Historical

7 And it came to pass, when HaMelech sat in his Bais, and Hashem had given him rest round about from all his oyevim;

² That HaMelech said unto Natan HaNavi, See now, I dwell in a Bais of cedar, but the Aron HaElohim dwelleth within the curtain.

³ And Natan said to HaMelech, Go, do all that is in thine lev; for Hashem is with thee.

⁴ And it came to pass that lailah, that the Devar Hashem came unto Natan, saying,

⁵ Go and tell Avdi Dovid, Thus saith Hashem, Shalt thou build Me a Bais for Me to dwell in?

⁶ Whereas I have not dwelt in any Bais since the time that I brought up the Bnei Yisroel out of Mitzrayim, even to this day, but have walked in an Ohel and in a Mishkan.

⁷ In all the places wherein I have walked with kol Bnei Yisroel spoke I a word with any of the Shivtei Yisroel, whom I commanded, to shepherd My people Yisroel, saying, Why build ye not Me a Bais of cedar?

⁸ Now therefore so shalt thou say unto Avdi Dovid, Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, I took thee from the sheepfold, from following the tzon, to be Nagid over My people, over Yisroel:

⁹ And I was with thee whithersoever thou didst go, and have cut off all thine oyevim out of thy sight, and have made thee a shem gadol, like unto the shem of the Gedolim that are on ha’aretz.

¹⁰ Moreover I will appoint makom (place, home) for My people Yisroel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and be disturbed no more; neither shall the bnei avlah (children of wickedness) afflict them any more, as in former times,

¹¹ Even since the time that I commanded Shofetim to be over My people Yisroel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine oyevim. Also Hashem declareth to thee that He will make thee a Bais.

¹² And when thy yamim be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy Avot, I will raise up thy Zera after thee, which shall proceed out of thy loins, and I will establish his Mamlachah (Kingdom).

¹³ He shall build a Bais for My Shem, and I will establish the kisse (throne) of his Mamlachah ad olam.

¹⁴ I will be his Av, and he shall be My Ben [HaElohim]. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the shevet anashim, and with the floggings of bnei adam;

¹⁵ But My chesed shall not be taken away from him, as I took it from Sha’ul, whom I removed from before thee.

¹⁶ And thine Bais and thy Mamlachah shall be established ad olam before thee; thy kisse (throne) shall be established ad olam (forever) [See Ps 89:36-39]).

¹⁷ According to all these devarim, and according to all this chizzayon (revelation), so did Natan speak unto Dovid.

¹⁸ Then went HaMelech Dovid in, and sat before Hashem, and he said, Who am I, Adonoi Hashem? And what is my Bais, that Thou hast brought me this far?

¹⁹ And as if this were a small thing in Thy sight, Adonoi Hashem, Thou hast spoken also the future of Bais Avdecha. And is this fitting for haAdam [such as me], Adonoi Hashem?

²⁰ And what can Dovid say more unto Thee? For Thou, Adonoi Hashem, knowest Avdecha.

²¹ For the sake of Thy word, and according to Thine own lev, hast Thou done all this gedullah (great thing), and made it known to Avdecha.

²² Wherefore Thou art great, Adonoi Hashem; for there is none like Thee, neither is there any Elohim but Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³ And what Goy echad in ha’aretz is like Thy people, even like Yisroel, whom Elohim went to redeem for an Am for Himself, and to make Him a Shem, and to do for Thee hagedullah (the great thing) and nora’ot, for Thy land, before Thy people, which Thou redeemedst to Thee from Mitzrayim, from the Goyim and their g-ds?

²⁴ For Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people Yisroel to be an Am unto Thee ad olam; and Thou, Hashem, art become their Elohim.

²⁵ And now, Hashem Elohim, the davar (word, promise) that Thou hast spoken concerning Avdecha, and concerning his Bais, establish it ad olam, and do just as Thou hast said.

²⁶ And let Thy Shem be magnified ad olam, saying, Hashem Tzivos is Elohim over Yisroel; and let the Bais of Avdecha Dovid be established before Thee.

²⁷ For Thou, Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel, hast revealed to ozen Avdecha, saying, I will build thee a Bais; therefore hath Avdecha found in his lev to pray this tefillah unto Thee.

