1 And it was told to Joab that behold {hinneh: focus-directing particle}, the king {hamelekh: royal sovereign} is weeping and mourning for Absalom.
2 And the victory {teshuah: deliverance} on that day became mourning for all the people, because the people heard on that day, saying, “The king {hamelekh: ruler of Israel} is grieved over his son.”
3 And the people stole into the city on that day, just as people steal themselves away {vayignav: to slip in quietly}—the humiliated {hanikhlam: the ashamed}—when they flee in battle.
4 And the king covered his face {panav: expression of grief} and the king cried out with a loud voice {kol: powerful lament}, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”
5 And Joab came to the king’s house and said, “Today you have shamed all your servants {avadim: devoted attendants} who delivered {memaltim: rescuing agents} your life and the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your concubines.”
6 To love those who hate you and to hate those who love you, for you have declared today that neither princes nor servants {avadim: loyal attendants} matter to you. For I know today that if Avshalom {Avshalom: David’s rebellious son} were alive and we were all dead today, it would be right in your eyes.
7 And now, arise, go out, and speak to the heart {lev: inner being} of your servants, for by the LORD {YHWH, Oath Witness} I have sworn. Surely if you do not go out, no man will stay with you tonight; and this will be worse for you than all the calamity that has come upon you from your youth until now.
8 Then the king {hamelekh: royal official} arose and sat in the gate; and all the people were told, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So all the people came before the king, but Israel had fled, every man to his tent {ohel: dwelling place}.
9 And it happened that all the people were disputing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king {hamelekh: royal leader} delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and he rescued us from the hand of the Philistines. But now he has fled from the land because of Absalom {Avshalom: father of peace}.”
10 And Absalom {Avshalom: royal challenger}, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle, and now why are you silent about bringing back the king {melekh: national ruler}?
11 And David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders {ziknei: community leaders} of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last ones {acharonim: slow to act} to bring back the king to his house? For the word of all Israel has come to the king, to his house.’”
12 My brothers, you are my own bone and my flesh {atzmi u-vesari: closest kin}; so why should you be the last to bring back the king {ha-melekh: David, sovereign ruler}?
13 And to Amasa you shall say, “Are you not my bone {etsem: essential kinship} and my flesh {basar: close relation}? Thus may God {Elohim, Oath Guardian} do to me, and thus may He add, if you do not become commander {sar: military chief} of the army in place of Joab before me all the days.”
14 And he inclined the heart {levav: inner will} of all the men of Judah {Yehudah: tribal territory} as one man, and they sent to the king, “Return, you and all your servants.”
15 And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan {ad-hayarden: boundary landmark}, and Judah came to Gilgal {haggilgalah: assembly site} to go to meet the king and to bring him across the Jordan.
16 And Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjamite {hayemini: of the tribe of Benjamin}, who was from Bahurim, hurried and went down with the men of Judah to meet King David {David: Judah’s anointed ruler}.
17 And a thousand men were with him from Benjamin, and Ziba, servant {na'ar: personal attendant} of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants were with him, and they crossed the Jordan before the king {melek: royal ruler}.
18 And a ferry {maavarah: crossing service} went over to bring over the king’s household and to do what was good in his eyes {be’inav: personal judgment}. And Shimei son of Gera fell before the king as he crossed the Jordan.
19 And he said to the king, “Let not my lord {adoni: respectful title} consider me guilty, and do not place your servant in your heart concerning the matter I perverted {iviti: acted perversely} on the day the king left Jerusalem. Let not the king take it to heart.”
20 For your servant knows that I have sinned, and behold, I have come today as the first {rishon: earliest representative} from all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king {hamelech: royal ruler}.
21 And Abishai, son of Zeruiah, answered and said, “Should not Shimei be put to death {yūmatt: possible judicial sentence} for this, for he cursed the LORD {YHWH, King’s Defender}’s anointed?”
22 And David said, “What is it to me and to you, sons of Zeruiah {Tseruyah: David’s sister}, that you should become for me an adversary {satan: opponent} today? Shall any man in Israel be put to death today? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?”
23 And the king said to Shimei, “You will not die {tamut: royal reprieve}.” And the king swore {vayishava': made a solemn oath} to him.
24 And Mephibosheth, son of Saul, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet {raglav: personal upkeep}, nor trimmed his beard {sefamo: facial hair}, nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace.
25 And when he came {ba: arrival for an audience} to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go {halakhta: act of accompanying} with me, Mephibosheth?”
26 And he said, “My lord the king, my servant deceived me {rimani: misled me}, for I said, ‘I will saddle the donkey for myself, ride on it, and go with the king,’ because your servant is lame {piseach: physically impaired}.”
27 He slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is like an angel of God {Elohim, Divine Arbiter}; therefore, do what is good in your eyes {einayim: perspective}.
28 All the house of my father were only men deserving death before my lord {adoni: formal title of respect} the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at the table {shulchan: symbol of royal favor} of my lord the king. So what right do I have still to cry out any more to the king?
29 The king said to him, “Why {lamah: probing justification} do you still speak your words? I have spoken: you and Ziba shall divide the field {sadeh: cultivated land}.”
30 And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take everything, now that my lord the king {hamelekh: royal authority} has come in peace {shalom: wholeness} to his house.”
31 And Barzillai the Gileadite {haggiladi: regional designation} went down from Rogelim {meroglim: departure point} and crossed the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan.
32 Now Barzillai was very old, and he had provided provisions to the king {melech: royal title} during his stay in Mahanaim {Mahanaim: two camps}, for he was a very great man.
33 The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me, and I will provide {khilkaltiti: to supply needs} for you as you stay with me in Jerusalem {yerushalayim: honored city}.”
34 And Barzillai {barzillay: proper name} said to the king, “How many are the days of my life {ḥayyay: life’s span} that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?”
35 I am a son of eighty years this day; can I discern{haʾedʿāh: perceive distinctly} between what is pleasing and what is not? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I still hear the voice of male and female singers? And why should your servant remain{yiḥyêh: continue existing} a burden to my lord the king?
36 “A little way will your servant cross over the Jordan with the king {hamelekh: ruler of the people}, and why should the king repay me with this recompense {gmulah: deserved reward}?”
37 Let your servant {eved: personal attendant} please remain, that I may die in my city beside the grave of my father and my mother. And behold your servant Kimham {Kimham: trusted confidant}—let him cross over with my lord the king and do for him whatever is good in your eyes.
38 And the king said, “Chimham shall cross over {yaʿăvōr: pass alongside} with me, and I will do for him what is good {ṭôḇ: favorable action} in your eyes. Whatever you choose for me to do, I will do for you.”
39 And all the people crossed the Jordan {yarden: boundary river}, and the king crossed; the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place {makom: dwelling site}.
40 And the king {melekh: ruler and sovereign} crossed over to Gilgal {gilgalah: gathering circle}, and Kimham went with him. All the people of Judah escorted the king, and also half the people of Israel.
41 And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to him, “Why have our brothers, the men of Judah, stolen {ganvukha: taken away without involving us} you away and brought the king, his household, and all of David’s men across the Jordan {hayarden: major river boundary} with him?”
42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is near to us {karov: closely related}. Why are you angry about our bringing back {ha’aloti: restoration} the king? Have we eaten any of the king’s food or received anything for ourselves?”
43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “We have ten portions in the king, and we also have a greater portion in David. Why have you slighted me {hakillotani: show disrespect}? Was my counsel not first in restoring my king? Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher {wayyeqesh: more severe} than the words of the men of Israel.”