He said to him: in order to make it clear to the reader which person is talking and which is listening, it may be necessary in some languages to translate one or both of the pronouns here as proper nouns. Revised English Bible has “And he said to Amnon.”

O son of the king: the use of the vocative form O son … may be considered very unnatural in some languages. The point of this expression is to highlight the fact that Amnon’s position as the oldest son of David should make it possible for him to have whatever he wanted. But in many languages it will be better translated as an emphatic statement—as Good News Translation has done—rather than as a vocative. Or in some cases a rhetorical question may be in order here: “Should a royal prince pine away…?” (Knox).

So haggard: the word translated haggard here may be understood to mean “weak,” “thin,” “poor,” or “needy.” It is frequently translated “poor” in other contexts. But here translators see it as meaning “worn” (New Jerusalem Bible); “low-spirited” (Revised English Bible); “depressed” (La Bible du Semeur); or “dejected” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and New American Bible).

Morning after morning: literally “in the morning and in the morning.” The important point here is that Amnon’s dejection was not a passing thing. It continued and seemed to grow from one day to the next. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “every morning you are thinner.” Instead of focusing on the morning, some languages may say simply “day after day.”

Jonadab’s question Will you not tell me? is simply a way of urging Amnon to tell him what was making him so sad. It need not necessarily be translated as a question. Another way of communicating the idea is “Please tell me what is bothering you.”

My brother Absalom’s sister: the words my brother, of course, really mean “half brother” in this context, as Good News Translation makes clear. But the relationships of the different persons involved may not be clear to the reader or hearer—especially in languages that use a general term meaning “sibling” and do not normally distinguish between brothers and sisters. In some languages it may be necessary to say something like “Tamar, who has the [same father and] same mother as my brother 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 .

The order of verses 10-12 may have to be altered in some translations, since it may be more natural to have the meaning of verses 11-12 before talking about the shout of triumph proclaiming Absalom as king. If this is done the three verses should be numbered together as 10-12 (as in Contemporary English Version).

But: this translates the common Hebrew conjunction. Here some translators feel the need for a conjunction marking contrast because Absalom’s actions are different from his avowed intentions. Knox takes it in a slightly different light, translating the transition word “meanwhile.”

Secret messengers: these two words represent one word in the Hebrew. The root meaning of the noun implies “feet” going about and is elsewhere translated “spies” (1 Sam 26.4) or simply “messengers” (2 Sam 20.3). But the term is also used of “slander” in other places. Here the context suggests the idea of secrecy, but this does not necessarily have to be made explicit. In this verse the word has been rendered “spies” (New American Bible), “emissaries” (Moffatt), “couriers” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “agents” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

All the tribes of Israel: the translation of this expression is related to the question raised in the discussion of verses 2 and 6 above. Again translators are advised to take this as referring to the whole of Israel and Judah.

Absalom is king at Hebron: the purpose of having himself proclaimed king at Hebron was to show strength where David was expected to be strongest. It was at Hebron where David was first proclaimed king of Judah (2.1-4). Now Absalom strikes at the heart of his support. Translations should be careful, however, not to give the impression that Absalom is being proclaimed king only over the city of Hebron. He was claiming that city as his capital but wanted to be considered king over all Israel.

Because the direct quotations in this verse may not be natural in some languages, it may be necessary to make one or both of them indirect. One possible model:

• But Absalom sent agents to all the tribes of Israel telling them that, as soon as they heard the trumpet sound, they should shout “Absalom has become king [of Israel] in Hebron.”

Or, making both quotations indirect:

• … informing them that they should proclaim him king [of Israel], with his capital at Hebron, as soon as they heard the sound of the trumpets.

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 common conjunction may be omitted in many languages or may be represented by beginning a new paragraph at this point as in Contemporary English Version.

The two verbs introducing the direct quotation are more literally “said … in his cursing.” In many languages a single verb will satisfactorily translate the meaning. But others may say “spoke in this way as a curse” or “cursed him using these words.” New Jerusalem Bible reads “the words of his curse were these….”

Begone: this archaic term has been replaced by “Out!” in New Revised Standard Version. In other languages there may be a special term used to chase away children or animals. But others will say simply “Go away” or “Get out of here” (Contemporary English Version).

Man of blood: these words are used to describe a person who has spilled the blood of others by killing them. A similar expression is found in plural form in the Psalms (55.23 and 139.19). It is probably best to translate it “murderer” (Knox, Good News Translation, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version). A literal translation would probably be misunderstood in most languages, and the rendering “criminal” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) seems too weak.

