2 Samuel 18:12-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 18:12 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וְלוּ (v^elu, “and if”) rather than MT וְלֹא (v^elo’, “and not”).
2. 2 Samuel 18:12 tn Heb “weighing out in my hand.”
3. 2 Samuel 18:12 tn Heb “a thousand [shekels] of silver.” This would have been about 25 pounds (11.4 kg) of silver by weight.
4. 2 Samuel 18:12 tn Heb “extend my hand against.”
5. 2 Samuel 18:12 tn Heb “in our ears.”
6. 2 Samuel 18:12 tc The Hebrew text is very difficult here. The MT reads מִי (mi, “who”), apparently yielding the following sense: “Show care, whoever you might be, for the youth Absalom.” The Syriac Peshitta reads li (“for me”), the Hebrew counterpart of which may also lie behind the LXX rendering μοι (moi, “for me”). This reading seems preferable here, since it restores sense to the passage and most easily explains the rise of the variant.
7. 2 Samuel 18:13 tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and a number of the ancient versions in reading בְנַפְשִׁי (v^enafshi, “against my life”) rather than the MT בְנַפְשׁוֹ (v^enafsho, “against his life”).
8. 2 Samuel 18:13 tn Heb “stood aloof.”
9. 2 Samuel 18:14 tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor-bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”