Source (after the opening gloss): George the Monk 1.176.10-13, 178.4-11, 179.5-25. Some repetition at omicron 974. For David see also delta 95, delta 96.
[1] Judaism, as in the Jerusalem Talmud (c.400 CE) (Ginzberg, 5.414), and Christianity (EncycJudaica, 5.1332) have extra-biblical traditions that identify David as a prophet. The Jerusalem Talmud (Sotah 9.24b), for example, cites David as an early prophet. Judaic canonization of the texts of Samuel and Kings (the primary sources of Davidic historiography) within the Nebi'im and their subcategorization as part of the Nebi'im Rishonim or Early (in the sense of Pre-Exilic) Prophets provided a lattice for Talmudic assertion of David as a prophet (EncycJudaism, 4.820-21). That said, it is moot as to whether Talmudic reference to a prophetic David influenced Christian perceptions. Christian aetiology here is more plausibly attributable to a reading-back to David of numerous NT (in the Gospels and Acts) assertions of Jesus as prophet. Moreover, the "prophetic expectation that God would raise up an ideal Davidic ruler" (Perkins, 630) is partially transferred in the Christian context to the progenitor, or as in the Suda, the propater himself, attracting David into the prophetic circle. By this retrospective apparatus (which also includes specific Davidic parallels, such as the showbread incidents in 1 Sam 21:1-6; Lk 6:1-5, the "king" attributive, and other accretions), the Suda compiler can comfortably append the epithet "prophet" to the lineal credential (Mt 1:1) linking David and the personage of Jesus.
[2] The Suda's use of ἐπορεύετο truncates the LXX syntax: καὶ ἐπορεύετο (διεπορεύετο , 2 Kgd 5:10) Δαυὶδ πορευόμενος καὶ μεγαλυνόμενος (1 Chr 11:9) (Brenton, 407; 544), in which {δι}επορεύετο plus its participle convey continuation. With καί plus the participle of the modified verb (μεγαλυνόμενος ), the construction mimics the Hebrew expression for continuance with הלך "halakh" (walk, go; {δι}επορεύετο ) (Kautzsch, 334 {113u}; Brown, Driver, Briggs {BDB}, 233). At 2 Sam 5:10 and 1 Chr 11:9, the Massoretic Text (MT) expresses halakh-continuance using the finite verb with its infinitive absolute (halokh) plus the infinitive absolute of the modified verb (here, gadol); thus: וילך דוד הלוך וגדול wayyelekh Dawid halokh wegadol (and David become more and more powerful) (Kohlenberger, Vol 2, 264; Vol 3, 32). Unlike the MT citations, however, the LXX substitutes a participle for the halakh-infinitive absolute and a participle for the infinitive absolute of the modified verb.
[3] The list of David's warriors is found in 2 Sam 23:8-39 and 1 Chr 11:10-47, with the total number given as 37 in 2 Sam 23:39 (= LXX 2 Kgd 23:39). See, however, McCarter's comments to the effect that "this is an editor's computation, but it is difficult to discover how it was reckoned" (McCarter, 499-501).
[4] Suda hyperbole: The MT cites neither David's Three nor Thirty as the equals of 100 or 1,000 men. The minimum slayed is 300 by Abishai at 2 Sam 23:18 and 1 Chr 11:20; or by Jashobeam at 1 Chr 11:11; the maximum is 800 by Josheb-basshebeth (Jashobeam of 1 Chr 11:11) at 2 Sam 23:8. The Suda appears to attribute the slaying of 1,000 to Shammah's battle at Lehi (2 Sam 23:12); the slaying of that number was accomplished by Samson at his Lehi confrontation with the Philistines in Jgs 15:15.
[5] See 1 Chr 12:8 (LXX, Eng); MT 1 Chr 12:9. See also 2 Sam 2:18 for Asahel (a member of the Thirty) described similarly, and Josephus for Asahel outrunning a horse (Josephus, AJ 7.14).
[6] Literally, "332 myriads." In the MT, 2 Sam 24:9 the total is 1,300,000; in 1 Chr 21:5 the total is 1,570,000. The LXX reads the same; Josephus (AJ 7.320) gives a total of 1,300,000. In this regard, see note [4] for the Suda compiler's cavalier accounting. The figures in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles as well as Josephus underscore a penchant for hyperbole. The Suda inflates the base number by a factor of 10,000; Joab wishes David a hundred-fold increase (2 Sam 24:3). For inflation in 2 Sam 24:9, see McCarter, 510.9. There is a tradition found in both Rabbinic and Christian sources that the numeric discrepency in the two biblical accounts is due to Joab making two lists--only the incomplete one being made known to David (Ginzberg, 4.112; 6.270).
[7] For this story, see 2 Sam 24 (= 2 Kgd) and 1 Chr 21.
[8] The Suda calls Joab ἀρχιστράτηγος or commander; cf. Lust, Part I, 64. Josephus uses the same term at AJ 7.11, but shows στρατηγός at AJ 7.318. The LXX titles Joab the equivalent of "overall commander": ἄρχοντα τῆς ἰσχύος , 2 Kgd 24:2; ἄρχοντα τῆς δυνάμεως , 3 Kgd 1:19; ἀρχιστράτηγος , 3 Kgd 2:22. 1 Chr 21:2, however, would, without additional references, seem to cast Joab as primus inter pares (πρὸς ιωὰβ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῆς δυνάμεως ). See Brenton for LXX citations. In the MT, Joab's rank is שׂר החיל "sar hahayil" (2 Sam 24:2) or שׂר הצבא "sar hatssaba'" (1 Kgs 1:19); that is, general of the army. See also BDB, 978; McCarter, 504 (24.2).
[9] The plague's immediate cause is traceable to census purification rites violated by David, ignoring Joab's misgivings in 2 Sam 24:3. See McCarter's comments at 2 Sam 24:3 in the NRSV, and his more extensive discussion on the census-plague episode in McCarter, 508 (24.1); 512-18. The impropriety of David's census as inferred from Joab's questioning of it is reflected in Josephus, AJ 7.318-9. For Rabbinic sources which reflect the same details as found in Josephus, see references listed in Ginzberg, 6.270.
[10] The MT account in 2 Sam 24:13 cites "seven years" and is followed by Josephus, AJ 7.321. The account in 1 Chr 21:12 and in 2 Kgd 24:13 gives "three years" and is followed by the Suda.
[11] Lust, Part I, 201 gives "mortality" for θάνατος at 2 Sam 24:13, but cites "pestilence" for Ex 5:3. The Hebrew at 2 Sam 24:13 reads דבר "deber" or "plague" (Kohlenberger, Vol 2, 327; BDB, 184).
[12] Unlike 1 Sam 5:6 and 2 Sam 24:14, where χείρ and χεῖρας are code for "plague" (McCarter: NRSV, 424; 507; Brenton for LXX), the Suda entry seems to compress into χεῖρας not only David's abrogation and God's impending plague choice (LXX: 1 Chr 21:14) but David's assertion of God's mercy (2 Kgd 24:14; 1 Chr 21:13). However, the Suda's failure to specify an agent for ἐχελέξατο may indicate compiler ambivalence. The LXX attributes the plague choice to David in 2 Kingdoms but to God in 1 Chronciles. In view of McCarter on the Hebrew text (McCarter, 506.15) but mindful of the LXX discrepancy and the compiler's apparent indecision, the translated Suda item shows "God."
[13] "Shepherd," although not in the MT, is found in a Qumran Cave 4 scroll of 2 Samuel, in Josephus at AJ 7.328, and in Targum Jonathan, "these people who are like sheep under the care of a shepherd."
[14] The term παρακληθείς conjoined with ὁ κύριος is Suda christological imagery (i.e. παράκλητος ).
[15] The compiler confuses συνέσχεν with συνεσχέθη (2 Kdg 24:25) (Brenton, 440) .
[16] At the threshing floor of Araunah (Ornan) the Jebusite (2 Sam 24:18-25; 1 Chr 21:18-27)