Base fellows: literally “[men of] Belial.” See the comments on 1.16.

Because they did not go with us: literally “Because they did not go with me” (so Fox). It is not clear whether Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are following the Septuagint and those Hebrew manuscripts that read us, or whether they read the plural for translation reasons. Hebrew uses the singular pronoun “me” here to indicate or underline the fact that this viewpoint is that of each of the wicked and base fellows. Compare Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, “Since they didn’t come with me, we won’t give them any of the spoil that we have taken.” The following verbs (give and recovered), however, are first person plural. Although Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the singular pronoun of the Masoretic Text, in many languages it will be natural to say “with us.”

New Century Version says “These 200 men didn’t go with us,” making it quite clear to whom the pronoun they refers.

In those languages where indirect discourse is preferred, the following model is suggested for this verse:

• But some of the men who had gone with David were worthless troublemakers; they insisted that, since those other men didn’t go along on the raid, they should not get any of the loot. They wanted them to just take their wives and children and go away.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .