Then: the conjunction here introduces the description of what happened after the two-year period mentioned in the previous verse.

Sent for Joab: in some languages it will be necessary to fill out the meaning of this expression more fully. The idea is that Absalom sent someone to ask Joab to come to him so that he could discuss the problem with him and then send him to speak to King David. The text shows that this attempt was made two times, but that Joab would not come. Other languages may say “refused to come to him” or “rejected the request to appear before Absalom.”

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 .

So: the connecting word here should indicate that the course of action taken by Zadok and Abiathar was as a result of the previous conversation between David and Zadok.

Carried the ark: the verb is singular, “he took the ark,” but the addition of and Abiathar makes it necessary in most languages to use a plural form for the sake of naturalness. The basic meaning of the verb used here is “turn back” or “return.”

And they remained there: some manuscript evidence has “and it [the ark] remained” or “and [they] put it down.” Anchor Bible follows this with “and deposited it.” But most versions accept the meaning of Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version.

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 .

This verse contains a rather complicated textual problem that translators must deal with. The Masoretic Text here almost certainly contains errors, and its meaning is not clear. But Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, while recognizing that the Masoretic Text contains errors in this verse, recommends taking the text as it exists today and understanding it to mean the following:

• and I will return all the people to you, just as the entire had returned to the man [that is, David, namely after Saul’s and Ishbaal’s death] whom you seek, and all the people shall be untouched….

Other ways of translating the Masoretic Text include “I will bring all the people to you; when all have come back [except] the man you are after, all the people will be at peace” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “and I will return all the people to you, so that when everything is returned—the man whom you seek—all the people will be (in) peace” (Fox). Others translations attempting to follow the Masoretic Text here are New International Version, New American Standard Bible, and the Jewish Publication Society version.

The ancient Greek version has a different text here, which is followed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Other translations following the Greek include New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New American Bible, as well as Anchor Bible and Anderson. If it is thought that the ancient Greek version reflects the Hebrew original better than the Masoretic Text does here, translators may follow the meaning found in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament is probably right, however, in claiming that the Septuagint does not represent the original text. Translators are free to follow the recommendation of Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament or to follow the model found in Revised Standard Version.

All the people: this, of course, refers to those who had remained loyal to David and had accompanied him as he fled Jerusalem.

As a bride comes home to her husband: in some languages there is no special term for bride, and this expression may have to be rendered “as a woman comes home to her companion” or something similar. The image is possibly that of a woman coming home to her new husband. This would be in keeping with the fact that Ahithophel saw Absalom as the legitimate king.

You seek the life of only one man: this refers to David. If there is any possibility that this will be understood as referring to another person, the name “David” can be added here.

All the people will be at peace: this may mean either “the rest of the people will be unharmed” (Revised English Bible) or “This way there won’t be a civil war” (Contemporary English Version). But it is more likely that the meaning is that everyone but David will return safely to Jerusalem if the proposed course of action is followed.

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 battle: that is, the struggle between the two opposing armies. Instead of saying The battle spread, it may be more natural in certain languages to say “the armies fought [all over the countryside].” It will probably also be unnatural to translate literally the face of all the country. The meaning is rather “throughout the region.”

The forest devoured more people … than the sword: there are two categories of fatalities in this battle. Both are presented in figurative terms in this verse. First there were those killed by soldiers of the opposing army (the sword). But there were also people who died because of the dangers of the dense forest. This may have included snakes, wild animals, poisonous plants, and perhaps traps set by David’s men, who were skilled in guerilla warfare. The forest was also at least partly responsible for the death of Absalom, since his hair was caught in a tree, and this left him unprotected before his enemies. The imagery of the forest devouring people may be better translated less literally in many languages. Some may say something like “the number of people who died because of the dangers of the forest was greater than the number of those who were killed by their enemies.” The note in Fox‘s translation seems to express the writer’s intention here in referring to the forest: “Ultimately the victory is attributable to God, not to David’s army.”

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 expression all the people is one that is sometimes used for an army (see, for example, 1 Sam 13.22; 23.8; 2 Sam 12.29), but in this case it apparently refers more broadly to people in general. If translators have been following the interpretation of these chapters in which Israel refers to the northern tribes only, then they should say here “the northern tribes” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The distinction made in verse 11 between the tribe of Judah and the tribes of Israel makes it almost certain that the tribes of Israel here must refer to “the northern tribes of Israel.”

Were at strife: the verb so translated is used in a wide variety of ways in the Old Testament, but in this context it seems clear enough that the idea is “arguing” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New International Version, and New American Bible), “discussing” (Revised English Bible), or “disputing” (New Revised Standard Version). Some other ways this has been expressed in English versions are “all was dissension” and “began to argue” (New Century Version).

