joab was acting treacherously, for he was not fighting a battle, he was at home on leave, and Abner was a covenanted ally of Joab’s king David. When Asahel had entered into combat with Abner, that was during a war to defend his country, and Asahel knew that he was risking death when he engaged Abner during the war, but when Joab slid his knife between Abner’s ribs, he committed first-degree-murder, which is obviously a sin.
Vigilante justice is not justice. Due process of justice can take a maddeningly long time, and it will stretch your trust in God, but it is God’s revealed will for us.
What Joab did was against the law of Deuteronomy 27:24, “Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly...”
And later on in 1 Kings 2:5, David explained the nature of Joab’s crime that “he shed the blood of war in peacetime.”
Joab’s crime creates quite a problem for David. Joab has proved himself untrustworthy, and you can’t have an army general you can’t trust, but you also can’t just retire an army general who wants to keep serving without taking some real political risks, and David apparently wasn’t ready to take the risk of removing Joab (although maybe he should have).
But David is the King now, so it is his job to administrate justice. So, as a good judge, he delivers a verdict.
In v.28, David begins by declaring that, before God, he and his whole administration are innocent of any complicity in the murder of Abner. David did not command the assasination of Abner; it was totally Joab’s idea, and he did nothing to aid and abet Joab in carrying it out.
By the way, this idea of innocence is in the context of civil justice, it is not the same as absolute innocence relative to God’s moral law. We are all guilty before God morally for breaking the 10 Commandments, and, before God’s throne of justice, eternal death is the consequence for that, but what is being addressed here is guilt or innocence in a murder trial in a civil court.
If a person has not been convicted through due process of a crime worthy of death, they are to be considered innocent and must not be put to death. It is important in God’s eyes that civil magistrates have nothing to do with killing innocent people.
Some time back, Prince Jonathan had argued with King Saul that it would be “sin against innocent blood [to put] David to death gratuitously” (NAW, 1 Samuel 19:5)
Exodus 23:7 “Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.” (NKJV)
Deuteronomy 19:11-13 "But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities [Hebron, by the way was one of these cities of refuge], then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.” (NKJV)
It’s one of the top three things that God hates listed in Proverbs 6:17 “A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood...” (NKJV)
And later on in the history of Judah, when God punished the nation with a foreign invasion and exile, God explained in 2 Kings 24:4 that this punishment was because King Manassah had shed so much innocent blood during his reign.
One of the most flagrant violations of this principle in our culture is abortion, in which an unborn person, who has never been convicted of any crime worthy of death, is put to death by his or her mother, aided and abeted by an abortionist. God has His ways of bringing judgement against those who allow the blood of innocent persons to be shed gratuitously.
Might I also add, that finding entertainment in watching gratuitous murders of innocent people in video games and movies is a heart-violation of the same law of God.
So, in v.29, David pronounces that the guilt for this murder would rest (or literally “whirl upon”) Joab.
Then, David, as judge, pronounces the sentence:
Later on when the kingdom was stabilized under Solomon, David would have Joab put to death, but at this time, it seems that David is not willing to destablize the country further by executing Joab, so for now, David curses Joab and his descendents, as well as his parents and siblings, with the continuous presence of family members who have:
a “discharge” and who have “leprosy,” both of which would render them ceremonially unclean1, unable to participate in worship2, and ostracized from the community3.
The next curse is family members who will have to keep a firm grip on a staff – that is, lame in his hips or legs, so has to use a crutch, and he will never be able to do regular work to provide for a family4,
The next curse is to fall by the sword in war, leaving widows and orphans to be cared for,
And finally, being short on food, either because he is lazy or because God has kept his fields and herds from being fruitful.
This is a serious curse! In fact, although most English versions render the Hebrew vav-conjunctions in v.29 with the English word “or,” that is actually a matter of interpretation.
This is not the Hebrew conjunction which exclusively means “or;”
the conjunction used here is an all-purpose conjunction which can mean “or,” but more often means “and.”
I think it’s entirely possible that David is piling five curses on the sons of Tseruiah, rather than giving them only one curse with five multiple-choices5.
In any case, it means there would always be needy, extended-family members for whom the family would have to pull together and provide, and whenever one of the children in the family asked, “Daddy, why do we have to provide a home for uncle so-and-so, and run food out to the leper colony for cousin so-and-so?” and “Why is little brother lame?” the answer would come back, “It is the curse uttered by King David against our family because Grandpa Joab assasinated Abner.”
v.30 implies that Joab’s surviving brother Abishai also had a hand in the assasination, aiding and abeting Joab in his plan for revenge. David doesn’t call-out Abishai like he does Joab, but he includes Abishai in the punishment. Abishai is the only other sibling in Joab’s father’s house, so the curse of always having tragedy in the family would also apply to him.
This mixture of justice and mercy from David’s mouth probably left everybody kinda quiet and sober, and when David’s order rang out, “Tear your clothes and strap on sackcloths and mourn in front of Abner!” everybody probably jumped to it and obeyed.
David arranged a funeral procession and ordered Joab and the army to lead the procession and to lead in mourning, even though Joab was the one who had killed Abner.
Abner’s dead body was laid on a stretcher of some sort (like we do with caskets today) and carried to the outskirts of Hebron while King David followed behind mourning. The men buried the body while David and the rest of his people stood there and wept.
