Tag Archives: 2 Samuel 12:11-12

Atonement, Part 1

Posted on by

I plan to begin a slow pilgrimage through kâphar, which will at a minimum include surveying kôpher and kippûr.  The first occurrences of kâphar and kôpher according to Strong’s Concordance are found in, Make rooms in the ark, and cover (kâphar, וכפרת; Septuagint: ἀσφαλτώσεις, a form of ἀσφαλτόω) it with pitch (kôpher, בכפר: Septuagint: ἀσφάλτῳ, a form of ἄσφαλτος) inside and out.[1]  But I’m going to set that aside.

The note (48) in the NET reads:

The Hebrew term כָּפָר (kafar, “to cover, to smear” [= to caulk]) appears here in the Qal stem with its primary, nonmetaphorical meaning. The Piel form כִּפֶּר (kipper), which has the metaphorical meaning “to atone, to expiate, to pacify,” is used in Levitical texts (see HALOT 493-94 s.v. כפר). Some authorities regard the form in v. 14 as a homonym of the much more common Levitical term (see BDB 498 s.v. כָּפָר).

I think homonym was used here as I have used homograph:[2] “a word of the same written form as another but of different meaning and usually origin, whether pronounced the same way or not, as bear ‘to carry; support’ and bear ‘animal’ or lead ‘to conduct’ and lead ‘metal;’ a homograph.”[3]  A table showing the translations of the occurrences of kôpher from Genesis 6:14 – Numbers 35:32 in the KJV, NET and the Septuagint follows:

Form of kôpher

 Reference KJV NET

Septuagint
כפר Exodus 21:30 If there be laid on him a sum of money… If a ransom is set for him… λύτρα, a form of λύτρον
Exodus 30:12 …then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul… …then each man is to pay a ransom for his life…
Numbers 35:31 …ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: …you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death…
Numbers 35:32 …ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge… …you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge…
בכפר Genesis 6:14 …and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. …and cover it with pitch inside and out. ἀσφάλτῳ, a form of ἄσφαλτος

Clearly kôpher (כפר) in Exodus 21:30; 30:12; Numbers 35:31 and 32 is a homograph for kâphar (כפר) in Exodus 29:33 (NET): They are to eat those things by which atonement (kâphar, כפר) was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy.  I am more than content to assume that the homographs translated, and cover it with pitch, have next to nothing to do with atonement.  John wrote (1 John 1:5-7 NET):

Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.  But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

I can appreciate that something like asphalt smeared inside and outside of a wooden vessel that preserved people through a judgment of water bears a vague similarity to atonement that will preserve people through a judgment of fire (2 Peter 3:5-7).  But and cover it with pitch sounds more like Achan burying a nice robe from Babylon, two hundred silver pieces, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels[4] in the ground right in the middle of [his] tent.[5]  It sounds like David calling Uriah home from the front and saying, “Go down to your home and relax.”[6]  When Uriah’s loyalty to his comrades-in-arms proved such that he was useless in David’s attempt to cover his sin with pitch, the king sent him back to the front carrying a letter to his commanding officer that read: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed (nâkâh).”[7]

In both circumstances yehôvâh brought these pitch-covered-sins to light (Joshua 7:10-26; 2 Samuel 12:1-14).  Thinking atonement was a covering of pitch for sin probably had a lot to do with my conclusion that the Gospel was more a mind trick God played on Himself than something of value for me.

Achan and his family were stoned and burned for theft.  David’s sins of adultery and murder[8] were forgiven or passed over.  I can’t pass by here without at least considering this moral calculus in some way beyond the obvious, that David was a king and Achan’s only claim to fame was the spectacle of his execution.

All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord (yehôvâh, ליהוה), Joshua commanded.  They must go into the Lord’s (yehôvâh, יהוה) treasury.[9]  If I hear this with an unbelieving heart it’s easy to see why Friedrich Nietzsche considered Judaism (and not only Judaism) a religion concocted by weak, power-hungry priests.

The ‘law’, the ‘will of God’, the ‘holy book’, ‘inspiration’ – All these are just words for the conditions under which priests come to power and maintain their power, – these concepts can be found at the bottom of all priestly organizations, all structures of priestly or philosophical-priestly control. The ‘holy lie’ – this is common to Confucius, the law book of Manu, Mohammed, and the Christian church: and it is not absent from Plato either. ‘The truth is there ‘: wherever you hear this, it means that the priest is lying.

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Anti-Christ (1888), 55.

An article, “The Hebrew Bible in Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion,” by Jaco Gericke offers an interesting overview on this subject.  My affection for Nietzsche comes from long hours spent with him and Jesus.  Nietzsche, of course, is dead and had no opportunity for rebuttal.  It’s difficult to say how much that difference alone encouraged and maintained my faith in Jesus.  Still I hesitate either to censor Nietzsche’s writings or to promote them as a test of spiritual manhood.  Consider Jaco Gericke.

In “Confessions of a Died-Again Christian,” an interview hosted by Robert M. Price online, Professor Gericke gave his testimony, a born-again Christian who became first a “died-again” Christian then an atheist while studying to become a missionary.  After I listened to it I spent the rest of the day pouting.  That’s what I do now rather than throwing a hissy fit or trying to muscle on in my own strength.

“Either one of these men,” I prayed, “could have been better at this than I am.”

Professor Gericke never described the Bible as the product of lying priests (or preachers, as the case may be).  He described “the system”:

The system has everything covered.  So whatever your problem is, there’s an answer for that somewhere out there…
And you recognize how religion, how the system has controlled you and told you stories about the way things work, and you see the system for what it is…
You also understand how the system, with apologetics, has everything covered.  So to get out is really as close to a miracle as you can get.

He went to the university originally “to become a missionary to share the joy I found [after a conversion experience] with other people.”  Over time that desire was replaced by another, to be “academically respectable.”  Eventually he read Beyond Fundamentalism by James Barr.  “It focuses so much on the Bible and the text,” he described the experience of reading Barr, “that in the end what happens is that your Christian ethics destroys your Christian dogma because you just follow the truth and you do introspection.”  Mr. Price concurred: “The all important personal relationship with Jesus, the sole point of the Bible according to most of these guys [e.g., top notch evangelical…scholars], never occurs in the Bible.”

True enough, the words personal relationship with Jesus do not occur in the Bible.  The hope and promise of the new covenant reads (Jeremiah 31:34 NET Table):

“People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me.  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה).  “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

Judas (not Iscariot) said to [Jesus] (John14:22-24 NASB):

“Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep (τηρήσει, a form of τηρέω) My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep (τηρεῖ, another form of τηρέω) My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Professor Gericke’s testimony wasn’t a tale of following Yahweh/Jesus through the scriptures to know Him and his Father.  Rather, it was a proxy war he conducted in his own mind between his favorite fundamentalist apologists and the writings of Julius Wellhausen, David Strauss, biblical criticism, the philosophy of religion and the history of Yahweh, along with James Barr.  His fundamentalist champions didn’t measure up, so the “truth” set him free (John 8:31, 32 NET).

Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth (ἀλήθειαν, a form of ἀλήθεια), and the truth (ἀλήθεια) will set you free.”

Even if Jesus alluded to a stoic maxim (as Mr. Price asserted) truth was not an abstract concept to Him, certainly not the writings of Julius Wellhausen, David Strauss, biblical criticism, the philosophy of religion and the history of Yahweh, along with James Barr.  Set them apart in the truth (ἀληθείᾳ, another form of ἀλήθεια), He prayed to his Father, your word is truth (ἀλήθεια).[10]  By word (λόγος) Jesus may have alluded to Himself—I am the way, and the truth (ἀληθείας, another form of ἀλήθεια), and the life[11]—but He was born a human baby and socialized into all of the rabbinic lore of his time.  He grew to become the person I know and love by preferring a collection of writings remarkably similar to the Old Testament I read today, which He called τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ (Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:13; Luke 8:21; Luke 11:28) or ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ (Luke 8:11; John 10:35).  Both were translated the word of God.

After his resurrection He said to his disciples (Luke 24:44-49 NET):

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled” [Table]. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And look, I am sending you what my Father promised.  But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” [Table].

His devotion to the truth of those writings was so fierce it terrified Peter and the other disciples (Matthew 26:52-56 NET):

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place!  For all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword [Table].  Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now?  How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?”  At that moment Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw?  Day after day I sat teaching in the temple courts, yet you did not arrest me.  But this has happened so that the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.”  Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Unqualified or not I will get up each morning, take whatever faithfulness I am given and follow Jesus through the scriptures.  I desire to do this to know Him and his Father.  He has given me a hunger and thirst for his righteousness.  And I need to do this lest the sin in my flesh overtake me.  Who would have thought of my sinfulness, my utter inability to do righteousness apart from the fruit of the Spirit, as my advantage over Jaco Gericke or Robert Price? I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,[12] Jesus answered the Pharisees and their experts in the law.

Admittedly, it takes some faith to find any coherent knowledge of God in his seemingly disparate judgments of Achan and David, but I think they are consistent with Jesus’ command: Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive.[13]

Achan was part of the army that had judged/condemned Jericho: They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city, including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.[14]  David sent out Joab with his officers and the entire Israelite army.  They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.  But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.[15]  Both were judged accordingly.

“This is what the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) says,” Nathan said to David, “‘I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household!  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion.  He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight!  Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.’”[16]

Despite Nathan’s warning David was merciful to his sons Amnon (2 Samuel 13:1-21) and Absalom (2 Samuel 14:21-33), though that mercy was perhaps the most immediate cause[17] of the prophecy’s fulfillment.  Absalom parlayed Amnon’s death (2 Samuel 13:23-37) into a credible political argument that he was the law and order choice for king (2 Samuel 15:1-6).  I have thought at times that David—the chief law enforcement official in Israel—if he had been strict with his sons, if he had at least left Absalom in self-imposed exile, may have avoided the consequence of Nathan’s prophecy.  But Jesus said in a parable (Matthew 18:32-35 NET):

“Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave!  I forgave (ἀφῆκα, a form of ἀφίημι) you all that debt because you begged me!  Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’  And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed.  So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive (ἀφῆτε, another form of ἀφίημι) your brother from your heart.”

Paul quoted David from the Septuagint: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered…[18]  The original word in Hebrew was not kâphar or kôpher from Genesis 6:14, and cover it with pitch.  David chose kâsâh (כסוי): The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered (kâsâh).[19]  Two forms of kâsâh occur in this Psalm (32:1-6 Tanakh):

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (kâsâh, כסוי) [Table].  Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile [Table].  When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.  For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.  Selah.

I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid (kâsâh, כסיתי).  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.  Selah.

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

Therefore you are without excuse, Paul wrote believers in Rome, whoever you are, when you judge someone else (Romans 2:1-8 NET):

For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.  Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth (ἀλήθειαν, a form of ἀλήθεια) against those who practice such things.  And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment?  Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?  But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!  He will reward each one according to his works: eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey (ἀπειθοῦσι, a form of ἀπειθέω) the truth (ἀληθείᾳ, another form of ἀλήθεια) but follow unrighteousness.

Near the end of the interview with Jaco Gericke, Robert Price described what he called “Practicing the Absence of God”:

What you use to say was the leading of the Holy Spirit, this internal voice—“Oh, don’t you want to come back? Aren’t you really just trying to escape the implications of the truth?”—you have to eventually regard that as you once did temptations to sin, because intellectually that’s what’s going on.  That’s what it is.  You have to say, “No, I’m sorry, I know better than that.  I’m not going to listen to that.  I’m going to go ahead and make a new start.”

Once you have Nietzsche in your head it’s easy to argue that Jesus’ command, Do not judge, was given, not because He is Yahweh come in human flesh but, because He was as desperate for the scriptures to be true as I am, and so, reasoned and argued in a similar manner.  He was ignorant of, or confused about, the esoteric knowledge that Jaco Gericke and Robert Price possess.  Of course, if Jesus was ignorant or confused, please grant me his ignorance and confusion.  For once you have Nietzsche in your head, it’s just as easy to see that Nietzsche raised unbelief to a high art and faithfully followed that art as its reductio ad absurdum.

A table comparing Romans 4:7 and Psalm 32:1 in the Septuagint follows.

 

Romans 4:7 (NET)

 Parallel Greek Psalm 32:1 (Septuagint)

Psalm 31:1 (NETS)
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered… μακάριοι ὧν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι μακάριοι ὧν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι Happy are those whose lawless behavior was forgiven and whose sins were covered over.

[1] Genesis 6:14b (NET)

[2] Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 14; Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 4

[3] homonym

[4] Joshua 7:21a (NET) Table

[5] Joshua 7:21b (NET) Table

[6] 2 Samuel 11:8a (NET)

[7] 2 Samuel 11:15 (NET), ונכה

[8] It is not the same Hebrew word as Exodus 20:13, but Nathan said, You have killed (hârag, הרגת) him with the sword of the Ammonites (2 Samuel 12:9b NET).  But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill (hârag, להרגו) him cunningly, yehôvâh said, you will take him even from my altar that he may die (Exodus 21:14 NET).