Worthless fellow: see the comments on a similar term (rendered “base woman”) in 1 Sam 1.16. This expression is hardly strong enough to reflect the meaning of the Hebrew. The exact meaning of the Hebrew word beliyaʿal is not clear, though it is clearly a term of contempt. Perhaps it is formed from two words meaning “without” and “worth.” In the Old Testament this word is used in contexts that suggest the idea of “evil”; by the time of the New Testament, it had become the name of the prince of evil (see 2 Cor 6.15). A literal translation (so King James Version) will have zero meaning. A translation such as “scoundrel” (New Revised Standard Version) or “you villain” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) seems correct in this context. An American Translation translates “vile scoundrel” and New American Bible has “wicked man.” Some versions combine the two expressions. Revised English Bible, for example, takes the two together to mean “you murderous scoundrel.” And Anchor Bible translates them as “you bloodstained fiend of hell!”

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 conjunction here is taken as marking something contrary to expectation in the story and is therefore translated in this way.

Lad: this term often refers to a boy up to the age of adolescence, but it is also used of older “young men” such as Absalom (14.21). The underlying Hebrew term is often translated simply “child” (1 Sam 1.24; 2 Sam 12.16), “boy” (1 Sam 2.11), or “young man” (2 Sam 1.5), but sometimes it means “servant” (1 Sam 2.13; 2 Sam 9.9).

Saw them: the pronoun here probably refers to Jonathan and Ahimaaz, but possibly the servant woman was included. In Hebrew the form is third person masculine plural, but the masculine plural may be used of men only or of groups including both men and women. However, since the slave girl had not been banished from the city, it would not have been significant that she was seen. In languages that use different pronoun forms for men, women, and mixed groups, the masculine pronoun should probably be used here. Certainly it is only the two men, without the woman, who go to Bahurim.

The implied information here is that the boy told Absalom what he had seen, and that Jonathan and Ahimaaz somehow learned that Absalom was aware of their activities and that he was looking for them.

Bahurim: according to 16.5 David had only recently passed through this place. It was apparently friendly to David and his men. This town is mentioned also in 3.16.

Well: in some languages the translation of this term may require a longer expression like “a place where people draw water” or something similar.

In his courtyard: this may have to be translated “near his house” in languages that do not have a special word for courtyard.

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 .

Now: this is a translation of the common Hebrew conjunction that may be better left untranslated in this context. It serves merely to join the different parts of the story. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation begin a new paragraph at this point.

Between the two gates: this should not be taken to mean that David was sitting at some point along the wall between two different gates leading to the outside of the city. Gates to fortified cities were often built in the form of a tower and in fact consisted of two gates, one at the outside of the wall and another on the inside. There was therefore a space between these two gates along the path that a person had to take to enter the city. In this area there may have been one or more rooms for guards. David was probably in such a room. The fact that the king was sitting here seems to indicate that he was anxiously awaiting news from the field of battle. Translators are advised to follow the lead of those modern English versions that speak of “inner and outer gates” (New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, and Contemporary English Version as well as Good News Translation).

The roof of the gate by the wall: the structure that included the gates to the city had flat roofs like the ordinary dwellings. But these were particularly well suited for keeping watch and protecting the city. The lookout went up to the roof and from that vantage point saw a single runner coming.

Lifted up his eyes: see the comments on 13.34; 1 Sam 6.13.

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 pronoun he at the beginning of this verse refers to Mephibosheth, and this should probably be clarified in translation.

From Jerusalem: the Good News Translation footnote states that the preposition is literally “at” in the Hebrew text; but in fact the Hebrew says only “And when he came Jerusalem.” This seems to indicate that the meeting between Mephibosheth and David took place in Jerusalem rather than during David’s journey back to the capital, but this seems unlikely, since the following events of verses 32-40 are also located at the Jordan River. However, the preposition from is found in a few Greek manuscripts, and this reading is adopted by a wide range of English versions, including even New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, which normally sticks close to the traditional Hebrew text.

Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament argues that the words “to Jerusalem” were originally present in the Hebrew text of verse 24 but were accidentally omitted and then later reinserted in the wrong place. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends the following text of 24b-25: “… until the day he came in peace to Jerusalem. And it came to pass that when he came to meet the king….” That Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives only a {D} rating to this corrected text indicates the considerable uncertainty about determining the original text. Translators should chose between the Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommendation and the text followed by Revised Standard Version.

The question Why did you not go with me…? implies that staying behind in Jerusalem in those circumstances was a sign of disloyalty. This will probably be understood in most languages, but if not, the implied information can be made explicit by saying something like “Mephibosheth, you did not go with me [when I left Jerusalem]. Were you taking your stand with my enemies?”

In some languages it is quite natural to put the name of the person addressed at the end of the question, as Revised Standard Version has done. This is a reflection of the original Hebrew word order. However, in other languages this may be quite unnatural, and the name will have to be placed at the beginning of the question. Translators should feel free to use whichever word order seems most natural in their language.

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 .