David and all the house of Israel: in some languages it will be more natural to say “David and all the other Israelites,” since David was, after all, also an Israelite.

Making merry: this same expression is used in the story of Samson (Judges 16.25, 27) in the sense of “made fun of.” This is clear because of the direct object there. But here it simply means “enjoying themselves,” “celebrating,” or “were very happy.” Good News Translation makes this more explicit with “dancing and singing,” since these activities were almost certainly involved. The verb denotes celebration, but later in the story the celebration appears to have degenerated into disorder. The verb is also found in 1 Sam 18.7 and 2 Sam 2.14.

Before the LORD: see 1 Sam 1.12; 2.18; as well as 3.28; and 5.3. Note that Good News Translation translates “to honor the LORD.”

With all their might, with songs: the traditional Hebrew text at this point has “with all the fir trees.” The differences in English between “with all their might, with songs” and “with all the fir trees” is considerable, but the differences in the underlying Hebrew text are small, consisting of slight changes in spelling and word division. The footnote in some editions of Revised Standard Version is incorrect, since the words with all their might, with songs replace the Hebrew words “with all the fir trees.” New American Standard Bible and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, following the lead of King James Version, supply additional words and come up with the rendering “with all kinds of instruments made of fir [Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, cypress] trees.” Fox similarly has “fir-word instruments.” Most French versions speak of instruments made either of “cypress” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, La Bible du Semeur, Nouvelle version Segond révisée) or of “pine” (Bible en français courant). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, which gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text, seems to recommend this understanding of the traditional Hebrew text. However, many modern English versions (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New International Version, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, as well as Good News Translation) adopt the reading of Revised Standard Version. This is the reading of one manuscript of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the ancient Greek, as well as the parallel passage in Chronicles (1 Chr 13.8). If this text is accepted, translators should compare the similar observation with regard to David in verse 14 below.

Lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals: the first two instruments in the list here have strings that are plucked, but the lyre is usually thought of as being smaller than the harp. These two terms are translated in Contemporary English Version as “small harps and other stringed instruments.” On the terms harps, tambourines, and lyres, see 1 Sam 10.5. The word translated castanets is found only here in all the Old Testament. Although the meaning is far from certain, it was probably some kind of rattle. New International Version and New American Bible use the difficult word “sistrums,” while New Century Version and Fox use the simpler and more general term “rattles.” In cultures where a technical term does not exist for this instrument, a term such as “rattles” may prove to be the best model. This may prove to be the best model for many languages. The word for cymbals occurs five times in the Old Testament, but it is translated in a variety of ways. It appears as “cymbals” in Psa 150.5, but as “locust” in Deut 28.42, and as “whirring” in Isa 18.1. If the receptor language has a term for two metal objects banged together to make music, this will probably be the best rendering for this term.

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 .