Saying: in many cases it will be necessary to indicate to whom this was said. The most obvious solution is to add something like “to each other,” since this is in the context of a debate or quarrel between different individuals and groups of people.

As in previous passages the hand of our enemies and the hand of the Philistines refers to the power of those who opposed Israel. It will be better in most languages not to translate this literally. The Hebrew word rendered hand is not the usual word for hand, but is rather the word for the palm of the hand. Here, however, it is used as a synonym for the more common word for hand. A more dynamic rendering of the whole expression may be a word like “oppression” or “persecution.”

The two Hebrew verbs translated delivered and saved in Revised Standard Version are translated saved and rescued in Good News Translation. The two verbs are synonyms here, and it is difficult to find any intended distinction in meaning. Revised English Bible says “saved” and “freed,” while New Jerusalem Bible says “freed” and “saved.”

The land refers to the territory of Israel. In some languages it will be necessary to say “our country” or more specifically “the land of Israel.”

From Absalom: Absalom, of course, is now dead, and this may need to be stated in translation. Compare Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, which combines verses 10 and 11, “David had to flee from his royal palace because of Absalom whom we made king, but now Absalom is dead.”

Contemporary English Version restructures verses 9 and 10 so that there are elements from verse 10 that come before certain parts of verse 9. If such restructuring is found necessary in the receptor language, the verse numbers will have to be combined. The two verses actually give a brief history of the troubles in Israel in the form of a direct quotation. The Contemporary English Version restructuring of 8b-10 is as follows:

• After Israel’s soldiers had all gone back home, everyone in Israel started arguing. They were saying to each other, “King David rescued us from the Philistines and from our other enemies. But then we chose Absalom to be our new leader, and David had to leave the country to get away. Absalom died in battle, so why hasn’t something been done to bring David back?”

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 .

So: as a result of Sheba’s appeal, the people of the ten northern tribes, here called men of Israel, did as they were encouraged to do. The common conjunction at the beginning of the verse is a kind of logical marker showing this transition. As in the previous verse, translators may wish to follow the model of Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente and translate men of Israel as “the men from the north” or “the men from the northern tribes of Israel.”

Withdrew from David: the verb here may be translated “abandoned,” “deserted” (New International Version), or “stopped following” (Contemporary English Version).

But: the conjunction here marks the contrast between the reaction of the men of Israel and the men of Judah.

Followed their king steadfastly: in some languages it may be better to clarify the fact that their king refers to David. Also, the adverb steadfastly does not translate a separate word in Hebrew but is a part of the verb that is elsewhere rendered “clung to” (Ruth 1.14), “keep close to” (Ruth 2.8), and “followed hard after” (1 Sam 14.22). The modern English idiom “to stick with” is not far from the meaning of the verb here.

From the Jordan to Jerusalem: the wording of this part of the verse makes it clear that the desertion of the Israelites took place while David was near the Jordan River, still on his way back to Jerusalem. Sheba’s rebellion therefore began just as the one led by Absalom was coming to an end.

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 .

While the parallel in Psa 18 has the Hebrew transition word rendered “For” in Revised Standard Version at the beginning of this verse, this seems unnecessary here, since no cause and effect relation between verses 27 and 28 seems indicated.

Deliver translates the verb translated “save” in 3.18, “gave victory” in 8.6, 14, and “help” in 10.11, 19; 14.4. The same term is used in verses 3 and 4 of this chapter.

A humble people: the word translated humble is elsewhere “poor” (Exo 22.25), “the afflicted” (Psa 9.12), and “the meek” (Psa 10.17). The Hebrew word refers to people who have been humbled by difficult circumstances, who have been taken advantage of.

The parallel in Psa 18 here reads “haughty eyes thou dost bring down,” and this reading from Psa 18 has been assimilated into this verse in 2 Samuel in the Septuagint and the ancient Syriac. This is the basis for the New Jerusalem Bible translation, “You … humiliate those with haughty looks.” But according to the Masoretic Text, here in 2 Samuel the wording is different. In this case the “eyes” are those of Yahweh, and the haughty refers to proud people who are contrasted with humble people in the previous line. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text.

The verb bring … down translates the causative form of a verb meaning “to be low.” It means “to humiliate, shame, defeat” (in contrast with deliver in line a). The act of “bringing down” or “lowering” the haughty (or “high”) is a play on words involving the idea of downward movement. In some languages this same wordplay can be maintained. For example, “but you lower the heads of those who carry them high” or “but you bend people down who put their noses up.”

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 .