translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “the heart of the king was upon.” The Syriac Peshitta adds the verb ’ ethre ’ i (“was reconciled”).


text: The Hebrew Hitpael verbal form here indicates pretended rather than genuine action.


text: Heb “these many days.”


text: Heb “put the words in her mouth” (so NASB, NIV).


label: NET textual note

text: The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַתַּבֹא ( vattavo ’, “and she went”) rather than the MT וַתֹּאמֶר ( vatto ’ mer , “and she said”). The MT reading shows confusion with וַתֹּאמֶר later in the verse. The emendation suggested here is supported by the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, some mss of the Targum, and Vulgate.


text: The word “me” is left to be inferred in the Hebrew text; it is present in the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate.


text: Heb “What to you?”


text: Here and elsewhere (vv. 7, 12, 15 a, 17, 19) the woman uses a term which suggests a lower level female servant. She uses the term to express her humility before the king. However, she uses a different term in vv. 15 b-16. See the note at v. 15 for a discussion of the rhetorical purpose of this switch in terminology.


text: Heb “in exchange for the life.” The Hebrew preposition בְּ ( bÿ , “in”) here is the so-called bet pretii , or bet ( בְּ ) of price, defining the value attached to someone or something.


text: Heb “concerning you.”


text: The words “in that case” are not in the Hebrew text, but may be inferred from the context. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarification.


text: Heb “let the king remember.”


text: Heb “of your son.”


text: Heb “he devises plans for the one banished from him not to be banished.”


text: The LXX ( ὄψεταί με , opsetai me ) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי ( yerÿ ’ uni , Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה ( ra ’ ah , “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא ( yare ’, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error.


text: Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (’ amah ), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice.


text: Or “for.”


text: Or “will.” The imperfect verbal form can have either an indicative or modal nuance. The use of “perhaps” in v. 15 b suggests the latter here.


text: Heb “in order to deliver his maid.”


text: Heb “destroy.”


text: Heb “from the inheritance of God.” The expression refers to the property that was granted to her family line in the division of the land authorized by God.


text: Heb “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?”


text: Heb “to know all that is in the land.”


text: Many medieval Hebrew mss have “you” rather than “I.”


text: Heb “blessed.”


text: The present translation reads with the Qere “your” rather than the MT “his.”


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


text: Heb “turn aside.”


text: Heb “turned aside.”


text: Heb “Like Absalom there was not a handsome man in all Israel to boast exceedingly.”


text: Heb “there was not in him a blemish.”


text: Heb “for it was heavy upon him.”


text: Heb “two hundred shekels.” The modern equivalent would be about three pounds (1.4 kg).


text: Heb “and there were born.”


text: The LXX adds here the following words: “And she became a wife to Rehoboam the son of Solomon and bore to him Abia.”


text: The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….”


text: The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “saying.”


text: Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.


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


text: Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.