m-m Septuagint reads “we are the first-born, rather than you.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Emendation yields “Joab, the Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the warriors marched out behind Abishai.”
c-c Heb. “him.”
d Heb. “and.” Cf. v. 15 (and “Abel-beth-maacah” in 1 Kings 15.20 and 2 Kings 15.29).
e Emendation yields “Bichrites”; cf. Septuagint.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain. The phrase would read well in the next verse (“&ldots;a clever woman stood on the rampart and shouted&ldots;.”).
g-g Lit. “destroying, to topple the wall.” Septuagint and Targum read “were planning to topple the wall.”
h So in 1 Kings 12.18 and 2 Chron. 10.18 (“Hadoram”); elsewhere “Adoniram.”
i See note j at 8.17.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Emendation yields “at Gibeon, on the mountain of the LORD” (cf. Septuagint and v. 9).
c So two Heb. mss., many Septuagint mss., and Peshitta; and cf. Targum, Sanhedrin 19b, and 1 Sam. 18.19. Most mss. and the printed editions read “Michal.”
d-d Heb. “them.”
e Septuagint adds “and the bones of those impaled.”
f Apparently a race of giants.
g This paragraph is found also in 1 Chron. 20.4–8; in part, also in 1QSama, with some variations.
h Perhaps a duplicate of ‘oregim (“weavers”) at the end of the verse; meaning of Heb. uncertain. 1 Chron. 20.5 reads “And Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite.”
a This poem occurs again as Ps. 18, with a number of variations, some of which are cited in the following notes.
b-b Lit. “the God of my rock”; Ps. 18.3 “my God, my rock.”
c-c Lit. “horn of rescue.”
d-d Construction of Heb. uncertain.
e I.e., the netherworld, like “Death” and “Sheol.”
f Lit. “Temple.”
g Ps. 18.8 “mountains.”
h-h Ps. 18.11 “Gliding.”
i I.e., the enemies in v. 4.
j Cf. v. 5.
k Ps. 18.26 “man.”
l-l Lit. “And lower Your eyes on the haughty”; Ps. 18.28 “But haughty eyes You humble.”
m Cf. postbiblical gedudiyyoth “walls,” Aramaic gudda, “wall.”
n-n Ps. 18.33 “who girded me with might.”
o Meaning of Heb. uncertain; Ps. 18.33 “made.”
P Taking bamothai as a poetic form of bamoth; cf. Hab. 3.19; others “my.”
q-q Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
r Ps. 18.42 “cried.”
s So some mss. and the Septuagint; most mss. and the printed editions “my people.”
t-t Ps. 18.44 “made me.”
u-u Kethib and Ps. 18.51 read “He accords wondrous victories.”
a Meaning of much of this poem (vv. 1–7) uncertain.
b-b 4QSama reads “God raised up.”
c-c Or “The favorite of the Mighty One of Israel”; cf. Exod. 15.2. Others “The sweet singer of Israel.”
d So many Heb. mss. Most mss. and the printed editions lack “in.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f A number of these names, with variations, are found in 1 Chron. 11 and 27.
g-g Preserved in 1 Chron. 11.11; similarly some Septuagint mss. of 2 Sam.
h-h Lit. “slain.”
i See note at 1 Sam. 22.1.
j So Septuagint and 1 Chron. 11.19.
k-k Two Heb. mss. and Syriac read “the thirty”; cf. vv. 23–24.
l Emendation yields “thirty.”
m-m Heb. “the son of a brave soldier.”
n Meaning of Heb. uncertain. 1 Chron. 11.23 reads “a giant of a man.”
o Septuagint and 1 Chron. 11 differ from the foregoing lists in vv. 8–38, and from each other in the number and forms of the names.
a This chapter is also found, with some variations, in 1 Chron. 21.1–7.
b Cf. above 21.1–14.
c-c 1 Chron. 21.2 reads “and to the officers of the army”; cf. below v. 4.
d-d Some Septuagint mss. read “began at Aroer, and from the town, which is &ldots; Gad, they.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f-f See note at 1 Sam. 24.6.
g Septuagint adds “So David chose the pestilence. It was the time of the wheat harvest.”
h 4QSama and 1 Chron. 21.20 add “Araunah (Ornan) was threshing wheat.”