You know, death is something that we are all going to face, and the Biblical reaction to death is to weep, because death is awful. It is the consequence of sin, which is the source of all that is bad in this world. Evil and death stink; it’s good to mourn about them.
Even David as a king - even David as the ‘man after God’s own heart’ - had no reservations about weeping over the tragedy of Abner’s death.
In his famous passage in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, David’s son Solomon affirmed that, in this world, there will be times to mourn.
Part of the reason why David mourned was to communicate clearly that he believed the assasination of Abner was a bad thing, not a good thing.
David didn’t want all those elders in Israel and Benjamin thinking he had ordered Abner’s death and that he disapproved of Abner’s attempts to unify the nation under his kingship. David didn’t want to ruin his chances at unifying the nation by offending all the tribal leaders in the north!
And David didn’t want the nation of Israel to think of him as a traitor who would murder anyone after making a covenant with him – a back-stabber who would murder someone who was at peace with him. He wanted people to know that he had good character and would make a good king.
This might also be a reason why David buried Abner in Hebron. It seems strange that a Benjamite like Abner should be buried away from his family over in the tribe of Judah, but perhaps David was trying to demonstrate that, “Abner was one of us, and we would have embraced his presence with us in a permanent way, as permanently as his grave is now with us.”
David also couldn’t condone the practice of assasination. Murder is against God’s law.
He had been severe with the guy who claimed he had killed King Saul, and we will see him again in the next chapter reacting severely to the guys who assasinated King Ishbosheth.
When a civil magistrate begins to approve of murder, he just about guarantees that he will be the one lying on the ground bleeding-out before long.
David mourned to make clear that he did not approve of what Joab did.
And that can be a legitimate reason for us to mourn at a funeral (or over any other tragedy): to communicate clearly that death and evil are not good, and that we don’t just accept them stoically as the way things should be (or the way things will always be). No!
As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, Christians do not “sorrow as others who have no hope. For... we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who [die trusting] in Jesus.” We don’t mourn because we’ve lost hope for the dead. We mourn to rebel against the status quo – against the ravages of sin in this world, to say that death and evil are grievious.
Then, true to character, David makes up a song. Verse 33 begins a lament like the one David composed at Jonathan’s death in chapter 1.
“Should Abner die as a fool dies?” “The fool says there is no god” and he is a “doer of evil” (Psalm 14). Such fools deserve God’s wrath, but such was not Abner.
Also, his “hands were not bound” like Samson’s hands had been, back in Judges 15, when 3,000 men from Judah arrested Samson for stirring up the Philistines to war against Israel. Handcuffs are for those who are a threat to society, but such was not Abner.
Furthermore, his “feet were not fettered in bronze stocks” like Jeremiah (20:3) and Paul and Silas (Acts 16:24) were when they were thrown into prison.
Even though no one should be mistreated, one might expect kinda-rough treatment of a suspected criminal or a prisoner of war, but Abner was neither.
“You fell like someone who falls in front of wicked men” – a more literal translation of that Hebrew phrase bene avlah would be “sons of evildoing,” and, as a phrase, it only occurs four6 other times in the Bible, and each time it seems to be referring to Philistines, so the sense I get out of this is that Joab killed Abner as though we were a pagan foreigner – like the Philistines “fell before” Jonathan and his armorbearer’s attack back in 1 Samuel 14:13. Such a killing was completely inappropriate between two Israelites like Joab and Abner.
David doesn’t have nearly as much good to say of Abner as he did of Jonathan, but he said what he could, as truthfully as he could.
As the funeral ended and people made their way back into down from the cemetary, the friends and family of the deceased shared food together, just as we do today after a funeral.
But David decided to fast from that meal in order to more-sincerely mourn the death of Abner. (He didn’t impose his fast on everybody else, though.)
And, as is still the case in the Middle East, it was customary to fast only during the daylight hours, so the sunset clause was a natural part of David’s fasting resolution.
Naturally, some people were suspicious about the circumstances under which Abner had died, so verse 36 says that the people were “taking note” of what David was doing.
(The Hebrew word hikkiyru implies “watching and evaluating.”) They “scrutinized” his actions, and concluded that David really hadn’t been behind Abner’s assasination.
God gave David favor with all the people, so they were pretty quickly won over by David’s actions and, by-and-large, it seemed they decided they were going to like having him as king.
You know, people are watching you, too.
Little brothers and sisters, Neices and nephews, Your own children and grandchildren, Younger people in the church, Older people in the church, Neighbors, Co-workers, Customers, Bosses.
They want to know if you have integrity or if they can manipulate you, whether they can take you seriously or blow you off, whether your behavior is something to imitate or something to warn others against.
In 1 Peter 3:15, Christians are commanded to “sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord, ready always for a defense toward every one who asks of you a word concerning the hope in you, but with meekness and respect, maintaining a good conscience, so that in what you are talked down about, it may be the abusers of your good conduct in Christ who are put down.” (NAW)
Verse 38 concludes the story with David in a debrief meeting with this staff at the end of the day. Why did David feel the need for this debriefing session with his staff?
Perhaps they were just busy with tasks and hadn’t heard what all had happened, but, I think, more likely, they were enjoying themselves a little too much at the potluck after the funeral, seeing Abner’s death as the death of an enemy which was something to celebrate, and David was calling them down on that.