²⁸ And now, Adonoi Hashem Atah hu HaElohim, and Thy devarim are emes, and Thou hast promised hatovah hazot unto Avdecha;

²⁹ Therefore now let it please Thee to bless the Bais Avdecha, that it may continue l’olam before Thee; for Thou, Adonoi Hashem, hast spoken it; and with Thy brocha let the Bais Avdecha be blessed l’olam.

8 And after this it came to pass that Dovid struck the Pelishtim, and subdued them; and Dovid took Meteg Ammah out of the yad (hand, control) of the Pelishtim.

² And he struck Moav, and measured them with a chevel (cord, rope), casting them down to the ground; even with two chavalim (ropes, cords) measured he to put to death, and with one full chevel (cord) to keep alive. And so Moav became to Dovid as avadim, and brought minchah (gifts, tribute).

³ Dovid struck also Hadadezer Ben Rechov Melech Tzovah, as he went to recover his yad (rule) at the nahar (river) Euphrates.

⁴ And Dovid captured from him an elef and seven hundred parashim, and twenty elef foot soldiers; and Dovid hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for one hundred chariots.

⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer Melech Tzovah, Dovid struck down the Syrians two and twenty elef ish.

⁶ Then Dovid put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became avadim to Dovid, and brought minchah. And Hashem saved Dovid wherever he went.

⁷ And Dovid took the shields of zahav that were on the avadim of Hadadezer, and brought them to Yerushalayim.

⁸ And from Betach [Tivchat, 1 Chr18:8], and from Berotai [Kun, 1 Chr 18:8], cities of Hadadezer, Dovid HaMelech took exceeding much nechoshet.

⁹ When To’u Melech Chamat heard that Dovid had defeated all the army of Hadadezer,

¹⁰ Then To’u sent Yoram bno unto Dovid HaMelech, to give him shalom greetings, and to put a berachah on him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with To’u. And Yoram brought with him vessels of kesef, and vessels of zahav, and vessels of nechoshet;

¹¹ Which also Dovid HaMelech did dedicate as kodesh unto Hashem, with the kesef and zahav that he had dedicated as kodesh of kol HaGoyim which he subdued;

¹² Of Syria, and of Moav, and of the Bnei Ammon, and of the Pelishtim, and of Amalek, and of the plunder of Hadadezer Ben Rechov Melech Tzovah.

¹³ And Dovid made himself a shem when he returned from striking down Edom in the Gey Melach, being eighteen elef men.

¹⁴ And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became avadim to Dovid. And Hashem saved Dovid wherever he went.

¹⁵ And Dovid reigned over kol Yisroel; and Dovid executed mishpat and tzedakah unto all his people.

¹⁶ And Yoav Ben Tzeruyah was over the army; and Yehoshaphat Ben Achilud was mazkir (secretary, recorder).

¹⁷ And Tzadok Ben Achituv, and Achimelech Ben Evyatar (Abiathar), were the kohanim; and Serayah was the sofer (scribe);

¹⁸ And Benayah Ben Yehoyada was over both the Kereti and the Peleti; and Benei Dovid were kohanim [See Ps 110:4].

9 And Dovid said, Is there yet any that is left of the Bais Sha’ul, that I may show him chesed for the sake of Yonatan?

² And there was of the Bais Sha’ul an eved and shmo was Tziva. And when they had called him unto Dovid, HaMelech said unto him, Art thou Tziva? And he replied, Thy eved.

³ And HaMelech said, Is there not yet any of the Bais Sha’ul, that I may show the chesed Elohim unto him? And Tziva said unto HaMelech, Yonatan hath yet a ben, which is nakheh (crippled, lame) raglayim (both feet).

⁴ And HaMelech said unto him, Eifoh hu (where is he)? And Tziva said unto HaMelech, Hinei, he is in the Bais Machir Ben Ammiel, in Lo-Devar.

⁵ Then HaMelech Dovid sent, and had him brought out of the Bais Machir Ben Ammiel, from Lo-Devar.

⁶ Now when Mephivoshet Ben Yonatan Ben Sha’ul, was come unto Dovid, he fell on his face, and prostated himself. And Dovid said, Mephivoshet. And he answered, Hinei, thy eved!

⁷ And Dovid said unto him, Fear not; for I will surely show thee chesed for sake of Yonatan Avicha, and will restore thee kol sadeh Shaul Avicha; and thou shalt eat lechem at my shulchan tamid.

⁸ And he prostated himself, and said, What is thy eved, that thou shouldest look upon such a kelev hamet (dead dog) as I am?

⁹ Then HaMelech called to Tziva na’ar Sha’ul, and said unto him, I have given unto thy adon’s ben all that pertained to Sha’ul and to all his Bais.

¹⁰ Thou therefore, and thy banim, and thy avadim, shall till the adamah for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy adon’s ben may have lechem to eat; but Mephivoshet the ben adonecha shall eat lechem tamid at my shulchan. Now Tziva had fifteen banim and twenty avadim.

¹¹ Then said Tziva unto HaMelech, According to all that adoni HaMelech hath commanded his eved, so shall thy eved do. As for Mephivoshet, said HaMelech, he shall eat at my shulchan, as one of the Bnei HaMelech.

¹² And Mephivoshet had a ben katan, shmo Micha. And kol moshav Bais Tziva were avadim unto Mephivoshet.

¹³ So Mephivoshet dwelt in Yerushalayim; for he did eat continually at the shulchan HaMelech; and was pisei’ach (crippled) in both his raglayim.

10 And it came to pass after this, that Melech Bnei Ammon died, and Chanun bno reigned in his place.

² Then said Dovid, I will show chesed unto Chanun Ben Nachash, as aviv (his father) showed chesed unto me. And Dovid sent to console him by the yad of his avadim for aviv. And avadim of Dovid came into Eretz Bnei Ammon.

³ And the sarim (princes) of the Bnei Ammon said unto Chanun their adon, Thinkest thou that Dovid doth honor avicha, that he hath sent menachamim (comforters) unto thee? Hath not Dovid rather sent his avadim unto thee, to explore the Ir, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?

⁴ Therefore, Chanun took the avadim of Dovid, and shaved off half of their zekanim (beards), and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵ When they told it unto Dovid, he sent to meet them, because the anashim were greatly humiliated; and HaMelech said, Tarry at Yericho until your zekanim be grown, and then return.

⁶ And when the Bnei Ammon saw that they became stench before Dovid, the Bnei Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beit-Rechov and the Syrians of Tzova, twenty elef foot soldiers, and of Melech Ma’akhah an elef ish, and of Ish-Tov, twelve elef ish.

⁷ And when Dovid heard of it, he sent Yoav, and all the tzava (host, army) of the Gibborim.

⁸ And the Bnei Ammon came out, arrayed for milchamah at the petach hasha’ar (city gate); and the Syrians of Tzova, and of Rechov, and Ish-Tov, and Ma’akhah, were by themselves in the sadeh.

⁹ When Yoav saw that the front of the milchamah (battle) was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Yisroel, and put them in array against the Syrians;

¹⁰ And the rest of the people he delivered under the yad (command) of Avishai achiv (his brother), that he might put them in array against the Bnei Ammon.

¹¹ And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt be for me for yeshuah (salvation, rescue); but if the Bnei Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come for you for yeshuah (salvation, rescue).

¹² Chazak (be strong)! And let us play the man for amenu (our people), and for the towns of Eloheinu; and Hashem do that which seemeth Him hatov in His einayim.

¹³ And Yoav drew near, and HaAm that were with him, unto the milchamah against the Syrians; and they fled before him.

¹⁴ And when the Bnei Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Avishai, and entered into the Ir. So Yoav returned from the Bnei Ammon, and came to Yerushalayim.

¹⁵ And when the Syrians saw that they were defeated before Yisroel, they gathered themselves together.

¹⁶ And Hadadezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the Nahar; and they came to Chelam; and Shovach the Sar Tzeva (commander of the army) of Hadadezer went before them.

¹⁷ And when it was told Dovid, he gathered kol Yisroel together, and crossed over Yarden, and came to Chelam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against Dovid, and fought against him.

¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Yisroel; and Dovid slaughtered the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty elef parashim, and struck down Shovach the Sar of his Tzeva (army), who died there.

¹⁹ And when all the melachim that were avadim (vassals) to Hadadezer saw that they were defeated before Yisroel, they made shalom with Yisroel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the Bnei Ammon any more.