[9] Joshua 6:19 (NET)

[10] John 17:17 (NET)

[11] John 14:6 (NET)

[12] Luke 5:32 (NET)

[13] Matthew 7:1, 2 (NET) Table

[14] Joshua 6:21 (NET)

[15] 2 Samuel 11:1 (NET)

[16] 2 Samuel 12:11, 12 (NET) Table1 Table2

[17] I have written some on this topic: David’s Forgiveness, Part 5; David’s Forgiveness, Part 6; David’s Forgiveness, Part 7; David’s Forgiveness, Part 8; David’s Forgiveness, Part 9; David’s Forgiveness, Part 10 ; David’s Forgiveness, Part 11; David’s Forgiveness, Part 12; David’s Forgiveness, Part 13

[18] Romans 4:7 (NET)

[19] Genesis 7:19 (NET), ויכסו

Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 1

Posted on by

Revisiting an essay—David’s Forgiveness, Part 1—I realized I had put an inordinate emphasis on the word forgiven without looking into the meaning of the original Hebrew word.  My suspicion of Bible translators feels at times like a paranoid schizophrenic’s fear of the CIA.  Lapses like this one renew my appreciation for the maxim, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.”[1]

This essay could be very short.  I could simply say that Nathan actually responded to David’s confession with the words, Yes, and the Lord has passed over[2] (ʽâbar) your sin.  You are not going to die.[3]  Such a translation would agree with Paul’s assessment of God’s past actions: God in his forbearance had passed over (πάρεσιν, a form of πάρεσις) the sins previously committed.[4]  I could simply accept the text at face value, that ʽâbar is not forgiveness and God is free to exact whatever penalty He chooses.

It seems like an ironclad argument.  But five of the twelve Bibles I checked translate ʽâbar in 2 Samuel 12:13 forgiven or forgives.  Of the remaining seven four have it put away, two are taken away, and one, Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away.  How different is that from forgiven really?

ʽâbar 2 Samuel 12:13

Bible Versions
forgiven NET, CEV, NAB
put away ASV, DNT, KJV, NKJV
taken away GWT, NIV
forgives TEV, TMSG
pass away YLT

Do the translators believe that this is all I should expect from the forgiveness God exalted Jesus to give to Israel?  God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness (ἄφεσιν, a form of ἄφεσις) of sins.[5]  Apparently a primary verb to forgive is as absent from holy Hebrew as it is from pagan Greek.  The concept to forgive is either shoehorned into, or extrapolated from, other verbs in both languages.  [Addendum 2/14/2018: This is wrong regarding Hebrew: sâlach (סלח).]  That gives me cause to study ʽâbar in more detail to get a feel for its capacity to carry forgiveness.

I had the opportunity to go home for a month at Christmas.  Home is a relative concept.  I alternated between my mother’s house visiting her, my sister and her husband, and my ex-mother-in-law’s house about a hundred miles north visiting her, my kids, my ex-wife and her husband.  The day after I arrived I attended my son’s wedding.

We all sat in the front row.  I offered the seat next to our ex-wife to my son’s biological father.  He declined the offer and sat next to me.  (Her current husband sat on her other side.)  He is about two years from a painful break-up with his significant other.  He leaned over and whispered to me, “I don’t know how you do it.  I don’t think I could sit next to my ex, smiling, at her son’s wedding.”  He gave me the opportunity to say that I couldn’t take the credit, that it is not my doing so much as my getting out of the way of the Lord’s doing: his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and firm control.  He received it well and acknowledged that he was seeking a similar peace.

Later, in a phone conversation with another friend who questioned me more specifically about the fruit of the Spirit, I acknowledged that sadly the Lord’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness aren’t always my first impulse.  Sometimes letting the fruit of his Spirit shine through me is a matter of waiting in that firm control until the second, third or fourth impulse holds sway.  But as I think of it now there is something else that makes friendship with my ex-wife possible.

I forgave her for divorcing me.  I forgive her every night I go to bed alone and every morning I wake up.  And I will forgive her for as long as we both shall live.  “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel…[6]  I don’t forgive her because I am so righteous.

Jesus taught us to pray, forgive (ἄφες, a form of ἀφίημι) us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven (ἀφήκαμεν, another form of ἀφίημι) our debtors.[7]  I, a sinful man in need of the Father’s forgiveness, pray this daily, and I believe Jesus’ saying: For if you forgive (ἀφῆτε, another form of ἀφίημι) others their sins (παραπτώματα, a form of παράπτωμα), your heavenly Father will also forgive (ἀφήσει, another form of ἀφίημι) you.  But if you do not forgive (ἀφῆτε, another form of ἀφίημι) others, your Father will not forgive (ἀφήσει, another form of ἀφίημι) you your sins (παραπτώματα, a form of παράπτωμα).[8]

And here I probably give myself too much credit for rational consistency.  I forgive because I am schooled in this teaching by the Holy Spirit and filled continuously with his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and firm control.  It occurs to me, however, that one who feels more righteous than I, might feel less need of the Father’s forgiveness and less compulsion to forgive others.  The fault in this logic is that the most righteous man of all prayed, Father, forgive (ἄφες, a form of ἀφίημι) them, for they don’t know what they are doing[9] as He surrendered[10] to his Father’s will.

The Father’s answer to his beloved Son’s request is the hope of all us sinners if it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy[11] (ἐλεῶντος, a form of ἐλεέω).  For God has consigned all people to disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια) so that he may show mercy (ἐλεήσῃ, another form of ἐλεέω) to them all.[12]  What shall we say then?  Is there injustice with God?  Absolutely not!  For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy (ἐλεήσω, another form of ἐλεέω) on whom I have mercy (ἐλεῶ, another form of ἐλεέω), and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[13]

The Greek word ὡς persuades me that forgiveness is, and will be perceived as, a relative as opposed to an absolute concept.  So then, be perfect, as (ὡς) your heavenly Father is perfect.[14]  Whenever you pray, do not be like (ὡς) the hypocrites…[15]  …may your will be done on earth as (ὡς) it is in heaven.[16]  …and forgive us our debts, as (ὡς) we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.[17]  The absolute on/off positions are clear.[18]  But some form of continuum from none to full pardon seems to be indicated by ὡς, contingent upon that quality of forgiveness we extend to others.

Still, I would suggest that we will be inclined to extend the same forgiveness to others that we believe we receive from God.  If that forgiveness seems to include punishment we are more likely to believe that some form of punishment should be meted out with our forgiveness as well.  Or if the one extending such forgiveness has no authority to punish, conditions may be attached, making forgiveness something that must be earned as opposed to something graciously given and received.  I take the interaction between David and Shimei as a case in point.

As David fled from Jerusalem during the events that fulfilled the Lord’s promise to bring disaster (raʽ ) on you from inside your own household,[19] Shimei threw stones and yelled, “Leave!  Leave!  You man of bloodshed, you wicked man!  The Lord has punished (shûb) you for all the spilled blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you rule.  Now the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom.  Disaster (raʽ ) has overtaken you, for you are a man of bloodshed [Table]!”[20]  Clearly, Shimei’s assessment does not agree with Nathan the prophet’s assessment.

Nathan the Prophet’s Assessment

This is what the Lord God of Israel says:

2 Samuel 12:7b (NET) Table

Why have you shown contempt for the word of the Lord by doing evil in my sight?

2 Samuel 12:9a (NET) Table
You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword…

2 Samuel 12:9b (NET)

 …and you have taken his wife as your own!

2 Samuel 2:9c (NET)
You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:9d, 10a (NET)

 For you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10b (NET) Table
I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household!  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion.  He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight!  Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.

2 Samuel 12:11, 12 (NET) Table1 Table2
Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!”  Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has ʽâbar your sin.  You are not going to die.

2 Samuel 12:13 (NET) Table
Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET) Table

The Hebrew word translated punished (shûb) is not found among the words the Lord God of Israel spoke through Nathan,[21] though I have certainly interpreted them as if they described recompense.  As a child I assumed that “forgiveness” only pertained to hell.  I believed that God would still punish me for my sins some other way.  He couldn’t help Himself, I thought, it’s who He is.

Abishai couldn’t tolerate hearing his king and commander spoken to as Shimei had spoken to him: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?  Let me go over (ʽâbar) and cut off his head![22]  Abishai’s use of ʽâbar doesn’t sound much like forgiveness, but David said, “What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah?  If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this [Table]?’”[23]  David exercised what I have come to call an experimental faith (2 Samuel 16:11, 12 NKJV):

And David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life.  How much more now may this Benjamite?  Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the Lord has ordered him [Table].  It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay (shûb) me with good for his cursing this day [Table].”

As David returned, lamenting his Pyrrhic victory[24] over his son Absalom, Shimei was one of the first[25] to greet him.  Don’t think badly of me, my lord, he said, and don’t recall the sin of your servant on the day when you, my lord the king, left Jerusalem!  Please don’t call it to mind!  For I, your servant, know that I sinned, and I have come today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.[26]  These are reminiscent of David’s words after Nathan confronted him (Psalm 51:1-3 NET):

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your loyal love!  Because of your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! [Table]  Wash away my wrongdoing!  Cleanse me of my sin! [Table]  For I am aware of my rebellious acts; I am forever conscious of my sin [Table].

Abishai, who may have been hiding with David in the cave when Saul entered to relieve himself,[27] pursued a pious good (possibly expecting David’s approval): For this should not Shimei be put to death?  After all, he cursed the Lord’s anointed (mâshı̂yach)![28]  But David seemed to pursue something more like a beautiful good: What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah?  You are like my enemy today!  Should anyone be put to death in Israel today?  Don’t you realize that today I am king over Israel?[29]

David said to Shimei, “You won’t die.”  The king vowed an oath concerning this.[30]  Here it sounds like he forgave Shimei.  But apparently that wasn’t the case.  He held onto his grudge against Shimei for the rest of his life.  With his dying breath[31] he instructed Solomon, another son by Bathsheba (1 Kings 2:8, 9 NET):

Note well, you still have to contend with Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who tried to call down upon me a horrible judgment when I went to Mahanaim.  He came down and met me at the Jordan, and I solemnly promised him by the Lord, ‘I will not strike you down with the sword.’  But now don’t treat him as if he were innocent.  You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; make sure he has a bloody death.

The Lord however didn’t treat David that way.  He didn’t recall David’s sin when He spoke to Jeroboams’s wife by Ahijah the prophet (1 Kings 14:7, 8 NET Table1 Table2):

“Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “I raised you up from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel.  I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only (raq) what I approve.”’”

This is another reason I wish to look deeper into ʽâbar.  Whatever it means, it altered reality for the God, who does not lie[32] when He extended it to David.

[1] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/98153-just-because-you-re-paranoid-doesn-t-mean-they-aren-t-after-you

[2] The first occurrence in the Bible is Genesis 8:1b (NKJV), And God made a wind to pass (ʽâbar) over the earth, and the waters subsided.

[3] 2 Samuel 12:13b (NET) Table

[4] Romans 3:25b (NET)

[5] Acts 5:31 (NET)

[6] Malachi 2:16a (NET) Table

[7] Matthew 6:12 (NET) Table

[8] Matthew 6:14, 15 (NET) Table

[9] Luke 23:34a (NET) Table

[10] Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions of angels right now?  How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled (πληρωθῶσιν, a form of πληρόω)? (Matthew 26:53, 54 NET) Table

[11] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table

[12] Romans 11:32 (NET)

[13] Romans 9:14, 15 (NET)

[14] Matthew 5:48 (NET)

[15] Matthew 6:5a (NET) Table

[16] Matthew 6:10b (NET)

[17] Matthew 6:12 (NET)

[18] Matthew 6:14, 15 (NET)

[19] 2 Samuel 12:11 (NET) Table

[20] 2 Samuel 16:7, 8 (NET)

[21] It does occur in the description of events leading up to and following those words (2 Samuel 11:4, 15; 12:23) but seems to be used in its more literal sense, to return.

[22] 2 Samuel 16:9 (NET)

[23] 2 Samuel 16:10 (NET)

[24] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory See: 2 Samuel 18:33 (NET)

[25] 2 Samuel 19:16 (NET)

[26] 2 Samuel 19:19, 20 (NET)

[27] 1 Samuel 24:3 (NET)

[28] 2 Samuel 19:21 (NET)  See also: 1 Samuel 24:6 (NET)

[29] 2 Samuel 19:22 (NET)

[30] 2 Samuel 19:23 (NET)

[31] 1 Kings 2:10 (NET)

[32] Titus 1:2 (NET)

David’s Forgiveness, Part 5

Posted on by

Though the death of David’s first son with Bathsheba alerted me that I couldn’t categorize these events as punishments, it was another aspect of David’s personal karma from the hand of Jesus that made it apparent that something else was at play (2 Samuel 12:11, 12 NET).

I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household! Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight [Table]! Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight [Table].