Perhaps there had also been talk among his staff that, since David hadn’t executed Joab on-the-spot, that David was being too “soft/weak/gentle” on Joab – and not entirely consistent with justice.
David admits as much in v.39, using an adjective that is used to describe both the “softness” and “inexperience” of youth. I think David says, in effect, “I’ve only just been anointed king, and I’m still figuring out how to execute justice, and I’m afraid I was too soft on Joab and Abishai, my sister Tseruiah’s sons, so I’m going to have to turn justice over to God and put the completion of this judgment into His hands.”
The Hebrew verb is SHALOM, which has to do with “completeness,” “finishing,” as well as “peace.” “The LORD knows how to bring closure and finish paying the sons of Tseruiah back for the evil they have done. That, in fact, is why I cursed them rather than executed them. But as I gain more experience as a king, by God’s grace I will gain the toughness which maturity demands while still depending upon Yahweh for justice.”
2 Peter 2:9 “...the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (NKJV)
In time, Joab was put to death for his crimes, but Abner’s son Jaasiel became governer of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chron. 27:21). The Lord knows how to deliver the godly and keep the unjust under punishment.
That applies to you too!
Those of you on the police force, and any of you who attain public office, are also going to experience the same uncertainty David did as you learn to hit the right balance between judgment and mercy. King David himself witnesses to you that, after you have done your best, you can entrust it into the hands of God to bring justice to completion and adjust for whatever mistakes you made, as you grow wiser and more mature in your administration of justice.
The same goes for parents who are learning how to raise children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. You are not God, so you will never create perfect justice in your home, but it is your job to study God’s principles of justice and implement them to the best of your ability. It’s something in which you will grow and mature just like David did in his role as anointed king. And, when you mess up and get a little too harsh or go too easy on a kid, thankfully, there is grace, and you’ll be able to keep on trying the next day. David’s example of debriefing after things didn’t go quite-the-way-they-should-have is good: pull your family together and debrief with them, and apologize for whatever you did wrong, and tell them that God gives justice perfectly and that you’re looking to Him to make things right.
One last point to make is that, although God does repay evildoers according to their own evil, as David says, God has mercifully made an exception: He levied the punishment of eternal death upon His own innocent son on the cross in order to justify the people He wanted to save. We who know and love Jesus and yet who have done things which are wrong can ask God to forgive those wrongs on the basis of the punishment Jesus suffered for those sins of ours when He died on the cross, thus we trust Jesus to save us from God’s retribution against us for the things we have done wrong. Have you asked Jesus to do that for you? If not, why don’t you ask Him right now?
God creates justice and hates injustice even more than you do!
God calls us to overcome evil by doing what is good.
Patiently endure the due process of justice.
Have nothing to do with killing (or punishing) the innocent.
Mourn at a funeral (and over tragedy) to communicate that death and evil are not good.
Pursue integrity because people are watching to see if you have it.
Turn justice over to God and put the completion of judgment into His hands.
Ask Jesus to save you from God’s judgment for the wrongs you have done.
LXX |
Brenton |
DRB |
KJV |
NAW |
MT |
21
καὶ εἶπεν Αβεννηρ
πρὸς Δαυιδ
Ἀναστήσομαι
δὴ καὶ πορεύσομαι
καὶ συναθροίσω
πρὸς κύριόν μου
τὸν βασιλέα
πάντα Ισραηλ
καὶ διαθήσ |
21
And Abenner said to David, I will arise now, and go, and gather to
my lord the king all Israel; and |
21
And Abner said to David: I will rise X
X X,
that I may gather all Israel unto [thee]
my lord the king, and may enter into a league with thee, and that
thou mayst reign |
21
And Abner said unto David, I will arise X
and
go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they
may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign |
21 Then Abner said to David, “Please let me get up and go and assemble all Israel to my master the king, so that they will contract a covenant with you and you will reign in every respect that your soul desires.” So David commissioned Abner, and he went in peace. |
21 וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְנֵר אֶל-דָּוִד אָקוּמָה וְאֵלֵכָה וְאֶקְבְּצָה אֶל-אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת-כָּל-יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִכְרְתוּ אִתְּךָ בְּרִית וּמָלַכְתָּ בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר-תְּאַוֶּה נַפְשֶׁךָ וַיְּשַׁלַּח דָּוִד אֶת-אַבְנֵר וַיֵּלֶךְ בְּשָׁלוֹם: |
22 καὶ ἰδοὺ οἱ παῖδες Δαυιδ καὶ Ιωαβ παρεγίνοντο ἐκ τῆς ἐξοδίας καὶ σκῦλα πολλὰ ἔφερον μετ᾿ αὐτῶν· καὶ Αβεννηρ οὐκ ἦν μετὰ Δαυιδ εἰς Χεβρων, ὅτι ἀπεστάλκει αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπεληλύθει ἐν εἰρήνῃ. |
