The young man: the term so translated sometimes refers to a warrior or soldier. While it may be translated “the youth” (New American Bible), others prefer “the soldier” (Anchor Bible). Note that it is rendered by the pronoun “him” in Good News Translation, and that the redundant information who told him is left implicit.

In accordance with one fairly common English structure, the quotation appears in Good News Translation before any indication of who said it. The order of Revised Standard Version, however, will be more natural in many languages. It may also be more natural in some languages to transform this question from a direct to an indirect quotation. For example, some languages may prefer to translate “David asked the soldier how he knew that Saul and Jonathan were dead.”

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 .

The son of Zeruiah: as in 1 Sam 26.6, the way the text is worded here, there is no way of knowing that Zeruiah was Joab’s mother, not his father. As in 1 Sam 26.6, it is not absolutely essential to state clearly that Zeruiah was Joab’s mother as in Good News Translation, but it is certainly acceptable and will probably be a good idea in most languages.

Servants of David: as in the case of the servants of Ish-bosheth in the previous verse, these were important officials and not mere domestic laborers. Good News Translation says “other officials” because Joab, who has just been mentioned, was also one of his officials.

Went out: Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text, which is the text followed by Revised Standard Version. There is, however, some evidence that the original reading may have included the words “from Hebron” after the verb (Revised English Bible, Osty-Trinquet). These additional words are found in some Septuagint manuscripts, and there is a gap at this point in the Dead Sea scroll containing this text, which may indicate that the words “from Hebron” were once present. But since the majority of modern versions follow the Masoretic Text in omitting the additional words, and since this is also the recommendation of Hebrew Old Testament Text Project and Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, other translators are advised to do likewise. The sense of the verb went out here in the Masoretic Text is “they set out on a military campaign.” That is, the verb here does not mean that they went out from somewhere, but that they “started off on a military campaign.”

Pool of Gibeon: this pool has been located by archaeologists just inside the wall of the ancient city. It was cut out of bedrock and is approximately eleven meters (thirty-six feet) deep and eleven meters across, and was used to store water for use in the city. The pool is also mentioned in Jer 41.12. The idea of such a pool may have to be expressed in some languages as “a [large] place of water cut out of a stone,” or something similar.

The one … the other: Good News Translation renders this “the one group … the other group.” New Century Version is even more specific, with “Abner’s group” and “Joab’s group.” Contemporary English Version provides a slightly different model, “Abner and his men … Joab and his men….”

Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente provides a clear model for verses 12 and 13:

• 12 The troops of Ish-Baal, Saul’s son, led by Abner, son of Ner, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. 13 Then the troops of David, led by Joab, son of Zeruiah, began to march out. The two armies met at the large well of Gibeon and halted on opposite sides.

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 .

But: the transition word here is dropped by Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Jerusalem Bible, and Revised English Bible. There is no strong reason for giving an overt representation of the Hebrew conjunction in this case.

It will be more natural in some languages to use the name “Paltiel” in place of the words her husband, as Good News Translation has done in this verse.

Bahurim: since this place name will be unfamiliar to many readers, it will probably be wise to add the classifier term “town” as in Good News Translation.

Then Abner said: the writer does not tell how Abner suddenly appears in the story. Apparently Abner took Michal to David, but it is not clear whether this trip is the same as that in verse 20.

Go, return: the use of the direct quotation in this context may be difficult to imitate in some languages. It will be equally faithful to the meaning to translate it indirectly as, for example, “When Abner told him to go back home, he did” or “Abner told him to stop following them. So he went back home.”

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 .

How much more: instead of beginning with this interrogative-sounding introduction, it will be preferable in quite a few languages to say something like “It will be much worse for the evil people who have killed an innocent man while he was sleeping.” Note also that in this verse the wicked men are contrasted with the person they killed, who is described as a righteous man. This contrast should be maintained in translation if possible.

Shall I not…? What follows is in the form of a question, but the answer is obvious. For this reason the question may be transformed into an emphatic statement beginning with something like “I will certainly….”

Require his blood at your hand: a literal translation of this expression will almost certainly be unnatural or misleading in most languages. The idea to be translated is “hold you responsible for his death” or “consider you accountable for killing him.”

The conjunction and between the last two clauses in this verse may be misleading if translated literally. The relationship between considering these men guilty of murder and their eventual destruction is that of cause and effect. The last part of the verse may therefore be translated “I will now destroy you from the earth because you are guilty of murdering him.”

Destroy you from the earth: this can mean either “purge you from the land [of Israel]” (Anchor Bible) or “rid the earth of you” (New International Version). In either case the guilty men are to be killed.

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 .

And: the conjunction here serves to introduce the logical succession of events and may be translated “Then” as in Good News Translation or possibly left untranslated as in New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, and others.

Afraid of the LORD: the same root word is used here as when Old Testament writers speak of “the fear of the LORD,” meaning respect or reverence for the LORD. But the context seems to indicate apprehension or dread. Some other renderings are “distraught” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant); “terrified.” The addition of the words that day shows that this was a special emotion based on the events just experienced.

The question which David asks, How can the ark … come to me? as it is worded, seems to attribute supernatural powers to the ark, in that it would be able to “come” to David on its own. This, however, is not what is intended, and such a meaning should be avoided. The idea is that David was afraid to become the person responsible for the ark. New Revised Standard Version tries to show this meaning with “How can the ark of the LORD come into my care?” In some other languages it may be more natural to have David ask “How can I become the keeper of the ark of the LORD?” (“How can I be responsible for the ark of the LORD?”) or “How would I dare to have the ark of the LORD brought to my place?” (La Bible du Semeur).

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 .

David again refers to himself indirectly as a sign of respect for God, but this is hardly common in most languages. And for a person to use his own name within a direct quotation may actually be misleading. So it will probably be better to translate using the pronoun “I,” as in Good News Translation.

Likewise thy servant is an indirect way to refer to himself, but it will be more natural to use the first person singular object pronoun “me” in many languages.

It is unwise to translate the rhetorical question as a statement like “I cannot say anything more to you…,” since David does, in fact, say quite a bit more in the next several verses. The Hebrew should probably be understood to mean that David could not ask God for anything more, since God had already so richly blessed him. The sense is, therefore, not that David cannot talk any more to God. Anchor Bible suggests that the real meaning may be “What more can David add to you (that is, that you do not already have) to honor your servant?” That is, David may be saying that there is nothing more he could ask God to do for him. Anderson, for example, translates “What more can David ask of you?”

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 .

The transition word Then reflects the common Hebrew conjunction, but the context seems to require a logical connector showing that David’s action was based on what he had learned from Ziba.

Sent and brought: these two verbs may in some cases be translated by a single verb. The idea is to send someone to bring another person back. Other languages may say “sent someone to get him” or “sent a message to tell him to come.” In the following verse he did indeed come to David.

The repetition of the information in the previous verse may be considered heavy or awkward. It may then be omitted as in Good News Translation. But if the information is repeated, the same advice regarding structure in the previous verse will apply here.

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 .