The fulfillment of this promise began when Amnon, one of David’s sons, fell madly in love with his half-sister Tamar.  But she was a virgin, and to Amnon it seemed out of the question to do anything to her.1  In other words, it was much easier to seduce married, or shall I say sexually experienced, women in ancient Israel than virgins, especially a sister.  Amnon confided in a friend, Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah…a very crafty man.2  Jonadab had a plan Amnon executed flawlessly.

First, Amnon pretended to be ill.  When David came to Amnon’s house to visit his son, Amnon asked, Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can make a couple of cakes in my sight. Then I will eat from her hand.3  Apparently David sensed no guile in his son’s request.  Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare some food for him,4 he told his daughter Tamar.

Tamar did as she was told by her father.  She went to Amnon’s house, kneaded the dough and baked the cakes in front of him.  When she offered the pan to Amnon, he wouldn’t eat.  Get everyone out of here!5 he said.  After everyone left Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the cakes into the bedroom; then I will eat from your hand.6

Apparently Tamar sensed no guile in her brother’s request.  She followed Amnon into the bedroom.  As she brought the cakes to him, he grabbed her and said, Come on!  Get in bed with me, my sister!

No, my brother!  Tamar replied, Don’t humiliate me!  This just isn’t done in Israel!  Don’t do this foolish thing!  How could I ever be rid of my humiliation?  And you would be considered one of the fools in Israel!7

So far Tamar’s protest and the apparent social construct of her reality were congruent with the law:  If a man has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace.  They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people.  He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.8  And, You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them.9  But her protest ended with a stridently incongruent comment: Just speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.10

Was she a frightened girl saying whatever desperate thing popped into her head?  Or did she truly believe David would break the law for Amnon’s sake?  Did she have some unique insight into her father’s character?  I’ve never answered these questions to my own satisfaction, but the attempt has uncovered some interesting things I want to pursue here.

Lot, Abraham’s nephew, traveled with his uncle when Abraham set out to search for the land God promised him.  Eventually, Lot settled in Sodom.  After the destruction of Sodom, Lot lived with his two daughters in a cave in the mountains.  The girls, living at what must have seemed like the end of the world, got their father drunk on two successive nights and took turns sleeping with him to preserve their family line.  The older daughter had a son named Moab who became the ancestor of the Moabites.  The younger daughter had a son named Ben-Ammi, the ancestor of the Ammonites.

This story is from Genesis.11  Thus far in the Bible there was nothing resembling a law of sexual regulation except the command, Be fruitful and multiply!12  It is interesting to note, however, that despite the lack of regulation and the fact that Lot had lost his wife, his daughters did not suppose that he would fall willingly into their scheme unless he was so drunk he didn’t know or remember what he had done.

The socially constructed reality these girls lived in was also notable for a rather curious human regulation.  It had not been that many days since their father offered them as rape victims to an angry mob to protect two guests who spent the night under his roof.  Something similar to this “law of the guest” is still practiced by the tribes that sheltered Osama bin Laden in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan.  It is not proclaimed in the Bible as a command from God.  It is simply reported in the context of Sodom.  But apparently this man-made custom had such power over Lot that he would sooner see harm come to his own daughters than guests who had come under the protection of his roof.  I think it is safe to assume that girls socialized into that reality were more earthy regarding sexual matters than the prissy misses of a more chivalrous age.

So I can understand this rather odd story in the context of that socially constructed reality.  And apparently the genetic diseases and defects of evolution were not yet so predominant that incest necessarily gave them expression.  Considering the history of mate selection recorded in the Bible, Adam’s and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel, married their sisters, presumably, with impunity.  DNA was still fresh and pure.  I can imagine the social reality for Cain’s sons, let’s say.  The more traditional among them longed to grow up and marry a sister just like Dad.  But for the innovator there was a brand new exotic form of female, Uncle Abel’s daughters, cousins.  (Adam was rather prolific, so there were also young aunts to consider.)

In the next generation the ultra-orthodox might marry their sisters like Grandpa.  The traditional might marry cousins (or aunts) like Dad.  The innovator had even more varieties of exotic females to choose from.  And the innovator’s options only continued to expand.  Lot was more of an innovator.  His daughters were engaged to men from Sodom, men who laughed at him and refused to flee with him when he warned them of the city’s impending destruction.  Abraham, more of a traditionalist, sent his faithful servant back to his own country to his own relatives to acquire a wife for his son Isaac.  Yes, he went to a family reunion to pick up chicks, for his son.

It’s not too hard to imagine that when the Lord Jesus delivered the law against incest to Moses, it was received as rather scandalous.  It went against too many traditional and orthodox views of appropriate mate selection.  It favored the innovator as righteous.  I assume that ancient Israelites knew nothing of the recipe for human beings stored in DNA, the chance processes that alter that recipe to produce genetic defects and diseases, the recessive nature of those mutations, the Punnett square or any of the scientific rationale that bolsters anti-incest legislation today.  So when a child with a genetic defect was born to a couple that did not heed the law, what could they believe but that the Lord was punishing them for disobeying his law?

Amnon cared more for his passion than God’s law.  He overpowered [Tamar] and humiliated her by raping her.13

 

Addendum: November 11, 2020
I was surprised that the rabbis who translated the Septuagint chose ἠγάπησεν (a form of ἀγαπάω) to describe Amnon’s affection for Tamar: and Amnon the son of David loved (ἠγάπησεν) her (2 Kings 13:1b English Elpenor).  Granted, they had no access to Paul’s definition of ἀγάπη (1 Corinthians 13), but since Paul hadn’t mentioned sexual attraction I had all but banished it from my understanding of ἀγαπάω/ἀγάπη.

As I looked into it briefly I was just as surprised to discover that they had chosen ἐράσθητι (a form of ἐράω) for a children’s love for their parents’ teaching: And forsake it not, and it shall cleave to thee: love (ἐράσθητι) it, and it shall keep thee (Proverbs 4:6 English Elpenor).  It occurs to me that a study of ἀγαπάω/ἀγάπη and ἐράω/ἔρως in the Septuagint could be very illuminating.

If someone reading this is motivated to do the work to make the tables and analyze the occurrences in Hebrew and Greek, I’ll be happy to publish it in installments here under your name or anonymously as you wish.  The article on Eros on “the Love of God project” online is good place to start for source material.  The BLB Septuagint is searchable once you have the word forms down (and spelled correctly).

Such an undertaking requires a younger mind that cares more.  I am old.  I am single.  I can’t even imagine a woman who would tolerate my Bible study routine.

I wrote that “Amnon pretended to be ill,” but the Hebrew word was a form of חָלָה (chalah) translated into Greek with a form of ἀῤῥωστέω.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
2 Samuel 13:2 (Tanakh) 2 Samuel 13:2 (NET) 2 Reigns 13:2 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:2 (Elpenor English)
And Amnon was so distressed that he fell sick (לְהִתְחַלּ֗וֹת) because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do any thing unto her. But Amnon became frustrated because he was so lovesick (chalah, להתחלות) over his sister Tamar.  For she was a virgin, and to Amnon it seemed out of the question to do anything to her. And Amnon was tormented so as to be ill (ἀρρωστεῗν) because of Themar his sister, for she was a virgin, and it was excessive in Amnon’s sight to do anything to her. And Amnon was distressed even to sickness (ἀρρωστεῖν), because of Themar his sister; for she was a virgin, and it seemed very difficult for Amnon to do anything to her.

2 Samuel 13:6 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:6 (NET) 2 Reigns 13:6 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:6 (English Elpenor)
So Amnon lay down, and feigned himself sick (וַיִּתְחָ֑ל); and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king: ‘Let my sister Tamar come, I pray thee, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.’ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick (chalah, ויתחל).  When the king came in to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can make a couple of cakes in my sight.  Then I will eat from her hand.” And Amnon lay down and became ill (ἠρρώστησεν), and the king came to see him, and Amnon said to the king, “Do let Themar my sister come to me and roll two rolls in my sight, and I will eat from her hand.” So Ammon lay down, and made himself sick (ἠρρώστησε); and the king came in to see him: and Amnon said to the king, Let, I pray thee, my sister Themar come to me, and make a couple of cakes in my sight, and I will eat them at her hand.

The final occurrence of a form of חָלָה (chalah) in this story is in Jonadab’s explanation of his scheme.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
2 Samuel 13:5 (Tanakh) 2 Samuel 13:5 (NET) 2 Reigns 13:5 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:5 (Elpenor English)
And Jonadab said unto him: ‘Lay thee down on thy bed, and feign thyself sick (וְהִתְחָ֑ל); and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him: Let my sister Tamar come, I pray thee, and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.’ Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick (chalah, והתחל).  When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me.  Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch.  Then I will eat from her hand.’” And Ionadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and act weak (μαλακίσθητι), and your father will come in to see you, and you shall say to him, ‘Do let Themar my sister come and feed me some morsels, and let her prepare food in my sight so that I may see and eat from her hands.’” And Jonadab said to him, Lie upon thy bed, and make thyself sick (μαλακίσθητι), and thy father shall come in to see thee; and thou shalt say to him, Let, I pray thee, Themar my sister come, and feed me with morsels, and let her prepare food before my eyes, that I may see and eat at her hands.

Here the rabbis translated it μαλακίσθητι (a form of μαλακίζω) in the Septuagint.  Nothing in these words or in any of the words around them implies that Amnon was pretending.  It isn’t necessary to mock him or ridicule this distress—וַיֵּ֨צֶר (yatsar) in Hebrew, translated was so distressed (Tanakh) and became frustrated (NET), ἐθλίβετο (a form of θλίβω) in Greek, translated was tormented (NET) and was distressed (English Elpenor)—to disapprove of his rape of Tamar.  The pain a man feels over a desirable woman he can’t have for whatever reason isn’t assuaged by pretending it isn’t real pain.

Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 1:3-6 NET):

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ14 overflows to you.  But if we are afflicted (θλιβόμεθα, another form of θλίβω), it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort15 that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer.

I mentioned the tribes in Afghanistan and Pakistan and then failed to footnote that remark.  The following quote is from the The Irish Times article online, “Meet the Pashtuns, the Afghani tribe who rule Pakistan’s’wild west,’” November 10, 2001:

The moral code [e.g., Pashtunwali] also enshrines a principle of hospitality and protection of guests, and this extends even to enemies under one’s roof who surrender their arms upon entering and come under the host’s protection.

“If you look at the Afghanistan crisis, Osama bin Laden is a guest of the Taliban and the Afghan nation who are protecting their guest. People are now dying there but the Afghan people still protect him,” says Badshah [Jan Badshah, a Pashtun from the settled Charsadda district, an all-Pashtun area outside Peshawar].

“If somebody killed a person who disgraced their guest, by Pakistani law he is a criminal. As far as we are concerned we do not consider him a criminal because he is upholding our norms.”

But the very same article calls into question whether Jan Badshah’s contemporaries would surrender their daughters to protect a guest:

At its most extreme, Pashtunwali dictates that a man is duty bound to defend the honour of women in his family or clan which may be violated by as little as an unwelcome lingering glance.

Tables comparing 2 Samuel 13:1; 13:2; 13:3; 13:6; 13:7; 13:9; 13:10; 13:11; 13:12; 13:13; Leviticus 18:9; Genesis 1:28; 2 Samuel 13:14 and 13:5 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing 2 Samuel (Reigns, Kings) 13:1; 13:2; 13:3; 13:6; 13:7; 13:9; 13:10; 13:11; 13:12; 13:13; Leviticus 18:9; Genesis 1:28; 2 Samuel (Reigns, Kings) 13:14 and 13:5 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  A table comparing 2 Corinthians 1:5, 6 in the NET and KJV follows those.

2 Samuel 13:1 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:1 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:1 (NET)
And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar.  In the course of time David’s son Amnon fell madly in love with her.

2 Samuel 13:1 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγενήθη μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τῷ Αβεσσαλωμ υἱῷ Δαυιδ ἀδελφὴ καλὴ τῷ εἴδει σφόδρα καὶ ὄνομα αὐτῇ Θημαρ καὶ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὴν Αμνων υἱὸς Δαυιδ ΚΑΙ ἐγενήθη μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ τῷ ᾿Αβεσσαλὼμ υἱῷ Δαυὶδ ἀδελφὴ καλὴ τῷ εἴδει σφόδρα, καὶ ὄνομα αὐτῇ Θημάρ, καὶ ἠγάπησεν αὐτὴν ᾿Αμνὼν υἱὸς Δαυίδ.

2 Reigns 13:1 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:1 (English Elpenor)
And it happened after this that Abessalom son of Dauid had a sister very beautiful in appearance, and her name was Themar, and Amnon son of Dauid loved her. And it happened after this that Abessalom the son of David had a very beautiful sister, and her name [was] Themar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.

2 Samuel 13:2 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:2 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:2 (NET)
And Amnon was so distressed that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do any thing unto her. And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do any thing to her. But Amnon became frustrated because he was so lovesick over his sister Tamar.  For she was a virgin, and to Amnon it seemed out of the question to do anything to her.

2 Samuel 13:2 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐθλίβετο Αμνων ὥστε ἀρρωστεῗν διὰ Θημαρ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ ὅτι παρθένος ἦν αὐτή καὶ ὑπέρογκον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῗς Αμνων τοῦ ποιῆσαί τι αὐτῇ καὶ ἐθλίβετο ᾿Αμνὼν ὥστε ἀρρωστεῖν διὰ Θημὰρ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι παρθένος ἦν αὕτη, καὶ ὑπέρογκον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ᾿Αμνὼν τοῦ ποιῆσαί τι αὐτῇ

2 Reigns 13:2 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:2 (English Elpenor)
And Amnon was tormented so as to be ill because of Themar his sister, for she was a virgin, and it was excessive in Amnon’s sight to do anything to her. And Amnon was distressed even to sickness, because of Themar his sister; for she was a virgin, and it seemed very difficult for Amnon to do anything to her.

2 Samuel 13:3 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:3 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:3 (NET)
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man. But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man. Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah.  Jonadab was a very crafty man.

2 Samuel 13:3 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἦν τῷ Αμνων ἑταῗρος καὶ ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ιωναδαβ υἱὸς Σαμαα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Δαυιδ καὶ Ιωναδαβ ἀνὴρ σοφὸς σφόδρα καὶ ἦν τῷ ᾿Αμνὼν ἑταῖρος, καὶ ὄνομα αὐτῷ ᾿Ιωναδάβ, υἱὸς Σαμαὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Δαυίδ· καὶ ᾿Ιωναδὰβ ἀνὴρ σοφὸς σφόδρα

2 Reigns 13:3 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:3 (English Elpenor)
And Amnon had a companion, and his name was Ionadab son of Samaa the brother of Dauid, and Ionadab was a very crafty man. And Amnon had a friend, and his name [was] Jonadab, the son of Samaa the brother of David: and Jonadab [was] a very cunning man.

2 Samuel 13:6 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:6 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:6 (NET)
So Amnon lay down, and feigned himself sick; and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king: ‘Let my sister Tamar come, I pray thee, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.’ So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand. So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick.  When the king came in to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can make a couple of cakes in my sight.  Then I will eat from her hand.”

2 Samuel 13:6 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκοιμήθη Αμνων καὶ ἠρρώστησεν καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἰδεῗν αὐτόν καὶ εἶπεν Αμνων πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἐλθέτω δὴ Θημαρ ἡ ἀδελφή μου πρός με καὶ κολλυρισάτω ἐν ὀφθαλμοῗς μου δύο κολλυρίδας καὶ φάγομαι ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῆς καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ᾿Αμνὼν καὶ ἠρρώστησε, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἰδεῖν αὐτόν, καὶ εἶπεν ᾿Αμνὼν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα· ἐλθέτω δὴ Θημὰρ ἡ ἀδελφή μου πρός με καὶ κολλυρισάτω ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς μου δύο κολλυρίδας, καὶ φάγομαι ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῆς

2 Reigns 13:6 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:6 (English Elpenor)
And Amnon lay down and became ill, and the king came to see him, and Amnon said to the king, “Do let Themar my sister come to me and roll two rolls in my sight, and I will eat from her hand.” So Ammon lay down, and made himself sick; and the king came in to see him: and Amnon said to the king, Let, I pray thee, my sister Themar come to me, and make a couple of cakes in my sight, and I will eat them at her hand.

2 Samuel 13:7 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:7 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:7 (NET)
Then David sent home to Tamar, saying: ‘Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him food.’ Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him meat. So David sent Tamar to the house saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare some food for him.”

2 Samuel 13:7 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Θημαρ εἰς τὸν οἶκον λέγων πορεύθητι δὴ εἰς τὸν οἶκον Αμνων τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου καὶ ποίησον αὐτῷ βρῶμα καὶ ἀπέστειλε Δαυὶδ πρὸς Θημὰρ εἰς τὸν οἶκον λέγων· πορεύθητι δὴ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου καὶ ποίησον αὐτῷ βρῶμα

2 Reigns 13:7 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:7 (English Elpenor)
And Dauid sent to Themar, to the house, saying, “Do go to the house of Amnon your brother, and prepare food for him.” And David sent to Themar to the house, saying, Go now to thy brother’s house, and dress him food.

2 Samuel 13:9 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:9 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:9 (NET)
And she took the pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat.  And Amnon said: ‘Have out all men from me.’  And they went out every man from him. And she took a pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat.  And Amnon said, Have out all men from me.  And they went out every man from him. But when she took the pan and set it before him, he refused to eat.  Instead Amnon said, “Get everyone out of here!”  So everyone left.

2 Samuel 13:9 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἔλαβεν τὸ τήγανον καὶ κατεκένωσεν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν φαγεῗν καὶ εἶπεν Αμνων ἐξαγάγετε πάντα ἄνδρα ἐπάνωθέν μου καὶ ἐξήγαγον πάντα ἄνδρα ἀπὸ ἐπάνωθεν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλαβε τὸ τήγανον καὶ κατεκένωσεν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησε φαγεῖν. καὶ εἶπεν ᾿Αμνών· ἐξαγάγετε πάντα ἄνδρα ἀπὸ ἐπάνωθέν μου· καὶ ἐξήγαγον πάντα ἄνδρα ἐπάνωθεν αὐτοῦ

2 Reigns 13:9 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:9 (English Elpenor)
And she took the frying-pan and emptied it out before him, but he did not want to eat.  And Amnon said, “Lead out every man from upon me.”  And they led out every man from upon him. And she took the frying pan and poured them out before him, but he would not eat.  And Amnon said, Send out every man from about me.  And they removed every man from about him.

2 Samuel 13:10 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:10 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:10 (NET)
And Amnon said unto Tamar: ‘Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat of thy hand.’  And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber, that I may eat of thine hand.  And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the cakes into the bedroom; then I will eat from your hand.”  So Tamar took the cakes that she had prepared and brought them to her brother Amnon in the bedroom.

2 Samuel 13:10 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν Αμνων πρὸς Θημαρ εἰσένεγκε τὸ βρῶμα εἰς τὸ ταμίειον καὶ φάγομαι ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου καὶ ἔλαβεν Θημαρ τὰς κολλυρίδας ἃς ἐποίησεν καὶ εἰσήνεγκεν τῷ Αμνων ἀδελφῷ αὐτῆς εἰς τὸν κοιτῶνα καὶ εἶπεν ᾿Αμνὼν πρὸς Θημάρ· εἰσένεγκε τὸ βρῶμα εἰς τὸ ταμιεῖον, καὶ φάγομαι ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου. καὶ ἔλαβε Θημὰρ τὰς κολλυρίδας, ἃς ἐποίησε, καὶ εἰσήνεγκε τῷ ᾿Αμνὼν ἀδελφῷ αὐτῆς εἰς τὸν κοιτῶνα

2 Reigns 13:10 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:10 (English Elpenor)
And Amnon said to Themar, “Bring the food into the chamber, and I will eat from your hand.”  And Themar took the rolls that she had prepared and brought them to Amnon her brother, into the bedroom. And Amnon said to Themar, Bring in the food into the closet, and I will eat of thy hand.  And Themar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them to her brother Amnon into the chamber.

2 Samuel 13:11 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:11 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:11 (NET)
And when she had brought them near unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her: ‘Come lie with me, my sister.’ And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister. As she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come on!  Get in bed with me, my sister!”

2 Samuel 13:11 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ προσήγαγεν αὐτῷ τοῦ φαγεῗν καὶ ἐπελάβετο αὐτῆς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ δεῦρο κοιμήθητι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἀδελφή μου καὶ προσήγαγεν αὐτῷ τοῦ φαγεῖν, καὶ ἐπελάβετο αὐτῆς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ· δεῦρο κοιμήθητι μετ’ ἐμοῦ, ἀδελφή μου.

2 Reigns 13:11 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:11 (English Elpenor)
And she brought them to him to eat, and he took hold of her and said to her “Come on, lie with me, my sister!” And she brought [them] to him to eat, and he caught hold of her, and said to her, Come, lie with me, my sister.

2 Samuel 13:12 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:12 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:12 (NET)
And she answered him: ‘Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel; do not thou this wanton deed. And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly. But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me!  This just isn’t done in Israel!  Don’t do this foolish thing!

2 Samuel 13:12 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ μή ἄδελφέ μου μὴ ταπεινώσῃς με διότι οὐ ποιηθήσεται οὕτως ἐν Ισραηλ μὴ ποιήσῃς τὴν ἀφροσύνην ταύτην καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· μή, ἀδελφέ μου· μὴ ταπεινώσῃς με, διότι οὐ ποιηθήσεται οὕτως ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ, μὴ ποιήσῃς τὴν ἀφροσύνην ταύτην

2 Reigns 13:12 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:12 (English Elpenor)
And she said to him, “No, my brother, do not humiliate me; for it shall not be done in this way in Israel; do not do this folly! And she said to him, Nay, my brother, do not humble me, for it ought not to be so done in Israel; do not this folly.

2 Samuel 13:13 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:13 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:13 (NET)
And I, whither shall I carry my shame? and as for thee, thou wilt be as one of the base men in Israel.  Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.’ And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel.  Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee. How could I ever be rid of my humiliation?  And you would be considered one of the fools in Israel!  Just speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”

2 Samuel 13:13 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:13 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐγὼ ποῦ ἀποίσω τὸ ὄνειδός μου καὶ σὺ ἔσῃ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀφρόνων ἐν Ισραηλ καὶ νῦν λάλησον δὴ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ὅτι οὐ μὴ κωλύσῃ με ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ ἐγὼ ποῦ ἀποίσω τὸ ὄνειδός μου; καὶ σὺ ἔσῃ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀφρόνων ἐν ᾿Ισραήλ· καὶ νῦν λάλησον δὴ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, ὅτι οὐ μὴ κωλύσῃ με ἀπὸ σοῦ

2 Reigns 13:13 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:13 (English Elpenor)
And I, where will I carry away my shame?  And you, you shall be as one of the fools in Israel.  And now, do speak to the king; for surely he shall not withhold me from you.” And I, whither shall I remove my reproach? and thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel.  And now, speak, I pray thee, to the king, for surely he will not keep me from thee.

Leviticus 18:9 (Tanakh)

 Leviticus 18:9 (KJV)

Leviticus 18:9 (NET)
The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother, whether born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. You must not have sexual relations with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual relations with either of them.

Leviticus 18:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Leviticus 18:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀσχημοσύνην τῆς ἀδελφῆς σου ἐκ πατρός σου ἢ ἐκ μητρός σου ἐνδογενοῦς ἢ γεγεννημένης ἔξω οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς ἀσχημοσύνην τῆς ἀδελφῆς σου ἐκ πατρός σου ἢ ἐκ μητρός σου ἐνδογενοῦς ἢ γεγεννημένης ἔξω, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶν

Leviticus 18:9 (NETS)

Leviticus 18:9 (English Elpenor)
You shall not uncover her shame—the shame of your sister, from your father or from your mother, whether born at home or born abroad. The nakedness of thy sister by thy father or by thy mother, born at home or abroad, their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

Genesis 1:28 (Tanakh)

 Genesis 1:28 (KJV)

Genesis 1:28 (NET)
And G-d blessed them; and G-d said unto them: ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth’. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply!  Fill the earth and subdue it!  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:28 (Septuagint BLB)

Genesis 1:28 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ηὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς λέγων αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν καὶ κατακυριεύσατε αὐτῆς καὶ ἄρχετε τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεός, λέγων· αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε καὶ πληρώσατε τὴν γῆν καὶ κατακυριεύσατε αὐτῆς καὶ ἄρχετε τῶν ἰχθύων τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἑρπετῶν τῶν ἑρπόντων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

Genesis 1:28 (NETS)

Genesis 1:28 (English Elpenor)
And God blessed them, saying, “Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and all the cattle and all the earth and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth.” And God blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and flying creatures of heaven, and all the cattle and all the earth, and all the reptiles that creep on the earth.

2 Samuel 13:14 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:14 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:14 (NET)
Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her. Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her. But he refused to listen to her. He overpowered her and humiliated her by raping her.

2 Samuel 13:14 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν Αμνων τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῆς καὶ ἐκραταίωσεν ὑπὲρ αὐτὴν καὶ ἐταπείνωσεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐκοιμήθη μετ᾽ αὐτῆς καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ᾿Αμνὼν τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτῆς καὶ ἐκραταίωσεν ὑπὲρ αὐτὴν καὶ ἐταπείνωσεν αὐτὴν καὶ ἐκοιμήθη μετ’ αὐτῆς

2 Reigns 13:14 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:14 (English Elpenor)
But Amnon did not want to listen to her voice, and he prevailed over her and humiliated her and lay with her. But Amnon would not hearken to her voice; and he prevailed against her, and humbled her, and lay with her.

2 Samuel 13:5 (Tanakh)

 2 Samuel 13:5 (KJV)

2 Samuel 13:5 (NET)
And Jonadab said unto him: ‘Lay thee down on thy bed, and feign thyself sick; and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him: Let my sister Tamar come, I pray thee, and give me bread to eat, and dress the food in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.’ And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand. Jonadab replied to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be sick.  When your father comes in to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come in so she can fix some food for me.  Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch.  Then I will eat from her hand.’”

2 Samuel 13:5 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 13:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Ιωναδαβ κοιμήθητι ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης σου καὶ μαλακίσθητι καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ πατήρ σου τοῦ ἰδεῗν σε καὶ ἐρεῗς πρὸς αὐτόν ἐλθέτω δὴ Θημαρ ἡ ἀδελφή μου καὶ ψωμισάτω με καὶ ποιησάτω κατ᾽ ὀφθαλμούς μου βρῶμα ὅπως ἴδω καὶ φάγω ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῆς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ᾿Ιωναδάβ· κοιμήθητι ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης σου καὶ μαλακίσθητι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ πατήρ σου τοῦ ἰδεῖν σε, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτόν· ἐλθέτω δὴ Θημὰρ ἡ ἀδελφή μου καὶ ψωμισάτω με καὶ ποιησάτω κατ’ ὀφθαλμούς μου βρῶμα, ὅπως ἴδω καὶ φάγω ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῆς

2 Reigns 13:5 (NETS)

2 Kings 13:5 (English Elpenor)
And Ionadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and act weak, and your father will come in to see you, and you shall say to him, ‘Do let Themar my sister come and feed me some morsels, and let her prepare food in my sight so that I may see and eat from her hands.’” And Jonadab said to him, Lie upon thy bed, and make thyself sick, and thy father shall come in to see thee; and thou shalt say to him, Let, I pray thee, Themar my sister come, and feed me with morsels, and let her prepare food before my eyes, that I may see and eat at her hands.

2 Corinthians 1:5, 6 (NET)

2 Corinthians 1:5, 6 (KJV)
For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
ὅτι καθὼς περισσεύει τὰ παθήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς, οὕτως διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ περισσεύει καὶ ἡ παράκλησις ἡμῶν οτι καθως περισσευει τα παθηματα του χριστου εις ημας ουτως δια χριστου περισσευει και η παρακλησις ημων οτι καθως περισσευει τα παθηματα του χριστου εις ημας ουτως δια του χριστου περισσευει και η παρακλησις ημων
But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
εἴτε δὲ θλιβόμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως καὶ σωτηρίας· εἴτε παρακαλούμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως τῆς ἐνεργουμένης ἐν ὑπομονῇ τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων ὧν καὶ ἡμεῖς πάσχομεν ειτε δε θλιβομεθα υπερ της υμων παρακλησεως και σωτηριας της ενεργουμενης εν υπομονη των αυτων παθηματων ων και ημεις πασχομεν ειτε παρακαλουμεθα υπερ της υμων παρακλησεως και σωτηριας και η ελπις ημων βεβαια υπερ υμων ειτε δε θλιβομεθα υπερ της υμων παρακλησεως και σωτηριας της ενεργουμενης εν υπομονη των αυτων παθηματων ων και ημεις πασχομεν και η ελπις ημων βεβαια υπερ υμων ειτε παρακαλουμεθα υπερ της υμων παρακλησεως και σωτηριας

1 2 Samuel 13:1, 2 (NET)

2 2 Samuel 13:3 (NET)

3 2 Samuel 13:6 (NET)

4 2 Samuel 13:7 (NET)

5 2 Samuel 13:9 (NET)

6 2 Samuel 13:10 (NET)

7 2 Samuel 13:11-13a (NET)

8 Leviticus 20:17 (NET) Table

9 Leviticus 18:9 (NET)

10 2 Samuel 13:13b (NET)

12 Genesis 1:28 (NET)

13 2 Samuel 13:14 (NET)

14 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τοῦ preceding Christ.  The Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

15 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και σωτηριας (KJV: and salvation) here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.  Also, the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had (at different locations in the text) και η ελπις ημων βεβαια υπερ υμων (not translated in the KJV).

David’s Forgiveness, Part 2

Posted on by

The irony wasn’t lost on me.  I had a good laugh at myself as I realized I was frustrated with the Bible and complaining because God was too merciful.  “If He would just follow the law, my life would be a whole lot simpler.”  True enough, dead is a whole lot simpler than alive.  I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy1 God said to Moses after giving the law at Mount Sinai.  I had certainly seen the verse.  I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion2 Paul reiterated in his letter to the Romans.  I had read that one, too.  But it seemed so arbitrary and unfair I had blipped it.  I wanted to think of God as good not evil, and righteousness meant obeying the law.  Didn’t it?

It was another crack in the shell my contract with God had become.  I experimented briefly with calling these events “consequences,” rather than punishments.  But “consequences” seemed to imply more universality than I believe to be the case here.  This particular concatenation of events is uniquely and personally David’s life.  So I called it “David’s personal karma from the hand of Jesus.”

David’s personal karma from the hand of Jesus
You have killed him [Uriah] with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12:9 (NET) Table

 So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET) Table
For [Because] you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)

 This is what the Lord says: “I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household! Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight! [Table] Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight” [Table].

2 Samuel 12:11,12
…because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter…

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET) Table

 …the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET)

This karma had something to do with David’s sin, obviously, but it also had something to do with God’s forgiveness.  I can’t actually recall how soon I began to wonder if it had something to do with “all things working together for good” and making David’s “sins as white as snow” as well.

If David’s child didn’t die as a punishment, why did he die? I began to ponder.  Come on, I argued with myself, a child contracted a fatal disease and died three thousand years before the advent of modern medicine.  What’s the big deal?  I agree with that statement, believe it or not.

I was born in the middle of the last century.  I was as thoroughly socialized in this age of medical advancement as anyone.  I expect this medical advance to continue without foreseeable end.  I don’t take The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill3 literally.  I assume this is an ancient manner of speaking, that the Lord’s actual action was inaction, not protecting this particular child at this particular time from infection, or not healing this particular child after infection.  I don’t believe that every child’s death is as theologically meaningful as this particular child’s death.  Nor do I believe that this child’s death is a statistically random event mistakenly imbued with theological significance.  The prophetic pairing of this child’s death with David’s contempt for Jesus infuses it with significance.  And that significance is what I’m trying to understand here.

One more thing, the Lord Jesus/Yahweh, whether by action or inaction, has taken full responsibility for this child’s death: The Lord struck the child.  I realize it is more customary to argue that God’s hand was forced because David had treated the Lord with such contempt.  I’ve probably argued this way myself.  But it seems to me now that any attempt to exonerate God by limiting Him, saying He was backed into a corner, or his hand was forced by some circumstance, is simply not to know Him.  And I am always mindful now of what happened when Jesus took responsibility for Peter’s denial.

One thought occurred to me early on:  Perhaps the Lord Jesus didn’t want David to have the blessing and benefit of a son by such ill-gotten means as adultery and murder.  The Psalm I took as my point of departure is actually credited to Solomon (Psalm 127:3-5 NET):

Yes, sons are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Sons born during one’s youth are like arrows in a warrior’s hand.  How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!  They will not be put to shame when they confront enemies at the city gate.

Though the pen was Solomon’s the thought here seems to me to be David’s.  First, the warrior language seems more like David than Solomon.  Second, my own, “yeah, right” response to this Psalm the first time I read it, informs me that a man is not likely to feel this way about his sons unless he has first been treated this way by his father.

My father advised me to watch out for women.  They would try to trap and trick me into raising their children.  At school I was learning other things about the evils of children.  Children had real value in the past, helping out on the farm or in the family business.  But during my childhood, though it may have been somewhat true for rich business owners, for most working-class families children were an unnecessary expense, a meaningless burden and a general nuisance to have around.  Besides all this the population bomb defined the social and political climate of my upbringing.  We were all going to die because there were just too many of us already.  Children were not a blessing, but a curse, the punishment for sex.

This is as good a time as any to address The Social Construction of Reality.

As I became an atheist I thought I was being logical and consistently rational.  As I turned again to a semblance of faith in God I thought I was being logical and consistently rational (though I was a bit concerned as I devoured the Bible that I was “swallowing all this religious stuff hook, line and sinker”).  I assumed that I could not have been truly rational in both instances unless there was some fatal flaw in logic itself.  The binary nature of logic seemed like the culprit to me.

Its insufficiency is fairly obvious in law:  “Have you stopped beating your wife?  Answer yes or no.”  But an axiom of more conventional logic—either a statement or its negation is true—seemed just as flawed.  If one has any affection for truth, is it possible to believe one can know it by adding the word “not” to an obvious falsehood?  If I negate the word of Satan, the father of lies, do I then possess the word of God?  I believe it?  That settles it?

That kind of instinctual argument doesn’t mean much in logic.  But the best I could conjure was the statement:  Jackie must eat her vegetables.  There is a world of potential truths between Jackie must eat her vegetables and the negation of that statement:  Jackie must not eat her vegetables.  Jackie might spit up her vegetables.  Jackie might fling her vegetables against the wall.  Jackie might dump the bowl of vegetables on her head.

Of course the logician would counter with the formal:  It is not the case that Jackie must eat her vegetables.  Still, I hoped that even the most hardboiled logician might concede that he was resorting to this formalism simply to maintain the truth of the very axiom in question—either a statement or its negation is true.  I began to suspect that the two choices, true and false, were insufficient to account for reality.  Reality was tripartite in nature—three not two.  I began to collect quotations for my magnum philosophical opus “The Tripartite Rationality Index.”

Also, to counter the “hook, line and sinker” effect of reading the Bible, I began to search for ballast to keep me honest.  I started with Why I am not a Christian by Bertrand Russell, but he didn’t seem to know much about the Bible.  Russell did introduce me, however, to Nietzsche.

I quit my job.  It was no great sacrifice.  I hated that job.  I got a part time job, read Nietzsche, the Bible and everything else I could get my hands on, and collected notes for “The Tripartite Rationality Index.”

Finally, the day came.  I sat on the floor in my apartment, arranging and rearranging my note cards in various relationships.  I said to myself, “You haven’t written a word yet.  It’s time to put up or shut up.  What is the third thing?  Describe it.”  I sat there all afternoon trying—ever more clearly—to define the third thing.  In the end I couldn’t distinguish my clearest description from faith.  I picked up my notes, put them away, and enrolled in college for the second time in my life.

One thing was gained from my reinvention of the wheel.  Before that afternoon the opposition of faith and reason was deeply ingrained in me.  No matter what I thought or said, I believed at the very core of my being that faith was opposed to reason as reason was opposed to faith.  After that afternoon, I believed at the very core of my being that faith and reason were joined in a virtually eternal pas de deux, or dance for two, swirling and twirling, tracing out ever more complex arabesques, their patterns as individual and unique as the content of the faiths that started, and the individual application of reasons that sustained, their dance.

It was in college this second time, in a Geography class, where I first heard of The Social Construction of Reality by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann.  I wanted to read it.  I went to the Library immediately after class.  I intended to refute it.  I couldn’t.  I don’t intend to endorse every aspect of Berger’s and Luckmann’s thesis.  I’m not sure I understood every aspect of it.  But that taken for granted knowledge—this is the way the world works, this is the way things are done—is a social construct handed down from generation to generation, locale to locale, family to family, even guild or occupation or virtual community to guild, occupation or virtual community.  It is deeply internalized by all recipients, believed without question, twisted, bent, nudged and deformed by all manner of individual quirks, tastes and idiosyncrasies, until it no longer delivers the goods it was intended to deliver.  And on that last point, Berger and Luckmann may have been overly optimistic.

And though my conservative, evangelical, fundamental Christian upbringing made me desirous to argue  that reality is not—and cannot be—socially constructed, it was my socialization in that community that made me most aware that the knowledge of reality is, in fact, socially constructed.  I had witnessed how alarmed and concerned my elders were any time they heard or read anything contrary to the laws of God revealed in the Bible.  They couldn’t very well deny the social construction of reality when they spent their lives trying to halt or reverse it (at very least, they complained about it) because it proceeded without reference to God, Christ or the Bible.

No, it’s not what I had meant by reality; it’s not what I had hoped for reality.  But I was beginning to see that this knowledge of reality mediated my experience of reality.  And the knowledge of reality is socially constructed by parents and teachers and legislators and thinkers and writers and pundits and poets and entertainers and all manner of people, even theologians, priests and preachers.

 

Addendum: May 10, 2020
A table comparing Paul’s quotation of Exodus 33:19 from the Septuagint follows:

Romans 9:15b (NET Parallel Greek)

 Exodus 33:19b (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 33:19b (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ, καὶ οἰκτειρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτείρω

Romans 9:15b (NET)

 Exodus 33:19b (NETS)

Exodus 33:19b (English Elpenor)
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and will have pity on whom I will have pity.

Tables comparing Exodus 33:19; Psalm 127:3; 127:4 and 127:5 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing Exodus 33:19; Psalm 127:3 (126:3); 127:4 (126:4) and 127:5 (126:5) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Exodus 33:19 (Tanakh)

 Exodus 33:19 (KJV)

Exodus 33:19 (NET)
And He said: ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of HaShem before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’ And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And the Lord said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious; I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.”