22 And, behold, the servants of David and Joab arrived from [their] expedition, and they brought much spoil with them: and Abenner was not with David in Chebron, because he had sent him away, and he had departed in peace. |
22
Immediately, David's servants and Joab came, after |
22
And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from
pursuing |
22 Then, see, David’s servicemen with Joab came from the fray, and they were bringing a bunch of loot with them. Now, Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because he had commissioned him and he had gone in peace. |
22 וְהִנֵּה עַבְדֵי דָוִד וְיוֹאָב בָּאB מֵהַגְּדוּדC וְשָׁלָל רָב עִמָּם הֵבִיאוּ וְאַבְנֵר אֵינֶנּוּ עִם-דָּוִד בְּחֶבְרוֹן כִּי שִׁלְּחוֹ וַיֵּלֶךְ בְּשָׁלוֹם: |
23
καὶ Ιωαβ καὶ
πᾶσα ἡ στρατιὰ
αὐτοῦ ἤχθησαν,
καὶ ἀπηγγέλ |
23
And Joab and all his army came, and |
23
And Joab and all the army that was with him, came [afterwards]:
and |
23 When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, X they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace. |
23 But when Joab and all the army that was with him came, {it was} communicated to Joab saying, “Abner son of Ner came to {David}, and he commissioned him, so he went in peace.” |
23 וְיוֹאָב וְכָל- הַצָּבָא אֲשֶׁר-אִתּוֹ בָּאוּ וַיַּגִּדוּE לְיוֹאָב לֵאמֹר בָּא-אַבְנֵר בֶּן-נֵר אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְF וַיְשַׁלְּחֵהוּ וַיֵּלֶךְ בְּשָׁלוֹם: |
24
καὶ [εἰσ]ῆλθεν
Ιωαβ πρὸς τὸν
βασιλέα καὶ
εἶπεν Τί [τοῦτο]
ἐποίησας; ἰδοὺ
ἦλθεν Αβεννηρ
πρὸς σέ, [καὶ]
ἵνα τί X
ἐξαπέσταλκας
αὐτὸν καὶ ἀπελήλυθεν
|
24
And Joab went [in]
to the king, and said, What is [this]
that thou hast done? behold, Abenner came to thee; [and]
why X
hast
thou let him go, and he has departed |
24 And Joab went in to the king, and said: What hast thou done? Behold Abner came to thee: Why X didst thou send him away, and he is gone [and] departed? |
24 Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? |
24 Then Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done?! See, Abner came to you; why is this, that you commissioned him and he went [and] got away? |
24 וַיָּבֹא יוֹאָב אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר מֶה עָשִׂיתָה הִנֵּהG-בָא אַבְנֵר אֵלֶיךָ לָמָּה-זֶּה שִׁלַּחְתּוֹ וַיֵּלֶךְ הָלוֹךְ: |
25 ἦ [οὐκ] οἶδας [τὴν κακίαν] Αβεννηρ υἱοῦ Νηρ, ὅτι ἀπατῆσαί σε παρεγένετο καὶ γνῶναι τὴν ἔξοδόν σου καὶ τὴν εἴσοδόνX σου καὶ γνῶναι ἅπαντα, ὅσα σὺ ποιεῖς; |
25 Knowest thou [not the mischief of] Abenner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy comingX in, and to know all things that thou doest? |
25 Knowest thou [not] Abner the son of Ner, that [to this end] he came [to thee], that he might deceive thee, and to know thy going out, and thy comingX in, and to know all thou dost? |
25 Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy comingX in, and to know all that thou doest. |
25 {Don’t} you know Abner son of Ner? Really, it was in order to infiltrate you that he came, and to know your deployment and your movements and to know all that you are doing!” |
25 Hיָדַעְתָּ אֶת- אַבְנֵר בֶּן-נֵרI כִּי Jלְפַתֹּתְךָ בָּא וְלָדַעַת אֶת- מוֹצָאֲךָ וְאֶת- מִבוֹאֶךָK וְלָדַעַת אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה: |
26 καὶ ἀνέστρεψεν Ιωαβ ἀπὸ τοῦ Δαυιδ καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἀγγέλους ὀπίσω Αβεννηρ, καὶ ἐπιστρέφουσιν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ φρέατος τοῦ Σεϊραμ· καὶ Δαυιδ οὐκ ᾔδει. |
26 And Joab returned from David, and sent messengers [toL] Abenner after him; and they bring him back from the well of Seiram: but David knew it not. |
26 Then Joab going out from David, X sent messengers after Abner, and brought him back from the cistern of Sira, X David knowing no[thing] of it. |
26 And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not. |
26 Then Joab went out from being with David and sent messengers after Abner, and they got him to come back from the well of Sirah, but David wasn’t aware. |
26 וַיֵּצֵא יוֹאָב מֵעִם דָּוִד וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים אַחֲרֵי אַבְנֵר וַיָּשִׁבוּ אֹתוֹ מִבּוֹר הַסִּרָה וְדָוִד לֹא יָדָע: |
27
καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν
Αβεννηρ [εἰς]
Χεβρων, καὶ
ἐξέκλινεν αὐτὸν
Ιωαβ ἐκ |
27
And he brought back Abenner [to]
Chebron, and Joab caused him to turn aside from the {X
XM}
gate
to speak to him, laying
wait for him:
and he smote him there [in]
the loins,
and he died for the blood of Asael the brother of |
27 And when Abner was returned [to] Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate, to speak to him treacherously: and he stabbed him there [in] the groin, and he died, in [revenge of] the blood of Asael his brother. |
27 And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the X X gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there [under] the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. |
27 And when Abner returned {to} Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gateway to speak with him casually, then struck him here {through} the abdomen so that he died for murdering his brother Asahel. |
27 וַיָּשָׁב אַבְנֵר חֶבְרוֹןN וַיַּטֵּהוּ יוֹאָב אֶל-תּוֹךְ הַשַּׁעַר לְדַּבֵּר אִתּוֹ בַּשֶּׁלִיO וַיַּכֵּהוּ שָׁםP הַחֹמֶשׁQ וַיָּמָת בְּדַם עֲשָׂה-אֵל אָחִיוR: |
28 Καὶ ἤκουσεν Δαυιδ μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ εἶπεν Ἀθῷός εἰμι ἐγὼ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία μου ἀπὸ κυρίου ἕως αἰῶνος ἀπὸ τῶν αἱμάτων Αβεννηρ υἱοῦ Νηρ· |
28 And David heard of it afterwards, and said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord even for ever of the blood of Abenner the son of Ner. |
28 And when David heard of it, after [the thing was now done], he said: I, and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord for ever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner: |
28 And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: |
28 Now, when David heard about it afterward he said, “I and my administration are innocent before Yahweh for ever of the murder of Abner son of Ner, |
28 וַיִּשְׁמַע דָּוִד מֵאַחֲרֵי כֵן וַיֹּאמֶר נָקִי אָנֹכִי וּמַמְלַכְתִּי מֵעִם יְהוָה עַד-עוֹלָם מִדְּמֵיS אַבְנֵר בֶּן-נֵר: |
29
καταντησάτωσαν
ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν
Ιωαβ καὶ |
29
Let |
29
And may it come upon the head of Joab, and |
29
Let |
29 it shall boomerang {onto} the head of Joab and upon everyone in his father’s house, such that there will never be severed from the house of Joab someone with a discharge and with leprosy and who has to keep a firm grip on his staff and who falls by the sword and who is short on food.” |
29 יָחֻלוּ עַל- רֹאשׁT יוֹאָב וְאֶלU כָּל-בֵּית אָבִיוV וְאַלW-יִכָּרֵת מִבֵּית יוֹאָב זָבX וּמְצֹרָע וּמַחֲזִיק בַּפֶּלֶךְY וְנֹפֵל בַּחֶרֶב וַחֲסַר- לָחֶם: |
30 Ιωαβ δὲ καὶ Αβεσσα ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ διεπαρετηροῦντο τὸν Αβεννηρ ἀνθ᾿ ὧν ἐθανάτωσεν τὸν Ασαηλ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτῶν ἐν Γαβαων ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ. -- |
30 For Joab and Abessa his brother laid wait continually for Abenner, because he slew Asael their brother at Gabaon in the battle. |
30 So Joab and Abisai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asael at Gabaon in the battle. |
30 So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle. |
30 Anyway, Joab and Abishai his brother had murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon during the battle. |
30 וְיוֹאָב וַאֲבִישַׁי אָחִיו הָרְגוּZ לְאַבְנֵר עַל אֲשֶׁר הֵמִית אֶת-עֲשָׂהאֵל אֲחִיהֶם בְּגִבְעוֹן בַּמִּלְחָמָה: פ |
31 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Ιωαβ καὶ πρὸς πάντα τὸν λαὸν τὸν μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ Διαρρήξατε τὰ ἱμάτια ὑμῶν καὶ περιζώσασθε σάκκους καὶ κόπτεσθε ἔμπροσθεν Αβεννηρ· καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Δαυιδ ἐπορεύετο ὀπίσω τῆς κλίνης. |
31 And David said to Joab and to all the people X with him, Rend your garments, and gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament before Abenner. And king David X followed the bier. |
31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him: Rend your garments, and gird yourselves with sackcloths, and mourn before [the funeral of] Abner. And king David himself X followed the bier. |
31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself X followed the bier. |
31 Now, David said to Joab (and to all the people who were with him), “Tear your clothes and strap on sackcloths and mourn in front of Abner!” And David the King walked behind the casket. |
31 וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל-יוֹאָב וְאֶל-כָּל-הָעָם אֲשֶׁר-אִתּוֹ קִרְעוּ בִגְדֵיכֶם וְחִגְAAרוּ שַׂקִּים וְסִפְדוּ לִפְנֵי אַבְנֵר וְהַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד הֹלֵךְ אַחֲרֵי הַמִּטָּה: |
32
καὶ θάπτουσιν
τὸν Αβεννηρ εἰς
Χεβρων· καὶ
ἦρεν ὁ βασιλεὺς
τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ
καὶ ἔκλαυσεν
ἐπὶ
τοῦ τάφου |
32
And they bury Abenner in Chebron: and the king lifted up his
voice, and wept at |
32 And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king [David] lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner: and all the people also wept. |
32 And they buried Abner in Hebron: and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept. |
32 Then they buried Abner in Hebron while the king raised his voice and wept {over} the grave of Abner and all the people wept. |
2 ABוַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֶת- אַבְנֵר בְּחֶבְרוֹן וַיִּשָּׂא הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶתAC-קוֹלוֹ וַיֵּבְךְּ אֶלAD-קֶבֶר אַבְנֵר וַיִּבְכּוּ כָּל-הָעָם:פ |
33 καὶ ἐθρήνησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ Αβεννηρ καὶ εἶπεν Εἰ κατὰ τὸν θάνατον Ναβαλ ἀποθανεῖται Αβεννηρ; |
33 And the king mourned over Abenner, and said, Shall Abenner die according to the death of NabalAE? |
33
And the king [mourning
and]
lamenting over
Abner, X
said:
|
33 And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth? |
33 And the king sang a lament {over} Abner and said, “Should Abner have died like a fool dies? |
33 וַיְקֹנֵן הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶלAF-אַבְנֵר וַיֹּאמַר הַכְּמוֹת נָבָל יָמוּת אַבְנֵר: |
34
αἱ χεῖρ |
34
Thy hand[s]
were not bound, {andAG}
thy feet were not put
in fetters: one brought thee [not]
near as |
34 Thy hand[s] were not bound, nor thy feet laden with fetters: but as [men] fall before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall. And all the people repeating it wept over him. |
