At the beginning of the new sentence here, the pronoun he may be better rendered by the noun “David” in some languages, but this will depend on the way in which this whole section is structured. Similarly, though Hebrew says from there, it may be better in some languages to say “from Jabesh” (so Bible en français courant), since verse 12 also mentions Beth-shan and Gilboa.

The pronoun they has no definite reference but probably refers to David’s men. However, given the indefinite nature of the pronoun, some translators may prefer to say “some people….”

Those who were hanged: since this refers to the seven people that David had turned over to the Gibeonites to be executed (see verse 9), it will be helpful to the reader to make this reference clearer, as Good News Translation has done in saying “the seven men” (Good News Translation), “the descendants of Saul,” or “the seven men hanged by the Gibeonites” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). On the meaning of the verb hanged, see the comments at verse 6 above.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .