¹⁶ So the king left, followed by all his household, except ten concubines whom he left behind to look after the house.^(A)

²¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, the ones he has left to look after the house, and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”^{(A) 22} So they pitched a tent for Absalom upon the roof, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.^(B)

⁵ Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have covered with shame the faces of all your officers who have saved your life today, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines,

³ David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to look after the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.^(A)

⁹ All these were David’s sons, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar was their sister.^(A)