I Kings
1 King David was now old, advanced in years; and though they covered him with bedclothes, he never felt warm. 2His courtiers said to him, “Let a young virgin be sought for my lord the king, to wait upon Your Majesty and be his attendant;a and let her lie in your bosom, and my lord the king will be warm.” 3So they looked for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel. They found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. 4The girl was exceedingly beautiful. She became the king’s attendanta and waited upon him; but the king was not intimate with her.
5Now Adonijah son of Haggith b-went about boasting,-b “I will be king!” He provided himself with chariots and horses,c and an escort of fifty outrunners. 6His father had never scolded him: “Why did you do that?” He was the one born after Absalomd and, like him, was very handsome.
7He conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with the priest Abiathar, and they supported Adonijah; 8but the priest Zadok, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the prophet Nathan, Shimei and Rei, and David’s own fighting men did not side with Adonijah. 9Adonijah made a sacrificial feast of sheep, oxen, and fatlings at the Zoheleth stone which is near En-rogel; he invited all his brother princese and all the king’s courtiers of the tribe of Judah; 10but he did not invite the prophet Nathan, or Benaiah, or the fighting men, or his brother Solomon.
11Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “You must have heard that Adonijah son of Haggith has assumed the kingship without the knowledge of our lord David. 12Now take my advice, so that you may save your life and the life of your son Solomon. 13Go immediately to King David and say to him, ‘Did not you, O lord king, swear to your maidservant: “Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit upon my throne”? Then why has Adonijah become king?’ 14While you are still there talking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words.”
15So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber.—The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was waiting on the king.—16Bathsheba bowed low in homage to the king; and the king asked, “What troubles you?” 17She answered him, “My lord, you yourself swore to your maidservant by the LORD your God: ‘Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit upon my throne.’ 18Yet now Adonijah has become king, and you,f my lord the king, know nothing about it. 19He has prepared a sacrificial feast of a great many oxen, fatlings, and sheep, and he has invited all the king’s sons and Abiathar the priest and Joab commander of the army; but he has not invited your servant Solomon. 20And so the eyes of all Israel are upon you, O lord king, to tell them who shall succeed my lord the king on the throne. 21Otherwise, when my lord the king lies down with his fathers, my son Solomon and I will be regarded as traitors.”
22She was still talking to the king when the prophet Nathan arrived. 23They announced to the king, “The prophet Nathan is here,” and he entered the king’s presence. Bowing low to the king with his face to the ground, 24Nathan said, “O lord king, g-you must have said,-g ‘Adonijah shall succeed me as king and he shall sit upon my throne.’ 25For he has gone down today and prepared a sacrificial feast of a great many oxen, fatlings, and sheep. He invited all the king’s sons and the army officers and Abiathar the priest. At this very moment they are eating and drinking with him, and they are shouting, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26But he did not invite me your servant, or the priest Zadok, or Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. 27Can this decision have come from my lord the king, without your telling your servant who is to succeed to the throne of my lord the king?”
28King David’s response was: “Summon Bathsheba!” She entered the king’s presence and stood before the king. 29And the king took an oath, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has rescued me from every trouble: 30The oath I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, that your son Solomon should succeed me as king and that he should sit upon my throne in my stead, I will fulfill this very day!” 31Bathsheba bowed low in homage to the king with her face to the ground, and she said, “May my lord King David live forever!”
32Then King David said, “Summon to me the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, 33the king said to them, “Take h-my loyal soldiers,-h and have my son Solomon ride on my mule and bring him down to Gihon. 34Let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him there king over Israel, whereupon you shall sound the horn and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35Then march up after him, and let him come in and sit on my throne. For he shall succeed me as king; him I designate to be ruler of Israel and Judah.” 36Benaiah son of Jehoiada spoke up and said to the king, “Amen! And may the LORD, the God of my lord the king, so ordain. 37As the LORD was with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon; and may He exalt his throne even higher than the throne of my lord King David.”
38Then the priest Zadok, and the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada went down with the Cherethites and the Pelethites. They had Solomon ride on King David’s mule and they led him to Gihon. 39The priest Zadok took the horn of oil from the Tent and anointed Solomon. They sounded the horn and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” 40All the people then marched up behind
