The common Hebrew conjunction here indicates the passage of a certain amount of time between the celebration and David’s return to his home, where he went to greet the members of his family. Many versions begin a new paragraph here, and some use transition words that indicate the passage of time, such as “Afterward” (Good News Translation). New American Bible accomplishes the same purpose by beginning the new paragraph with a temporal clause: “When David returned….”
Bless his household: while the verb bless is the same here as in verse 18 above, the circumstances require a different meaning. In Old Testament times a blessing was often a kind of greeting, so in this context the most likely meaning is that David was going to his home to greet the members of his family following his absence. It is translated by the verb “greet” in Anchor Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh as well as Good News Translation. Translators should probably avoid a literal rendering of this verb except in those languages where blessings are used as greetings.
Michal the daughter of Saul: in some languages it may be considered redundant and awkward to repeat the information that David’s wife was the daughter of Saul. But if it is not unnatural, it may be repeated, since the writer may have been intentionally emphasizing this fact, in view of her opposition to David.
How the king of Israel honored himself today: Michal was speaking ironically and saying the opposite of what she really meant. If this kind of device is commonly used in the receptor language and is readily understood by the readers and hearers, it may be retained in translation. But if it is likely to be understood in its literal sense, it may be better to translate “The king of Israel has made a big fool of himself today.” Also, the use of the third person reference when speaking directly to the king may be distracting and the cause of misunderstanding. Some languages will therefore have to say more directly “You, the king of Israel, have made a big fool of yourself today.”
Uncovering himself: the idea here is that of exposing private parts of the body in public. This is especially offensive when the opposite sex is present. Michal’s accusation seems to imply that David intentionally revealed the most intimate parts of his body to the servant women who were present when the ark was brought to Jerusalem. Several versions have “exposing himself.”
Before the eyes of his servants’ maids: that is, in the presence of the young women who acted as domestic servants for the men who were officials under David. Some may prefer to translate “in front of the servant girls of your officers” (New Century Version).
Vulgar fellows: the basic meaning of the term used here is that of “emptiness” (for example, in Ruth 1.21; 1 Sam 6.3; and 2 Sam 1.22), but in this case the persons involved may be thought of as being empty-headed, foolish, or worthless. Some versions have words like “riffraff” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Anderson) or “buffoon” (New Jerusalem Bible), terms used for persons considered of little value to society. Revised English Bible speaks of “a vulgar clown.” The term is used in the same way in Judges 9.4 and 11.3.
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 .