And: the Hebrew conjunction need not necessarily be translated in this case, since it merely serves to connect the different parts of the story.

The people who were with him: that is, the rest of the group that has been traveling with David since he left Jerusalem. As in the previous verse the verb is third person singular, “the king arrived,” which keeps the focus on David.

Arrived weary: some scholars have speculated that the word translated weary was originally a place name or that the place name was very similar to it and therefore dropped out. New Jerusalem Bible, assuming that the place name is missing, says “The king and all the people who were with him arrived exhausted at … and there they drew breath.” In any case, it is best to translate the meaning found in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Languages may have very different ways of expressing this idea. Some other English words are “tired” or “exhausted.”

At the Jordan: these words are not in the traditional Hebrew text but are found in some manuscripts of the ancient Greek translation at this point, which is followed by New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Nueva Biblia Española, and numerous other modern versions. For some interpreters the overall context of the Hebrew clearly seems to require a place name, which must have dropped out or was changed to read weary. If translators follow this interpretation, it will be important in some cases to specify that the Jordan is a river. However, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} evaluation to the Masoretic Text and recommends that the text be translated “and all the people who were with him arrived weary.” No place is named, but the implied place is probably “at the fords of the wilderness” (see 2 Sam 15.28).

He refreshed himself: while the focus is on David, he was not the only person to have been revitalized by the stop. All those who were with him would have also relaxed and perhaps refreshed themselves at the place near the river. In some languages it may be misleading to use the singular pronoun here. Note that both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version use the plural “they.”

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 .