Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 12:1 tc A few medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta add “the prophet.” The words are included in a few modern English version (e.g., TEV, CEV, NLT).
2. 2 Samuel 12:1 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3. 2 Samuel 12:1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Nathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4. 2 Samuel 12:1 tn The Hebrew text repeats “to him.”
5. 2 Samuel 12:3 tn Heb “his sons.”
6. 2 Samuel 12:3 tn The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.
7. 2 Samuel 12:3 tn Heb “from his morsel.”
8. 2 Samuel 12:3 tn Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lie.”
9. 2 Samuel 12:4 tn Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.
10. 2 Samuel 12:4 tn Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”
11. 2 Samuel 12:4 tn Heb “who had come to him” (also a second time later in this verse). The word “visit” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
12. 2 Samuel 12:4 tn Heb “and prepared.”
13. 2 Samuel 12:5 tn Heb “the man doing this [is] a son of death.” See 1 Sam 20:31 for another use of this expression, which must mean “he is as good as dead” or “he deserves to die,” as 1 Sam 20:32 makes clear.
14. 2 Samuel 12:6 tc With the exception of the Lucianic recension, the Old Greek translation has here “sevenfold” rather than “fourfold,” a reading that S. R. Driver thought probably to be the original reading (S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 291). However, Exod 22:1 [21:37 HT] specifies fourfold repayment for a stolen sheep, which is consistent with 2 Sam 12:6. Some mss of the Targum and the Syriac Peshitta exaggerate the idea to “fortyfold.”tn Heb “the lamb he must repay fourfold because he did this thing and because he did not have compassion.”
15. 2 Samuel 12:7 tn Heb “anointed.”
16. 2 Samuel 12:8 tn Heb “and the wives of your lord into your chest [or “lap”].” The words “I put” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
17. 2 Samuel 12:9 tn Or “word, message.” The “word of the Lord” sometimes refers to a prophetic message from God and sometimes to his past revelation. Here it refers to the Lord’s laws which David has violated.
18. 2 Samuel 12:9 tc So the Qere; the Kethib has “his.”
19. 2 Samuel 12:11 tn Heb “raise up against you disaster.”
20. 2 Samuel 12:11 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”
21. 2 Samuel 12:11 tn Or “friend.”
22. 2 Samuel 12:11 tn Heb “will lie down with.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) “to lie down” can be a euphemism for going to bed for sexual relations.
23. 2 Samuel 12:11 tn Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”
24. 2 Samuel 12:12 tn Heb “and before the sun.”
25. 2 Samuel 12:13 tn Heb “removed.”
26. 2 Samuel 12:14 tc The MT has here “because you have caused the enemies of the Lord to treat the Lord with such contempt.” This is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this ancient tradition, the scribes changed the text in order to soften somewhat the negative light in which David was presented. If that is the case, the MT reflects the altered text. The present translation departs from the MT here. Elsewhere the Piel stem of this verb means “treat with contempt,” but never “cause someone to treat with contempt.”