2 Samuel 19:9-15
Christian Standard Bible
9 People throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves, saying, “The king rescued us from the grasp of our enemies,(A) and he saved us from the grasp of the Philistines,(B) but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.(C) 10 But Absalom, the man we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about restoring the king?”
11 King David sent word to the priests Zadok and Abiathar:(D) “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace? The talk of all Israel has reached the king at his house. 12 You are my brothers, my flesh and blood.[a](E) So why should you be the last to restore the king?’ 13 And tell Amasa,(F) ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood?[b] May God punish me and do so severely if you don’t become commander of my army from now on instead of Joab!’”
14 So he won over[c] all the men of Judah, and they unanimously sent word to the king: “Come back, you and all your servants.” 15 Then the king returned. When he arrived at the Jordan, Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and escort him across the Jordan.
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2 Samuel 19:9-15
New English Translation
9 All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom. 10 But Absalom, whom we anointed as our king,[a] has died in battle. So now why do you hesitate to bring the king back?”[b]
11 Then King David sent a message to Zadok and Abiathar the priests saying, “Tell the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back to his palace,[c] when everything Israel is saying has come to the king’s attention.[d] 12 You are my brothers—my very own flesh and blood![e] Why should you delay any further in bringing the king back?’ 13 Say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my flesh and blood?[f] God will punish me severely,[g] if from this time on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
14 He[h] won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were one man. Then they sent word to the king saying, “Return, you and all your servants as well.” 15 So the king returned and came to the Jordan River.[i]
Now the people of Judah[j] had come to Gilgal to meet the king and to help him[k] cross the Jordan.
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- 2 Samuel 19:10 tn Heb “over us.”
- 2 Samuel 19:10 tc The LXX includes the following words at the end of v. 11: “And what all Israel was saying came to the king’s attention.” The words are misplaced in the LXX from v. 12 (although the same statement appears there in the LXX as well).
- 2 Samuel 19:11 tn Heb “his house.”
- 2 Samuel 19:11 tc The Hebrew text adds “to his house” (= palace), but the phrase, which also appears earlier in the verse, is probably accidentally repeated here.
- 2 Samuel 19:12 tn Heb “my bone and my flesh.”
- 2 Samuel 19:13 tn Heb “my bone and my flesh.”
- 2 Samuel 19:13 tn Heb “Thus God will do to me and thus he will add.”
- 2 Samuel 19:14 tn The referent of “he” is not entirely clear: cf. NCV “David”; TEV “David’s words”; NRSV, NLT “Amasa.”
- 2 Samuel 19:15 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Samuel 19:15 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Judah.”
- 2 Samuel 19:15 tn Heb “the king.” The pronoun (“him”) has been used in the translation to avoid redundancy.
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