Nevertheless: that is, in spite of the Jebusites’ firm belief that David and his army were unable to capture the city, and in spite of their resistance. This introduces the summary statement of the verse, but the event is described in greater detail in verses 8 and 9. This whole verse is, in fact, a parenthetical summary of what follows. As such it may be placed within parentheses as in Good News Translation. Since the same information is given in the two verses that follow, Contemporary English Version and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combine verses 7-9 and translate the idea once. However, it is probably better to retain this summary statement separately, unless it will be unnatural to do so in the receptor language.

Stronghold: on the term in general, see Judges 6.26 and 1 Sam 22.4. Here (and in 1 Chr 11.5) the expression refers specifically to the city of Jerusalem, which was strongly fortified and very difficult to capture.

Zion: this is the first mention of this name in the Bible, but it is used frequently in the Psalms and certain of the prophets. The exact meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain, but it may mean “fortress” or “citadel” and always refers to the city of Jerusalem or to a part of it. As used here it refers to the southeast hill of Jerusalem. The name Zion is used in the New Testament in quotations from the Old Testament (John 12.15; Rom 9.33, for example) or in a figurative sense (Heb 12.22; Rev 14.1).

That is: since the readers were quite familiar with the expression “the city of David,” this was added to make it clear that Jerusalem was intended. But because it was not referred to in this way at the time of its capture, Good News Translation fills in the information that this was a later name by saying “it became known as ‘David’s City.’ ” In the Old Testament the “city of David” refers to a specific part of what later became the larger city of Jerusalem, the long, narrow, triangular-shaped ridge located below what later became the Temple mount on the southern end of the eastern ridge (see, for example, Neh 3.15). The eastern ridge and the western ridge of Jerusalem are divided by the Tyropoean Valley.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .