translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET textual note

text: 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).


label: NET translator note

text: Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Nathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The Hebrew text repeats “to him.”


text: Heb “his sons.”


text: The three Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in this sentence have a customary nuance; they describe past actions that were repeated or typical.


text: Heb “from his morsel.”


text: Heb “and on his chest [or perhaps, “lap”] it would lay.”


text: Heb “came to the rich man.” In the translation “arrived at the rich man’s home” has been used for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “and he refused to take from his flock and from his herd to prepare [a meal] for.”


text: 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.


text: Heb “and prepared.”


text: 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.


text: 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.”


text: Heb “anointed.”


text: 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.


text: So the Qere ; the Kethib has “his.”


text: Heb “to you for a wife.” This expression also occurs at the end of v. 10 .


text: Heb “raise up against you disaster.”


text: Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV); NCV, TEV, CEV “family.”


text: Or “friend.”


text: Heb “will lie with” (so NIV, NRSV); TEV “will have intercourse with”; CEV, NLT “will go to bed with.”


text: Heb “in the eyes of this sun.”


text: Heb “and before the sun.”


text: Heb “removed.”


text: 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.”


text: Heb “and the Lord struck the child…and he was ill.” It is necessary to repeat “the child” in the translation to make clear who became ill, since “the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became very ill” could be understood to mean that David himself became ill.


text: Heb “sought” or “searched for.”


text: Heb “and David fasted.”


text: The three Hebrew verbs that follow in this verse are perfects with prefixed vav . They may describe repeated past actions or actions which accompanied David’s praying and fasting.


text: Heb “to our voice.”


text: Heb “he will do harm.” The object is not stated in the Hebrew text. The statement may be intentionally vague, meaning that he might harm himself or them!


text: Heb “David.” The name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.


text: For the MT בַּעֲבוּר ( ba ’ avur , “for the sake of”) we should probably read בְּעוֹד ( bÿ ’ od , “while”). See the Lucianic Greek recension, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum.


text: Heb “said.”


text: Heb “Who knows?”


text: Heb “and he lay with her.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. While some translations render the pronoun as third person plural (“they”), implying that both David and Bathsheba together named the child, it is likely that the name “Solomon,” which is related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (and may be derived from it) had special significance for David, who would have regarded the birth of a second child to Bathsheba as a confirming sign that God had forgiven his sin and was at peace with him.


text: Heb “him,” referring to the child.


text: Heb “people.” So also in vv. 29, 31 .


text: Part of the Greek tradition wrongly understands Hebrew מַלְכָּם ( malkam , “their king”) as a proper name (“Milcom”). Some English versions follow the Greek here, rendering the phrase “the crown of Milcom” (so NRSV; cf. also NAB, CEV). TEV takes this as a reference not to the Ammonite king but to “the idol of the Ammonite god Molech.”


text: Heb “and its weight [was] a talent of gold.” The weight of this ornamental crown was approximately 75 lbs (34 kg). See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 313.


text: Heb “brought out.”


text: Heb “and so he would do.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .