Passage

2 Samuel 20.3

Book: 2 Samuel · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And there happened to be there a base fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. 2. So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem."

"3. And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and provided them with sustenance, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood."

"4. Then said the king to Amasa, Call me the men of Judah together within three days, and be thou here present. 5. So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together; but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him." (2 Samuel 20:1-5, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. There happened to be there a base fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!” 2. So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah joined with their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem."

"3. David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in custody, and provided them with sustenance, but didn’t go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood."

"4. Then the king said to Amasa, “Call me the men of Judah together within three days, and be here present.” 5. So Amasa went to call the men of Judah together; but he stayed longer than the set time which he had appointed him." (2 Samuel 20:1-5, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. 2. So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem."

"3. And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. ^{ward: Heb. an house of ward} ^{shut: Heb. bound} ^{living: Heb. in widowhood of life}"

"4. Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present. ^{Assemble: Heb. Call} 5. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. ^{Assemble: Heb. Call}" (2 Samuel 20:1-5, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And there hath been called there a man of worthlessness, and his name [is] Sheba, son of Bichri, a Benjamite, and he bloweth with a trumpet, and saith, 'We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; each to his tents, O Israel.' 2. And every man of Israel goeth up from after David, after Sheba son of Bichri, and the men of Judah have cleaved to their king, from the Jordan even unto Jerusalem."

"3. And David cometh in unto his house at Jerusalem, and the king taketh the ten women-concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and putteth them in a house of ward, and sustaineth them, and unto them he hath not gone in, and they are shut up unto the day of their death, in widowhood living."

"4. And the king saith unto Amasa, 'Call for me the men of Judah [in] three days, and thou, stand here,' 5. and Amasa goeth to call Judah, and tarrieth beyond the appointed time that he had appointed him;" (2 Samuel 20:1-5, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Wives or Concubines in 2 Samuel

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.