34
Thy hand[s]
were
not bound, nor thy feet put
into fetters: as [a
man]
falleth before wicked |
34 Your hand{s} were not bound, and your feet had not been attached to metal-cuffs. You fell like one who falls in front of men who are charactarized by wrongdoing!” Then all the people wept over him some more. |
34 יָדֶךָAH לֹא- אֲסֻרוֹתAI וְרַגְלֶיךָ לֹא-לִנְחֻשְׁתַּיִםAJ הֻגָּשׁוּAK כִּנְפוֹל לִפְנֵיAL בְנֵי- עַוְלָהAM נָפָלְתָּ וַיֹּסִפוּ כָל-הָעָםAN לִבְכּוֹת עָלָיו: |
35
καὶ ἦλθεν πᾶς
ὁ λαὸς περιδειπνῆσαι
τὸν Δαυιδ ἄρτοις
ἔτι οὔσης ἡμέρας,
καὶ ὤμοσεν
Δαυιδ λέγων
Τάδε ποιήσαι
μοι ὁ θεὸς καὶ
τάδε προσθείη,
ὅτι ἐὰν |
And all the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day: and David swore, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I eat bread or any thing else before the sun goes down. |
35
And when all the people came to take meat |
35
And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it
was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also,
if I taste bread, or ought else, |
35 Presently, all the people came to get David to eat some food while it was still day, but David took an oath saying, “May God do thus to me and do more also if, before the going-down of the sun, I taste food or any thing-else. |
35 וַיָּבֹא כָל-הָעָם לְהַבְרוֹתAO אֶת- דָּוִד לֶחֶם בְּעוֹד הַיּוֹם וַיִּשָּׁבַע דָּוִד לֵאמֹר כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה- לִּיAP אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יֹסִיף כִּי אִם- לִפְנֵיAQ בוֹא- הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ אֶטְעַם-לֶחֶם אוֹ כָל-מְאוּמָה: |
36 καὶ ἔγνω πᾶς ὁ λαός, καὶ ἤρεσεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν X πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐνώπιον X τοῦ λαοῦ X. |
36 And all the people took notice, and X all things that the king did before X the people were pleasing in their sight X. |
36
And all the people |
36 And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased X X them: as whatsoever the king did pleased X X all the people. |
36 So all the people took note of everything that the king did in the eyes of all the people {}, and it was good in their eyes {}, |
36 וְכָל-הָעָם הִכִּירוּ וַיִּיטַב בְּעֵינֵיהֶם כְּכֹלAS אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּעֵינֵי כָל-הָעָם טוֹבAT: |
37 καὶ ἔγνω πᾶς ὁ λαὸς καὶ πᾶς Ισραηλ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ὅτι οὐκ ἐγένετο παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως θανατῶσαι τὸν Αβεννηρ υἱὸν Νηρ. |
37 So all the people and all Israel perceived in that day, that it was not of the king to slay Abenner the son of Ner. |
37 And all the people, and all Israel understood that day that it was not the king's [doing], that Abner the son of Ner was slain. |
37 For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner. |
37 and all the people – that is, all of Israel – understood on that day that it was not from the king to put Abner son of Ner to death. |
37 וַיֵּדְעוּ כָל- הָעָם וְכָל- יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כִּי לֹא הָיְתָהAU מֵהַמֶּלֶךְ לְהָמִית אֶת- אַבְנֵר בֶּן-נֵר: פ |
38 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἡγούμενος XAV μέγας πέπτωκεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ; |
38 And the king said to his servants, Know ye not that a great X prince is this day fallen in Israel? |
38 The king also said to his servants: Do you not know that a prince and a great man is slain this day in Israel? |
38 And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? |
38 Presently, the King spoke to his servants, “Don’t y’all realize, that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? |
38 וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל-עֲבָדָיו הֲלוֹא תֵדְעוּ כִּי-שַׂר וְגָדוֹל נָפַל הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל: |
39
καὶ [ὅτι]
ἐγώ εἰμι σήμερον
συγγενὴς
καὶ |
39
And [that]
I am this day a mere
kinsman
of
his,
and [as
it were]
|
39 But I as yet am tender, though anointed king. And these men the sons of Sarvia are too hard for me: the Lord reward him that doth evil according to his wickednessAX. |
39
And I am
this day weak,
though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah be
too hard
for me: the LORD shall reward the doer of evil
according to his |
39 and that today I have been soft as the anointed king? But those men – the sons of Tseruiah are too hard for me; Yahweh will bring closure for the one who does the evil according to his evil.” |
39 וְאָנֹכִי הַיּוֹם רַךְAY וּמָשׁוּחַAZ מֶלֶךְ וְהָאֲנָשִׁים הָאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי צְרוּיָה קָשִׁים מִמֶּנִּיBA יְשַׁלֵּם יְהוָה לְעֹשֵׂה הָרָעָה כְּרָעָתוֹ: פ |
1Leviticus 15:2 "Speak to the children of Israel and tell them, 'In the case of a male person where there is a discharge from his body, his discharge itself is unclean.” (NAW)
2Lev. 22:4 “Each man from the offspring of Aaron, while he has leprosy or is discharging, may not partake in the holy things” (NAW)
3Numbers 5:2 "Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge…” (NKJV)
4Tsumura offered the alternate interpretation that the man would have to do women’s work of spinning thread, this would match Prov. 31, the only other passage with these unique words.
