2 Samuel 2:27-29

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 2:27 tn The Hebrew verb נַעֲלָה (naʿalah) used here is the Niphal perfect third person masculine singular of עָלָה (ʿalah, “to go up”). In the Niphal this verb “is used idiomatically, of getting away from so as to abandon…especially of an army raising a siege…” (see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 244).
2. 2 Samuel 2:28 tn Heb “stood.”
3. 2 Samuel 2:28 tn Heb “they no longer chased after Israel and they no longer fought.”
4. 2 Samuel 2:29 sn The rift valley is a large geographic feature extending from Galilee to the Gulf of Aqaba. Here only a section of the Jordan Valley is in view.
5. 2 Samuel 2:29 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
6. 2 Samuel 2:29 tn Heb “and they went, all the Bitron.” The meaning of the Hebrew word “Bitron,” which is used only here in the OT, is disputed. The translation above follows BDB 144 s.v. בִּתְרוֹן in taking the word to be a proper name of an area east of the Jordan. A different understanding was advocated by W. R. Arnold, who took the word to refer to the forenoon or morning; a number of modern scholars and translations have adopted this view (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, CEV, NLT). See W. R. Arnold, “The Meaning of בתרון,” AJSL 28 (1911-1912): 274-83 and HALOT 167 s.v. In this case one could translate “and they traveled all morning long.”