Far be it from me: on this emphatic way of denying an action, see 20.20. Compare also Gen 44.17; 1 Sam 2.30; 12.23; Job 27.5. Several versions use exclamation marks in an attempt to show how strong this is. Some possible alternative ways of wording this denial are “There is no way that I will do this” or “I cannot possibly drink this.” Revised English Bible includes the reference to God by saying “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing.” In some languages this may be a good solution to the problem of the position of the vocative, O LORD. But others may simply shift it forward to the beginning of the sentence, as Good News Translation has done.
Do this: it will be appropriate in many languages to spell out more clearly the fact that this refers to drinking the water that the three men had brought to David. Instead of do this translators may say “drink this water.”
When David asks the question Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives? he is really making another extremely strong statement of something that he could not do. But even if the question is changed into an affirmative statement, there is still the matter of figurative language that may be very misleading to some readers. David is not talking about literally drinking blood, but about drinking water that men had risked their lives to bring to him. Some translators may prefer to make the question into a comparison and say something like “It would be like drinking the blood of the men….”
Therefore: this translates the common Hebrew conjunction, but such a rendering may be considered appropriate in this context.
The last sentence of this verse is actually a kind of summary statement about the three famous soldiers, and for this reason it is a separate paragraph in most versions. Translators are advised to do likewise.
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 .