5Willet agreed with me on this point.
62 Samuel 7:10; 1 Chronicles 17:9; Psalms 89:22; Hosea 10:9
AMy
original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in
footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB,
or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scroll containing 2 Samuel 3 is 4Q51Samuela, which
contains fragments of vs. 1-39, and which has been dated between
50-25 B.C. Where the DSS is legible and where it agrees with the MT,
the MT is colored purple. Where the DSS
and/or Vulgate support the LXX with omissions or text not in the MT,
I have highlighted with
yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and where I
have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it with
{pointed brackets}.
BIt appears that there is a minor grammatical error in the MT text with a plural subject and a singular verb, and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Latin, as well as some Targum and Hebrew texts have the more grammatically-correct plural. However, in many cases throughout Samuel, a singular verb referring to the action of the top-ranked leader is used along with the parenthetical addition of his followers.
CThis word is translated “troop” in the NKJV, “Band” in the NASB, and “Raiding party” in the NIV everywhere else in the books of Samuel that this Hebrew word occurs (1 Sam. 30:8, 15, 23; 2 Sam. 4:2, except for 2 Sam. 22:30, where they all converge on “troop.”) It is the same word used to describe the Amalekite raiders who spoiled Ziqlag (all the 1 Sam instances), and to describe the two divisions of Ishbosheth’s army in 2 Sam 4. It doesn’t occur anywhere else in the OT as a phrase “from the GDUD.”
DDavid’s name is not actually in the Vaticanus or LXX this second time; this is Brenton’s attempt at clarity where the text has multiple subjects being referred to as “he.”
EThe older Greek & Latin witnesses maintain a passive singular form “it was told” instead of the MT’s hiphil plural form.
FDSS reads דויד, which is also the way the LXX reads. The MT’s omission does not change the meaning, however, because context demands that the object is David regardless.
GDSS /h, but this is just a spelling variant of the same root word in the MT with no difference in meaning.
HThe LXX and Vulgate add a negative here. The DSS is obliterated here, but there is room for the extra word לא. The practical meaning in context is not really different. “Don’t you know that Abner is a snake???” “You know Abner is a snake!” This might also explain the He suffix in the ensuing word in this verse as another interrogative, creating a parallelism of two interrogative phrases in the verse.
I“Son of Ner” is not in the DSS, but it’s in all the ancient versions. Furthermore, Abner has already been introduced as “Son of Ner” in recent verses, so just referring to him as “Abner” here changes nothing. The same thing happens at the end of v.28.
JDSS adds a He prefix to this word, but this is not carried over into the ancient versions. It is puzzling whether it should be interpreted as an interogative or as a definite article or what. In either case, it wouldn’t substantially change the meaning. Also, the root meaning of PTH is “to open,” and a survey of its Piel forms throughout the OT (Exod. 22:15; Jdg. 14:15; 16:5; 2 Sam. 3:25; 1 Ki. 22:20-22; 2 Chr. 18:19-21; Ps. 78:36; Prov. 1:10; 16:29; 24:28; Jer. 20:7; Ezek. 14:9; Hos. 2:16) don’t imply so much “deception” as much as they imply infiltration in order to win over with an idea or to open up to gain entrance or gain ground in some way.
KMasoretic scribal note offers a spelling correction of מוֹבָאֶךָ, which doesn’t change the meaning.
LVaticanus inserts an additional preposition προς, which is not in the LXX or the MT.
MBrenton omits the “flat/woven-part of”
NDSS adds a locative He suffix (“to/at/toward” Hebron) which doesn’t substantially change the meaning, but seems to be the reason why the LXX inserted εις and the Vulgate inserted in at this point.
OHapex Legomenon, thought to be from שׁלו / שׁלה (at rest, prosperous, quiet, at ease”)
PDSS adds a preposition du, which matches prepositions in the LXX (εις) and the Vulgate (in), as well as a couple of other Hebrew manuscripts cited by Kittel.
QThe
parallelism to the account of Asahel’s death is clearly
intentional:
2 Sam. 2:23
וַיַּכֵּהוּ
אַבְנֵר
בְּאַחֲרֵי
הַחֲנִית
אֶל־הַחֹמֶשׁ
וַתֵּצֵא הַחֲנִית
מֵאַחֲרָיו
וַיִּפָּל־שָׁם
וַיָּמָת
2
Sam. 3:27 וַיַּכֵּהוּ
שָׁם
הַחֹמֶשׁ
וַיָּמָת
ְ
RDSS whyja la?u uses a shorter form of “Asahel” and a longer form of “his brother,” but means the same thing.