Exodus 33:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Exodus 33:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν ἐγὼ παρελεύσομαι πρότερός σου τῇ δόξῃ μου καὶ καλέσω ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου κύριος ἐναντίον σου καὶ ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω καὶ εἶπεν· ἐγὼ παρελεύσομαι πρότερός σου τῇ δόξῃ μου καὶ καλέσω τῷ ὀνόματί μου, Κύριος ἐναντίον σου· καὶ ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ, καὶ οἰκτειρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτείρω

Exodus 33:19 (NETS)

Exodus 33:19 (English Elpenor)
And he said, “I will pass by before you in my glory, and I will call by my name “Lord” before you.  And I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.” And [God] said, I will pass by before thee with my glory, and I will call by my name, the Lord, before thee; and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and will have pity on whom I will have pity.

Psalm 127:3 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 127:3 (KJV)

Psalm 127:3 (NET)
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Yes, sons are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalm 127:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 126:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἰδοὺ ἡ κληρονομία κυρίου υἱοί ὁ μισθὸς τοῦ καρποῦ τῆς γαστρός ἰδοὺ ἡ κληρονομία Κυρίου υἱοί, ὁ μισθὸς τοῦ καρποῦ τῆς γαστρός

Psalm 126:3 (NETS)

Psalm 126:3 (English Elpenor)
Look, the heritage from the Lord is sons, the wage of the fruit of the womb. Behold, the inheritance of the Lord, children, the reward of the fruit of the womb.

Psalm 127:4 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 127:4 (KJV)

Psalm 127:4 (NET)
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Sons born during one’s youth are like arrows in a warrior’s hand.

Psalm 127:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 126:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὡσεὶ βέλη ἐν χειρὶ δυνατοῦ οὕτως οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἐκτετιναγμένων ὡσεὶ βέλη ἐν χειρὶ δυνατοῦ, οὕτως οἱ υἱοὶ τῶν ἐκτετιναγμένων

Psalm 126:4 (NETS)

Psalm 126:4 (English Elpenor)
Like arrows in the hand of a powerful one, so are the sons of those expelled. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of those who were outcasts.

Psalm 127:5 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 127:5 (KJV)

Psalm 127:5 (NET)
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.  They will not be put to shame when they confront enemies at the city gate.

Psalm 127:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 126:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μακάριος ἄνθρωπος ὃς πληρώσει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτοῦ ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ καταισχυνθήσονται ὅταν λαλῶσι τοῗς ἐχθροῗς αὐτῶν ἐν πύλῃ μακάριος ὃς πληρώσει τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν αὐτοῦ ἐξ αὐτῶν· οὐ καταισχυνθήσονται, ὅταν λαλῶσι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς αὐτῶν ἐν πύλαις

Psalm 126:5 (NETS)

Psalm 126:5 (English Elpenor)
Happy the person who will satisfy his desire with them.  They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in a gate. Blessed is the man who shall satisfy his desire with them: they shall not be ashamed when they shall speak to their enemies in the gates.

1 Exodus 33:19 (NET)

2 Romans 9:15 (NET)

3 2 Samuel 12:15 (NET) Table

David’s Forgiveness, Part 1

Posted on by

How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, Psalm 119 begins, who obey the law of the Lord.   How blessed are those who observe his rules, and seek him with all their heart, who, moreover, do no wrong, but follow in his footsteps.  You demand that your precepts be carefully kept.1  Every word is true [See Addendum below], but the psalmist was aware that his actions were not blameless, that he did not obey the Law of the Lord, or follow in his footsteps.

If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes!  The Psalm continues.  Then I would not be ashamed, if I were focused on all your commands.2  The psalmist made promises, whether foxhole promises or genuine I can’t say for sure.  I will give you sincere thanks, when I learn your just regulations.  I will keep your statutes.3  The psalmist’s final plea persuades me, however, that the spirit was willing even if the flesh was weak.  Do not completely abandon me!4

This is the human condition before God in a nutshell.  It sets the stage as I begin to grapple with what happened to David as a result of his sin.  I want to analyze David’s sin like this:

God’s Law – Exodus 20:1, 13, 14 (NET)

David’s Sin – 2 Samuel 12:9 (NET)5 Table
God spoke all these words (dâbâr, הדברים) [Table]: [David showed] contempt for the word (dâbâr, דבר) of the Lord by doing evil in [his] sight…
You shall not murder [Table]. 1. [he] struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword
You shall not commit adultery [Table]. 2. [he took] his wife as [his] own

I have returned to this incident over and over, trying to understand the Gospel and David’s relationship to it in the Lord’s mind.  Initially, given my perverse predilections, I analyzed 2 Samuel 12:9b-12 and 14 as “Sin” and its corresponding “Punishment.”

Sin

Punishment
You have killed [Uriah] with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12:9 (NET)

 So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET) Table
For [Because] you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)

 I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household!  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion.  He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight!  Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.

2 Samuel 12:11,12 (NET) Table1 Table2
…because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter…

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET) Table

 …the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14 (NET)

The problem with my initial analysis was that it tainted the Lord’s forgiveness in my mind.  I felt all warm and fuzzy about that forgiveness when I read the words, but my analysis convinced me that what the Lord actually did was reduce David’s sentence.

Sin

Punishment

David’s Actual Punishment
You have killed [Uriah] with the sword of the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 12:9 (NET)

 Whoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death….if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Exodus 21:12, 14 (NET) Table1 Table2

 So now the sword will never depart from your house.

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)
For [Because] you have despised me by taking the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own!

2 Samuel 12:10 (NET)

 If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Leviticus 20:10 (NET) Table

 I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household!  Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight! Although you have acted in secret, I will do this thing before all Israel, and in broad daylight.

2 Samuel 12:11, 12 (NET)
…because you have treated (nā’aṣ, נאץ) the Lord with such contempt (nā’aṣ, נאצת) in this matter…

2 Samuel 12:14a (NET)

?

 …the son who has been born to you will certainly die.

2 Samuel 12:14b (NET)

I couldn’t find a punishment in the law to relate directly to 2 Samuel 12:14a.  The Hebrew word for the way David treated the Lord (nâʼats, נאץ) is found first in Numbers.  When the Israelite spies returned from the promised land, all but Caleb said (Numbers 13:31-33 NET):

We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!…The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants.  All the people we saw there are of great stature.  We even saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed liked grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.

This majority opinion discouraged the people.  They complained to Moses and Aaron (Numbers 14:2b-4 NET):

If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness!  Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder?  Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?…Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.

I was having a similar meltdown, blaming Jesus (A.K.A. “that vengeful Jehovah”) for punishing David’s innocent son for David’s sin.  Moses and Aaron prostrated themselves before their distraught people.  Joshua and Caleb rushed in, tore their robes, and said (Numbers 14:7-9 NET):

The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land.  If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey.  Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.  Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us.  Do not fear them!

The people threatened to stone them and probably would have if the glory of the Lord had not appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.6  The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise (nā’aṣ, ינאצני) me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?7

This same Hebrew word occurs in Deuteronomy 31:16-21 (NET):

Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are going.  They will reject (ʽâzab, ועזבני) me and break my covenant that I have made with them.  At that time my anger will erupt against them and I will abandon (ʽâzab, ועזבתים) them and hide my face from them until they are devoured.  Many disasters and distresses will overcome them so that they will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters overcome us because our God is not among us?’  But I will certainly hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they will have done by turning to other gods.  Now write down for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites.  Put it into their very mouths so that this song may serve as my witness against the Israelites!  For after I have brought them to the land I promised to their ancestors – one flowing with milk and honey – and they eat their fill and become fat, then they will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject (nā’aṣ, ונאצוני) me and break my covenant.  Then when many disasters and distresses overcome them this song will testify against them, for their descendants will not forget it.  I know the intentions they have in mind today, even before I bring them to the land I have promised.”

The unbelief and rebellion in my heart that came from calling the death of David’s son a punishment for David’s sin caused me to rethink my position.  I noticed then that 2 Samuel 12:14 came after 2 Samuel 12:13 (NET Table): Then David exclaimed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord!”  Nathan replied to David, “Yes, and the Lord has forgiven [See Addendum below] your sin.  You are not going to die.”

That’s right, it finally dawned on me, the punishment for David’s sin was death.  Nathan prophesied the death of David’s son after God forgave David.  If these events, for lack of a better term, were punishments they would be David’s death.  They couldn’t be punishments.  Perhaps these events had as much to do with David’s forgiveness as with his sin, I thought.  God’s forgiveness was the intervening event that changed everything, otherwise David would be dead, no fuss, no muss, and I wouldn’t be confused, trying to figure out how to think and feel about events that couldn’t happen to a dead man.

 

Addendum: November 22, 2014
For some reason it didn’t occur to me two years ago to question the translation of ʽâbar as forgiven.  The Septuagint’s παρεβίβασεν [February 15, 2018: παρεβίβασεν is a form of παραβιβάζω: “to put aside, remove, to usurp, to pass over”] was not defined on most sites I visited.  One site braved “cause to mount.”  I’m not inclined to touch that at the moment, beyond the observation that it doesn’t sound like the translators of the Septuagint believed that David was forgiven anything.  Only the modern translations and paraphrases in my possession, NET and CEV, translate ʽâbar as forgiven (forgives, TEV, TMSG); put away, KJV, NKJV, ASV, DNT; taken away, GWT, NIV; pass away, YLT.  If put away, taken away or pass away are something less than forgiven, I would consider returning to my original position that the events following the ʽâbar of David’s sin are punishments.

 

Addendum: April 14, 2020
The difference between the Masoretic text and Septuagint in Psalm 119:2 (118:2) seemed important enough to highlight.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Psalm 119:2 (Tanakh) Psalm 119:2 (NET) Psalm 118:2 (NETS)

Psalm 118:2 (English Elpenor)
Blessed are they that keep (נֹֽצְרֵ֥י) his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. How blessed are those who observe (nāṣar, נצרי) his rules, and seek him with all their heart, Happy are those who search out (ἐξερευνῶντες) his testimonies; wholeheartedly they will seek (ἐκζητήσουσιν) him. Blessed are they that search out (ἐξερευνῶντες) his testimonies: they will diligently seek (ἐκζητήσουσιν) him with the whole heart.

Where the Masoretic text had (nāṣar, נֹֽצְרֵ֥י), the rabbis chose ἐξερευνῶντες (a form of ἐξερευνάω).  They firmly established the link between searching the Scriptures and seeking the Lord.  The Greek word translated seek in the Septuagint was ἐκζητήσουσιν (a form of ἐκζητέω).  Running נֹֽצְרֵ֥י through Morfix was very interesting.

Morfix
Hebrew Tanakh Homographs Definition
נֹֽצְרֵ֥ keep נֵצֶר stem, shoot; (literary) scion; נצרים – reeds
נָצַר (literary) to guard, to save; (weaponry) to lock; to keep, to maintain
הֵצֵר to narrow; (sewing) to take in
יָצַר to create; to produce, to generate
נִצֵּר to Christianize
הֵצֵר to be sorry (for something), to regret

Peter used different forms of both ἐξερευνάω and ἐκζητέω in his first letter (1 Peter 1:10-12 NET):

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched (ἐξεζήτησαν, a form of ἐκζητέω) and investigated carefully8 (ἐξηραύνησαν, a form of ἐξερευνάω).  They probed (ἐραυνῶντες, a form of ἐρευνάω) into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.  They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you,9 in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of.

Again, the rabbis who translated the Hebrew text into Greek before Jesus had come to be rejected by Israel understood Psalm 119:3 (118:3) differently, or had different Hebrew text to understand and translate.

Masoretic Text

 Septuagint
Psalm 119:3 (Tanakh) Psalm 119:3 (NET) Psalm 118:3 (NETS)

Psalm 118:3 (English Elpenor)
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. who, moreover, do no wrong, but follow in his footsteps. For those who practice lawlessness did not walk in his ways. For they that work iniquity have not walked in his ways.

Tables comparing Psalm 119:1; 119:2; 119:3; 119:4; 119:5; 119:6; 119:7; 119:8; Numbers 13:31; 13:32; 13:33; 14:2; 14:3; 14:4; 14:7; 14:8; 14:9; 14:10; 14:11; Deuteronomy 31:16; 31:17; 31:18; 31:19; 31:20 and 31:21 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and Psalm 119:1 (118:1); 119:2 (118:2); 119:3 (118:3); 119:4 (118:4); 119:5 (118:5); 119:6 (118:6); 119:7 (118:7); 119:8 (118:8); Numbers 13:31 (13:32); 13:32 (13:33); 13:33 (13:34); 14:2 (14:2, 3a); 14:3 (14:3b); 14:4; 14:7; 14:8; 14:9; 14:10; 14:11; Deuteronomy 31:16; 31:17; 31:18; 31:19; 31:20 and 31:21 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.  Following those are tables comparing 1 Peter 1:10 and 1:12 in the NET and KJV.

Psalm 119:1 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:1 (KJV)

Psalm 119:1 (NET)
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. ALEPH.  Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. (Alef) How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, who obey the law of the Lord.

