¹tn Heb “do loyalty.”
²tn Heb “did loyalty.”
³tn Heb “to console him concerning his father.”
⁴tn Heb “and the servants of David came to the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him.”
⁵tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”
⁶tc Heb “Is it not to explore and to overturn and to spy out the land (that) his servants have come to you?” The Hebrew term iphl, “to overturn,” seems misplaced in the sequence. Some emend the form to rpjl, “to spy out.” The sequence of three infinitives may be a conflation of alternative readings.
⁷tn Heb “shaved them.” See v. 5.
⁸tn Heb “and he cut their robes in the middle unto the buttocks.”
⁹tn Heb “they.”
¹⁰tn Heb “the men.”
¹¹map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
¹²tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”
¹³tn Or “talents.” The Hebrew word rkk , “circle,” refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the Ammonites hired chariots and charioteers for about 33.7 tons (30,600 kg) of silver.
¹⁴tn The words “the news” and “to meet them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
¹⁵tn Heb “and Joab saw that the face of the battle was to him before and behind and he chose from all the best in Israel and arranged to meet Aram.”
¹⁶tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁷tn Heb “if Aram is stronger than me.”
¹⁸tn Heb “if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you.”
¹⁹tn Heb “and the Lord, what is good in his eyes, he will do.”
²⁰tn Heb “and the army which was with him.”
²¹map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
²²tn Heb “the River,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²³tn Heb “and Aram saw that they were struck down before Israel and they sent messengers and brought out Aram which is beyond the River, and Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer [was] before them.”
²⁴tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
²⁵tn Heb “and he came to them and was deployed against them.”
²⁶tn Heb “and David was deployed to meet Aram [for] battle and they fought with him.”