Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - 2 Samuel 16:9 - 16:9

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - 2 Samuel 16:9 - 16:9


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Abishai wanted to put an end to this cursing (on the expression “dead dog,” see 2Sa 9:8). “Let me go,” said he to David, “and take away his head,” i.e., chop off his head. But David replied, “What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?” Joab probably joined with Abishai. The formula “what to me and you?” signifies that a person did not wish to have anything in common with the feelings and views of another (cf. 1Ki 17:18; Jos 22:24; and τὶ ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, Joh 2:4. For the thing itself, comp. Luk 9:52-56). “If he curses, and if Jehovah hath said to him, Curse David, who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?” For יה וְכִי יְקַלֵּל כִּי (Chethib), the Masoretes give us the Keri, יה כִּי יְקַלֵּל כֹּה, “so let him curse, for Jehovah,” etc. This thought lies at the foundation of the rendering adopted by the lxx, who have inserted, by way of explanation, καὶ ἄφετε αὐτὸν καὶ: so let him go, and so may he curse. The Vulgate is just the same: dimittite eum ut maledicat. This interpolation is taken from 2Sa 16:11, and, like the Keri, is nothing more than a conjecture, which was adopted simply because כִּי was taken as a causal particle, and then offence was taken at וְכִי. But כִּי signifies if, quando, in this passage, and the ו before the following וּמִי introduces the apodosis.