2 Samuel 14:15-16 New English Translation

¹⁵I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful.^[a] But your servant said, ‘I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant^[b] asks. ¹⁶Yes!^[c] The king may^[d] listen and deliver his female servant^[e] from the hand of the man who seeks to remove^[f] both me and my son from the inheritance God has given us!’^[g]

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Footnotes

2 Samuel 14:15 tc The LXX (ὄψεταί με, opsetai me) has misunderstood the Hebrew יֵרְאֻנִי (yer^eʾuni, Piel perfect, “they have made me fearful”), taking the verb to be a form of the verb רָאָה (raʾah, “to see”) rather than the verb יָרֵא (yareʾ, “to fear”). The fact that the Greek translators were working with an unvocalized Hebrew text (i.e., consonants only) made them very susceptible to this type of error.
2 Samuel 14:15 tn Here and in v. 16 the woman refers to herself as the king’s אָמָה (ʾamah), a term that refers to a higher level female servant toward whom the master might have some obligation. Like the other term, this word expresses her humility, but it also suggests that the king might have some obligation to treat her in accordance with the principles of justice.
2 Samuel 14:16 tn Or “for.”
2 Samuel 14:16 tn Or “will.” The imperfect verbal form can have either an indicative or modal nuance. The use of “perhaps” in v. 15b suggests the latter here.
2 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “in order to deliver his maid.”
2 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “destroy.”
2 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “from the inheritance of God.” The expression refers to the property that was granted to her family line in the division of the land authorized by God.

New English Translation (NET)