Psalm 119:1 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
αλληλουια αʹ αλφ μακάριοι οἱ ἄμωμοι ἐν ὁδῷ οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν νόμῳ κυρίου ᾿Αλληλούϊα. – ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΙ οἱ ἄμωμοι ἐν ὁδῷ οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν νόμῳ Κυρίου

Psalm 118:1 (NETS)

Psalm 118:1 (English Elpenor)
Hallelouia.  alph.  Happy are the blameless in way, who walk in the Lord’s law. [Alleluia.]  Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

Psalm 119:2 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:2 (KJV)

Psalm 119:2 (NET)
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. How blessed are those who observe his rules, and seek him with all their heart,

Psalm 119:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
μακάριοι οἱ ἐξερευνῶντες τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ ἐκζητήσουσιν αὐτόν μακάριοι οἱ ἐξερευνῶντες τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ· ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ ἐκζητήσουσιν αὐτόν

Psalm 118:2 (NETS)

Psalm 118:2 (English Elpenor)
Happy are those who search out his testimonies; wholeheartedly they will seek him. Blessed are they that search out his testimonies: they will diligently seek him with the whole heart.

Psalm 119:3 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:3 (KJV)

Psalm 119:3 (NET)
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Yea, they do no unrighteousness; They walk in his ways. who, moreover, do no wrong, but follow in his footsteps.

Psalm 119:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν ἐν ταῗς ὁδοῗς αὐτοῦ ἐπορεύθησαν οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπορεύθησαν

Psalm 118:3 (NETS)

Psalm 118:3 (English Elpenor)
For those who practice lawlessness did not walk in his ways. For they that work iniquity have not walked in his ways.

Psalm 119:4 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:4 (KJV)

Psalm 119:4 (NET)
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. You demand that your precepts be carefully kept.

Psalm 119:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
σὺ ἐνετείλω τὰς ἐντολάς σου φυλάξασθαι σφόδρα σὺ ἐνετείλω τὰς ἐντολάς σου τοῦ φυλάξασθαι σφόδρα

Psalm 118:4 (NETS)

Psalm 118:4 (English Elpenor)
It is you who commanded your commandments to keep diligently. Thou hast commanded [us] diligently to keep thy precepts.

Psalm 119:5 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:5 (KJV)

Psalm 119:5 (NET)
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Oh that my ways were established To observe thy statutes! If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes.

Psalm 119:5 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὄφελον κατευθυνθείησαν αἱ ὁδοί μου τοῦ φυλάξασθαι τὰ δικαιώματά σου ὄφελον κατευθυνθείησαν αἱ ὁδοί μου τοῦ φυλάξασθαι τὰ δικαιώματά σου.

Psalm 118:5 (NETS)

Psalm 118:5 (English Elpenor)
O that my ways may be directed to keep your statutes! O that my ways were directed to keep thine ordinances.

Psalm 119:6 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:6 (KJV)

Psalm 119:6 (NET)
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. Then I would not be ashamed, if I were focused on all your commands.

Psalm 119:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τότε οὐ μὴ ἐπαισχυνθῶ ἐν τῷ με ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς σου τότε οὐ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ ἐν τῷ με ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς σου

Psalm 118:6 (NETS)

Psalm 118:6 (English Elpenor)
Then I shall not be put to shame, as I regard all your commandments. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect to all thy commandments.

Psalm 119:7 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:7 (KJV)

Psalm 119:7 (NET)
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will give you sincere thanks, when I learn your just regulations.

Psalm 119:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι κύριε ἐν εὐθύτητι καρδίας ἐν τῷ μεμαθηκέναι με τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι ἐν εὐθύτητι καρδίας ἐν τῷ μεμαθηκέναι με τὰ κρίματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης σου

Psalm 118:7 (NETS)

Psalm 118:7 (English Elpenor)
I will acknowledge you with uprightness of heart, when I have learned the judgments of your righteousness. I will give thee thanks with uprightness of heart, when I have learnt the judgments of thy righteousness.

Psalm 119:8 (Tanakh)

 Psalm 119:8 (KJV)

Psalm 119:8 (NET)
I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. I will keep your statutes.  Do not completely abandon me.

Psalm 119:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Psalm 118:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
τὰ δικαιώματά σου φυλάξω μή με ἐγκαταλίπῃς ἕως σφόδρα τὰ δικαιώματά σου φυλάξω· μή με ἐγκαταλίπῃς ἕως σφόδρα

Psalm 118:8 (NETS)

Psalm 118:8 (English Elpenor)
Your statutes I will observe; do not utterly forsake me. I will keep thine ordinances: O forsake me not greatly.

Numbers 13:31 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 13:31 (KJV)

Numbers 13:31 (NET)
But the men that went up with him said: ‘We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.’ But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against these people, because they are stronger than we are!”

Numbers 13:31 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 13:32 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ συναναβάντες μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ εἶπαν οὐκ ἀναβαίνομεν ὅτι οὐ μὴ δυνώμεθα ἀναβῆναι πρὸς τὸ ἔθνος ὅτι ἰσχυρότερόν ἐστιν ἡμῶν μᾶλλον καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ συναναβάντες μετ’ αὐτοῦ εἶπαν· οὐκ ἀναβαίνομεν, ὅτι οὐ μὴ δυνώμεθα ἀναβῆναι πρὸς τὸ ἔθνος, ὅτι ἰσχυρότερον ἡμῶν ἐστι μᾶλλον.

Numbers 13:32 (NETS)

Numbers 13:32 (English Elpenor)
But the men who went up together with him said, “We are not going up, because by no means will we be able to go up against the nation, because they are much stronger than we.” But the men that went up together with him said, We will not go up, for we shall not by any means be able to go up against the nation, for it is much stronger than we.

Numbers 13:32 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 13:32 (KJV)

Numbers 13:32 (NET)
And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through to investigate is a land that devours its inhabitants.  All the people we saw there are of great stature.

Numbers 13:32 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 13:33 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐξήνεγκαν ἔκστασιν τῆς γῆς ἣν κατεσκέψαντο αὐτήν πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ λέγοντες τὴν γῆν ἣν παρήλθομεν αὐτὴν κατασκέψασθαι γῆ κατέσθουσα τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς ἐστιν πᾶς ὁ λαός ὃν ἑωράκαμεν ἐν αὐτῇ ἄνδρες ὑπερμήκεις καὶ ἐξήνεγκαν ἔκστασιν τῆς γῆς, ἣν κατεσκέψαντο αὐτὴν πρὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραήλ, λέγοντες· τὴν γῆν, ἣν παρήλθομεν αὐτὴν κατασκέψασθαι, γῆ κατέσθουσα τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπ’ αὐτῆς ἐστι· καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαός, ὃν ἑωράκαμεν ἐν αὐτῇ, ἄνδρες ὑπερμήκεις

Numbers 13:33 (NETS)

Numbers 13:33 (English Elpenor)
And they brought about consternation for the land that they had spied out, to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land we passed through to spy out—it is a land that devours those who live upon it.  All the people that we saw in it are very tall men, And they brought a horror of that land which they surveyed upon the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed by to survey it, is a land that eats up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of extraordinary stature.

Numbers 13:33 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 13:33 (KJV)

Numbers 13:33 (NET)
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.’ And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. We even saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak came from the Nephilim), and we seemed like grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.”

Numbers 13:33 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 13:34 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐκεῗ ἑωράκαμεν τοὺς γίγαντας καὶ ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτως ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκεῖ ἑωράκαμεν τοὺς γίγαντας καὶ ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν ὡσεὶ ἀκρίδες, ἀλλὰ καὶ οὕτως ἦμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν

Numbers 13:34 (NETS)

Numbers 13:34 (English Elpenor)
and we have seen the giants there, and we were before them like grasshoppers—indeed even so we were before them.” And there we saw the giants; and we were before them as locusts, yea even so were we before them.

Numbers 14:2 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:2 (KJV)

Numbers 14:2 (NET)
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them: ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would we had died in this wilderness! And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:2 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:2 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ διεγόγγυζον ἐπὶ Μωυσῆν καὶ Ααρων πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγή ὄφελον ἀπεθάνομεν ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἢ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ εἰ ἀπεθάνομεν καὶ διεγόγγυζον ἐπὶ Μωυσῆν καὶ ᾿Ααρὼν πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς αὐτοὺς πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγή· ὄφελον ἀπεθάνομεν ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ, ἢ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ εἰ ἀπεθάνομεν

Numbers 14:2 (NETS)

Numbers 14:2, 3a (English Elpenor)
And all the sons of Israel were complaining against Moyses and Aaron, and all the congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt!  Or if we had died in this wilderness! And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; and all the congregation said to them, (3) Would we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness, would we had died!

Numbers 14:3 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:3 (KJV)

Numbers 14:3 (NET)
And wherefore doth HaShem bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword?  Our wives and our little ones will be a prey; were it not better for us to return into Egypt?’ And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder?  Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Numbers 14:3 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:3 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἵνα τί κύριος εἰσάγει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην πεσεῗν ἐν πολέμῳ αἱ γυναῗκες ἡμῶν καὶ τὰ παιδία ἔσονται εἰς διαρπαγήν νῦν οὖν βέλτιον ἡμῗν ἐστιν ἀποστραφῆναι εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἱνατί Κύριος εἰσάγει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην πεσεῖν ἐν πολέμῳ; αἱ γυναῖκες ἡμῶν καὶ τὰ παιδία ἔσονται εἰς διαρπαγήν· νῦν οὖν βέλτιον ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἀποστραφῆναι εἰς Αἴγυπτον

Numbers 14:3 (NETS)

Numbers 14:3b (English Elpenor)
And why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall in war? Our wives and children will become plunder!  Now then, it is better for us to turn back into Egypt.” and why does the Lord bring us into this land to fall in war? our wives and our children shall be for a prey: now then it is better to return into Egypt.

Numbers 14:4 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:4 (KJV)

Numbers 14:4 (NET)
And they said one to another: ‘Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.’ And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:4 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπαν ἕτερος τῷ ἑτέρῳ δῶμεν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ ἀποστρέψωμεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ εἶπαν ἕτερος τῷ ἑτέρῳ· δῶμεν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ ἀποστρέψωμεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον

Numbers 14:4 (NETS)

Numbers 14:4 (English Elpenor)
And they said one to the other, “Let us assign a chief and turn back into Egypt.” And they said one to another, Let us make a ruler, and return into Egypt.

Numbers 14:7 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:7 (KJV)

Numbers 14:7 (NET)
And they spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land. And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land.

Numbers 14:7 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν Ισραηλ λέγοντες ἡ γῆ ἣν κατεσκεψάμεθα αὐτήν ἀγαθή ἐστιν σφόδρα σφόδρα καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς πᾶσαν συναγωγὴν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ λέγοντες· ἡ γῆ, ἣν κατεσκεψάμεθα αὐτήν, ἀγαθή ἐστι σφόδρα σφόδρα

Numbers 14:7 (NETS)

Numbers 14:7 (English Elpenor)
and they said to all the congregation of Israel’s sons, saying, “The land, that which we spied out, is very, very good. and spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we surveyed is indeed extremely good.

Numbers 14:8 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:8 (KJV)

Numbers 14:8 (NET)
If HaShem delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it unto us–a land which floweth with milk and honey. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land that is flowing with milk and honey.

Numbers 14:8 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἰ αἱρετίζει ἡμᾶς κύριος εἰσάξει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ δώσει αὐτὴν ἡμῗν γῆ ἥτις ἐστὶν ῥέουσα γάλα καὶ μέλι εἰ αἱρετίζει ἡμᾶς Κύριος, εἰσάξει ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ δώσει αὐτὴν ἡμῖν, γῆ ἥτις ἐστὶ ῥέουσα γάλα καὶ μέλι

Numbers 14:8 (NETS)

Numbers 14:8 (English Elpenor)
If the Lord is choosing us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us: a land that is flowing with milk and honey. If the Lord choose us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey.

Numbers 14:9 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:9 (KJV)

Numbers 14:9 (NET)
Only rebel not against HaShem, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defence is removed from over them, and HaShem is with us; fear them not.’ Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us.  Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us.  Do not fear them!”

Numbers 14:9 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου μὴ ἀποστάται γίνεσθε ὑμεῗς δὲ μὴ φοβηθῆτε τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς ὅτι κατάβρωμα ἡμῗν ἐστιν ἀφέστηκεν γὰρ ὁ καιρὸς ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐν ἡμῗν μὴ φοβηθῆτε αὐτούς ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου μὴ ἀποστάται γίνεσθε· ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ φοβηθῆτε τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς, ὅτι κατάβρωμα ἡμῖν ἐστιν· ἀφέστηκε γὰρ ὁ καιρὸς ἀπ’ αὐτῶν, ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἐν ἡμῖν· μὴ φοβηθῆτε αὐτούς

Numbers 14:9 (NETS)

Numbers 14:9 (English Elpenor)
Only do not become deserters from the Lord.  But as for you, do not fear the people of the land, since they are food for us; for the right time has departed from them, but the Lord is among us.  Do not fear them.” Only depart not from the Lord; and fear ye not the people of the land, for they are meat for us; for the season [of prosperity] is departed from them, but the Lord [is] among us: fear them not.

