2 Samuel 23:18-20

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 23:18 tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and Vulgate in reading הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה (hash^elosha, “the three”) rather than the Kethib of the MT הַשָּׁלִשִׁי (hashalishi, “the third,” or “adjutant”). Two medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta have “thirty.”
2. 2 Samuel 23:18 tn Heb “and he was wielding his spear against three hundred, [who were] slain, and to him there was a name among the three.”
3. 2 Samuel 23:19 tn Or “more than.”
4. 2 Samuel 23:20 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading חַיִל (khayil, “valor”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, חַי (khay, “life”).
5. 2 Samuel 23:20 tc Heb “the two of Ariel, Moab.” The precise meaning of אריאל is uncertain; some read “warrior.” The present translation assumes that the word is a proper name and that בני, “sons of,” has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note the preceding שׁני), so originally: שְׁנֵי בְנֵי אֲרִיאֵל (sh^ene v^ene ʾariʾel).