SDSS instead <dw “and the blood” (singular “blood” instead of the MT and LXX plural “bloods”). Only the Lucian rescription of the LXX seems to agree with the DSS on this point. The plural form of “blood” in Hebrew seems to indicate not so much lifeblood as spilled blood through bloodshed or leakage. This “blood/bloods” is the subject of the verb which opens the next verse. The DSS (lwjy) is consistent with itself by making “fall” be singular, whereas the MT and LXX make it plural, but the meaning is no different.
Tcf. Jeremiah 23:19 "Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling tempest; It will swirl down on the head of the wicked.” (NASB)
UDSS reads the synonymous preposition על (“upon”) also found in several Hebrew manuscripts, Seb, Syriac, Targums, and “upon” is supported by the LXX επι as well as the Latin.
VDSS reads “Joab” [bawy] instead of “his father,” but the LXX and Vulgate agree with the MT. It doesn’t really change the meaning of the curse, though.
WDSS uses a different negative which is a little more emphatic, but means basically the same thing awlw.
Xcf. Leviticus 15:2 "Speak to the children of Israel and tell them, 'In the case of a male person where there is a discharge from his body, his discharge itself is unclean.” 22:4 Each man from the offspring of Aaron, while he has leprosy or is discharging, may not partake in the holy things” (NAW) and Numbers 5:2 "Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge…” (NKJV)
YThis noun occurs only here and Prov. 31:19, where it is translated “spindle” and is in parallel with “distaff.” BDB says it’s root meaning is to be round, so it could indicate a walking-cane. Curiously, the only place where any root form of the verb “seize” and this noun “round” occur are in Nehemiah 3, where they are repeatedly translated “repaired” and “part/section/district.”
ZDSS reads instead wu**, which is supported by the LXX using a different word from the MT (“lurked” rather than “slew”), but the Vulgate apparently agrees with the MT.
AADSS inserts an extra vav here, but it is probably just an alternate spelling with no difference in meaning.
ABThere is an unusual amount of extra space in the DSS before this word, but the other ancient manuscripts don’t indicate extra words actually present.
ACThis Direct Object indicator is not present in the DSS, but it makes no difference in meaning. It just makes more clear in the MT that “voice” is the object of the verb “he lifted.”
ADThe Septuagint, Syriac, Targums, Vulgate, and some Hebrew manuscripts and rabinnic literature instead use the approximate synonym “upon/lu/επι/super.”
AEThe LXX translators simply transliterated the Hebrew word here (which means “fool”), rather than translating it.
AFThe DSS, LXX, rabbinic literature, and some Hebrew manuscripts all substitute the approximate synonym על (“over”).
AGBrenton inserted this conjunction which is not in the Greek but is in the Hebrew.
AHMT is singular (“hand”), but the LXX, Syriac, Latin, and several Hebrew manuscripts make it plural (“hands”).
AIThe word order is a little different in the DSS in this verse, but it doesn’t change the meaning. The DSS does, however, insert the word <yqzb (“fetters”), which is not in any other witness.
AJLiterally “copper/bronze things.”
AKDSS omits the final letter in the MT, changing the verb from the MT’s plural to singular, but the “feet” are the plural subject. The LXX has a different verb (“lead”), but it is singular too.
ALThis preposition is in the LXX and Vulgate, but not in the DSS. It is implied, though, so this doesn’t make a difference in meaning.
AMThis is the first occurrence of this word in the Bible. It denotes “wrongdoing/injustice.”
ANAlthough it is in the LXX and Vulgate, the DSS strangely omits this subject. However, the presense of the word “all” suffices for the subject in the DSS without changing the meaning, since the context already mentions the presence of “the people.”
AOThis is an unusual verb for eating, found only five other places in the Bible: 2 Sam. 12:17; 13:5-6, 10; Lam. 4:10. Holliday suggested that its meaning connoted eating (or being fed) together with other people.
APDSS omits, but it’s in all the ancient versions.
AQDSS ypl – probably just a shorter spelling and not a different word.
ARAdded by Douay for smooth reading in English, but not in the Latin Vulgate.
ASDSS, Syriac, and LXX omit the comparative prefix (“like/as”) which is found in the MT, and the Vulgate replaces it with “eis.”
ATThis second “good” is not in the DSS, LXX, Syriac, or Vulgate.
AUThe DSS reads a masculine form of this verb of being whereas the MT reads the feminine form. It makes no difference in meaning, though. The feminine makes clear that “David” is not the subject, but that can already be discerned from context.
AVSyriac also omits the conjunction, but it’s in the DSS, MT, and Latin.
AWOrigen rendered this instead “sporadic”
AXConsistent with the MT, the Vulgate uses the same mal root for both of these words colored greyish-yellow.
AYThis adjective was used in the Pentateuch to describe: Abraham’s veal (Gen. 18:7), Leah’s eyes (Gen. 29:17), Jacob’s children (Gen. 33:13), the hearts of militia who are too scared to fight (Deut. 20:8), a man who is constantly indulged as a connaisseur (Deut. 28:54), and a woman who is so tenderfooted she needs shoes (Deut. 28:56).
AZThere is some variation among manuscripts concerning this word “anointed,” viz. LXX, S dhl ‘n’. whzjt ‘n’ mlk’., T הדיות ומרבא למלכו
BADSS omits “too hard for me,” but it’s in the LXX and Vulgate.