Numbers 14:10 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:10 (KJV)

Numbers 14:10 (NET)
But all the congregation bade stone them with stones, when the glory of HaShem appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.  And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel. However, the whole community threatened to stone them.  But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

Numbers 14:10 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγὴ καταλιθοβολῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἐν λίθοις καὶ ἡ δόξα κυρίου ὤφθη ἐν νεφέλῃ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἐν πᾶσι τοῗς υἱοῗς Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπε πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγὴ καταλιθοβολῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἐν λίθοις. καὶ ἡ δόξα Κυρίου ὤφθη ἐν τῇ νεφέλῃ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου πᾶσι τοῖς υἱοῖς ᾿Ισραήλ.

Numbers 14:10 (NETS)

Numbers 14:10 (English Elpenor)
And all the congregation said that they would stone them with stones.  And the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud upon the tent of witness among all the sons of Israel. And all the congregation bade stone them with stones; and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud on the tabernacle of witness to all the children of Israel.

Numbers 14:11 (Tanakh)

 Numbers 14:11 (KJV)

Numbers 14:11 (NET)
And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘How long will this people despise Me? and how long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them? And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

Numbers 14:11 (Septuagint BLB)

Numbers 14:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἕως τίνος παροξύνει με ὁ λαὸς οὗτος καὶ ἕως τίνος οὐ πιστεύουσίν μοι ἐν πᾶσιν τοῗς σημείοις οἷς ἐποίησα ἐν αὐτοῗς καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· ἕως τίνος παροξύνει με ὁ λαὸς οὗτος καὶ ἕως τίνος οὐ πιστεύουσί μοι ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς σημείοις, οἷς ἐποίησα ἐν αὐτοῖς

Numbers 14:11 (NETS)

Numbers 14:11 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord said to Moyses, “How long is this people going to provoke me, and how long are they not going to believe me amidst all the signs that I have performed among them? And the Lord said to Moses, How long does this people provoke me? and how long do they refuse to believe me for all the signs which I have wrought among them?

Deuteronomy 31:16 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:16 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:16 (NET)
And HaShem said unto Moses: ‘Behold, thou art about to sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them. And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are going.  They will reject me and break my covenant that I have made with them.

Deuteronomy 31:16 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:16 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν ἰδοὺ σὺ κοιμᾷ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων σου καὶ ἀναστὰς ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ἐκπορνεύσει ὀπίσω θεῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς γῆς εἰς ἣν οὗτος εἰσπορεύεται ἐκεῗ εἰς αὐτήν καὶ ἐγκαταλείψουσίν με καὶ διασκεδάσουσιν τὴν διαθήκην μου ἣν διεθέμην αὐτοῗς καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν· ἰδοὺ σὺ κοιμᾷ μετὰ τῶν πατέρων σου, καὶ ἀναστὰς οὗτος ὁ λαὸς ἐκπορνεύσει ὀπίσω θεῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς γῆς, εἰς ἣν οὗτος εἰσπορεύεται, καὶ καταλείψουσί με καὶ διασκεδάσουσι τὴν διαθήκην μου, ἣν διεθέμην αὐτοῖς

Deuteronomy 31:16 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:16 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord said to Moyses, “Look, you are lying down with your fathers.  And this people, having risen up, will prostitute after foreign gods of the land into which it is going there into it, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have established with them. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will arise and go a whoring after the strange gods of the land, into which they are entering: and they will forsake me, and break my covenant, which I made with them.

Deuteronomy 31:17 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:17 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:17 (NET)
Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our G-d is not among us? Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? At that time my anger will erupt against them, and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured.  Many disasters and distresses will overcome them so that they will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters overcome us because our God is not among us?’

Deuteronomy 31:17 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:17 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ὀργισθήσομαι θυμῷ εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ καταλείψω αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ ἔσται κατάβρωμα καὶ εὑρήσουσιν αὐτὸν κακὰ πολλὰ καὶ θλίψεις καὶ ἐρεῗ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ διότι οὐκ ἔστιν κύριος ὁ θεός μου ἐν ἐμοί εὕροσάν με τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα καὶ ὀργισθήσομαι θυμῷ εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ καταλείψω αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔσται κατάβρωμα, καὶ εὑρήσουσιν αὐτὸν κακὰ πολλὰ καὶ θλίψεις, καὶ ἐρεῖ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ· διότι οὐκ ἔστι Κύριος ὁ Θεός μου ἐν ἐμοί, εὕροσάν με τὰ κακὰ ταῦτα

Deuteronomy 31:17 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:17 (English Elpenor)
And I shall be angry with wrath against them in that day, and I will abandon them and turn away my face from them, and it will become food, and many evils and afflictions will find it.  And in that day it will say, ‘Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have found me.’ And I will be very angry with them in that day, and I will leave them and turn my face away from them, and they shall be devoured; and many evils and afflictions shall come upon them; and they shall say in that day, Because the Lord my God is not with me, these evils have come upon me.

Deuteronomy 31:18 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:18 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:18 (NET)
And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. But I will certainly hide myself at that time because of all the wickedness they will have done by turning to other gods.

Deuteronomy 31:18 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγὼ δὲ ἀποστροφῇ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ διὰ πάσας τὰς κακίας ἃς ἐποίησαν ὅτι ἐπέστρεψαν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους ἐγὼ δὲ ἀποστροφῇ ἀποστρέψω τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ διὰ πάσας τὰς κακίας, ἃς ἐποίησαν, ὅτι ἀπέστρεψαν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους

Deuteronomy 31:18 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:18 (English Elpenor)
But I by turning will turn my face from them on that day, on account of all the evils they have done, because they turned to foreign gods. And I will surely turn away my face from them in that day, because of all their evil doings which they have done, because they turned aside after strange gods.

Deuteronomy 31:19 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:19 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:19 (NET)
Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. Now write down for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites.  Put it into their very mouths so that this song may serve as my witness against the Israelites!

Deuteronomy 31:19 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:19 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ νῦν γράψατε τὰ ῥήματα τῆς ᾠδῆς ταύτης καὶ διδάξετε αὐτὴν τοὺς υἱοὺς Ισραηλ καὶ ἐμβαλεῗτε αὐτὴν εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν ἵνα γένηταί μοι ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη εἰς μαρτύριον ἐν υἱοῗς Ισραηλ καὶ νῦν γράψατε τὰ ρήματα τῆς ᾠδῆς ταύτης καὶ διδάξατε αὐτὴν τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ ἐμβαλεῖτε αὐτὴν εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν, ἵνα γένηταί μοι ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη κατὰ πρόσωπον μαρτυροῦσα ἐν υἱοῖς ᾿Ισραήλ

Deuteronomy 31:19 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:19 (English Elpenor)
And now write the words of this song, and teach it to the sons of Israel, and put it in their mouth in order that this song may be to me a witness among the sons of Israel. And now write the words of this song, and teach it to the children of Israel, and ye shall put it into their mouth, that this song may witness for me among the children of Israel to their face.

Deuteronomy 31:20 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:20 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:20 (NET)
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten their fill, and waxen fat; and turned unto other gods, and served them, and despised Me, and broken My covenant; For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. For after I have brought them to the land I promised to their ancestors—one flowing with milk and honey—and they eat their fill and become fat, then they will turn to other gods and worship them; they will reject me and break my covenant.

Deuteronomy 31:20 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:20 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εἰσάξω γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν ἣν ὤμοσα τοῗς πατράσιν αὐτῶν δοῦναι αὐτοῗς γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι καὶ φάγονται καὶ ἐμπλησθέντες κορήσουσιν καὶ ἐπιστραφήσονται ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ λατρεύσουσιν αὐτοῗς καὶ παροξυνοῦσίν με καὶ διασκεδάσουσιν τὴν διαθήκην μου εἰσάξω γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν δοῦναι αὐτοῖς, γῆν ρέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι, καὶ φάγονται καὶ ἐμπλησθέντες κορήσουσι· καί ἐπιστραφήσονται ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ λατρεύσουσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ παροξυνοῦσί με καὶ διασκεδάσουσι τὴν διαθήκην μου

Deuteronomy 31:20 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:20 (English Elpenor)
For I will bring them into the good land which I swore to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they shall eat and, filled, shall be sated and will turn to foreign gods and serve them and provoke me and break my covenant. For I will bring them into the good land, which I sware to their fathers, to give to them a land flowing with milk and honey: and they shall eat and be filled and satisfy [themselves]; then will they turn aside after other gods, and serve them, and they will provoke me, and break my covenant.

Deuteronomy 31:21 (Tanakh)

 Deuteronomy 31:21 (KJV)

Deuteronomy 31:21 (NET)
then it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know their imagination how they do even now, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.’ And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware. Then when many disasters and distresses overcome them this song will testify against them, for their descendants will not forget it.  I know the intentions they have in mind today, even before I bring them to the land I have promised.”

Deuteronomy 31:21 (Septuagint BLB)

Deuteronomy 31:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀντικαταστήσεται ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη κατὰ πρόσωπον μαρτυροῦσα οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἐπιλησθῇ ἀπὸ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπὸ στόματος τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῶν ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτῶν ὅσα ποιοῦσιν ὧδε σήμερον πρὸ τοῦ εἰσαγαγεῗν με αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν ἣν ὤμοσα τοῗς πατράσιν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀντικαταστήσεται ἡ ᾠδὴ αὕτη κατὰ πρόσωπον μαρτυροῦσα, οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἐπιλησθῇ ἀπὸ στόματος αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπὸ στόματος τοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῶν· ἐγὼ γὰρ οἶδα τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτῶν, ὅσα ποιοῦσιν ὧδε σήμερον πρὸ τοῦ εἰσαγαγεῖν με αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθήν, ἣν ὤμοσα τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν

Deuteronomy 31:21 (NETS)

Deuteronomy 31:21 (English Elpenor)
And this song will confront them, by witnessing contrariwise, for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their offspring. For I know their evil, what they are doing here today, before I have brought them into the good land I swore to their fathers. And this song shall stand up to witness against them; for they shall not forget it out of their mouth, or out of the mouth of their seed; for I know their wickedness, what they are doing here this day, before I have brought them into the good land, which sware to their fathers.

1 Peter 1:10 (NET)

1 Peter 1:10 (KJV)
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
περὶ ἧς σωτηρίας ἐξεζήτησαν καὶ ἐξηραύνησαν προφῆται οἱ περὶ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς χάριτος προφητεύσαντες περι ης σωτηριας εξεζητησαν και εξηρευνησαν προφηται οι περι της εις υμας χαριτος προφητευσαντες περι ης σωτηριας εξεζητησαν και εξηρευνησαν προφηται οι περι της εις υμας χαριτος προφητευσαντες

1 Peter 1:12 (NET)

1 Peter 1:12 (KJV)
They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

NET Parallel Greek

 Stephanus Textus Receptus

Byzantine Majority Text
οἷς ἀπεκαλύφθη ὅτι οὐχ ἑαυτοῖς ὑμῖν δὲ διηκόνουν αὐτά, ἃ νῦν ἀνηγγέλη ὑμῖν διὰ τῶν εὐαγγελισαμένων ὑμᾶς [ἐν] πνεύματι ἁγίῳ ἀποσταλέντι ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ, εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἄγγελοι παρακύψαι οις απεκαλυφθη οτι ουχ εαυτοις ημιν δε διηκονουν αυτα α νυν ανηγγελη υμιν δια των ευαγγελισαμενων υμας εν πνευματι αγιω αποσταλεντι απ ουρανου εις α επιθυμουσιν αγγελοι παρακυψαι οις απεκαλυφθη οτι ουχ εαυτοις υμιν δε διηκονουν αυτα α νυν ανηγγελη υμιν δια των ευαγγελισαμενων υμας εν πνευματι αγιω αποσταλεντι απ ουρανου εις α επιθυμουσιν αγγελοι παρακυψαι

1 Psalm 119:1-4 (NET)

2 Psalm 119:5, 6 (NET)

3 Psalm 119:7, 8a (NET)

4 Psalm 119:8b (NET)  A note in the NET, apparently by a dissenting translator, could spin this differently if it is the more correct translation.  “Heb ‘do not abandon me to excess.’ For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (’ad mÿ’od, ‘to excess’), see Ps 38:6, 8.”

5 April 13, 2020: 2 Samuel 12:9 in the NET now reads: Why have you shown contempt for the Lord’s decrees (dâbâr, דבר) by doing evil in my sight?  You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife to be your own wife! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

6 Numbers 14:10 (NET)

7 Numbers 14:11 (NET)

9 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Byzantine Majority Text had ὑμῖν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had ημιν (KJV: unto us).