1 Samuel 2:16

2:16 If the individual said to him, “First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish,” he would say, “No! ¹  Hand it over right now! If you don’t, I will take it forcibly!”

1 Samuel 4:13

4:13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of ²  the road, for he was very worried ³  about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, ⁴  the whole city cried out.

1 Samuel 4:19

4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her.

1 Samuel 9:13

9:13 When you enter the town, you can find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people won’t eat until he arrives, for he must bless the sacrifice. Once that happens, those who have been invited will eat. Now go on up, for ⁵  this is the time when you can find him!”

1 Samuel 9:19

9:19 Samuel replied to Saul, “I am the seer! Go up in front of me to the high place! Today you will eat with me and in the morning I will send you away. I will tell you everything that you are thinking. ⁶ 

1 Samuel 10:3

10:3 “As you continue on from there, you will come to the tall tree of Tabor. At that point three men who are going up to God at Bethel ⁷  will meet you. One of them will be carrying three young goats, one of them will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and one of them will be carrying a container of wine.

1 Samuel 10:5

10:5 Afterward you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine officials. ⁸  When you enter the town, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

1 Samuel 10:8

10:8 You will go down to Gilgal before me. I am going to join you there to offer burnt offerings and to make peace offerings. You should wait for seven days, until I arrive and tell you what to do.”

1 Samuel 10:21

10:21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen by lot. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.

1 Samuel 10:25

10:25 Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. ⁹  He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.

1 Samuel 14:41

14:41 Then Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel! If this sin has been committed by me or by my son Jonathan, then, O Lord God of Israel, respond with Urim. But if this sin has been committed by your people Israel, respond with Thummim.” ¹⁰  Then Jonathan and Saul were indicated by lot, while the army was exonerated. ¹¹ 

1 Samuel 16:13

16:13 So Samuel took the horn full of olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day onward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 19:20

19:20 So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing there as their leader, the spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. ¹²  I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? ¹³ 

1 Samuel 23:7

23:7 When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered ¹⁴  him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.” ¹⁵ 

1 Samuel 23:14

23:14 David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the desert of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, ¹⁶  but God did not deliver David ¹⁷  into his hand.

1 Samuel 29:6

29:6 So Achish summoned David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are an honest man, and I am glad to have you ¹⁸  serving ¹⁹  with me in the army. ²⁰  I have found no fault with you from the day that you first came to me until the present time. But in the opinion ²¹  of the leaders, you are not reliable. ²² 

1 Samuel 30:13

30:13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” The young man said, “I am an Egyptian, the servant of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me when I was ill for three days.

1 Samuel 30:16

30:16 So he took David ²³  down, and they found them spread out over the land. They were eating and drinking and enjoying themselves because of all the loot ²⁴  they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

1 Samuel 31:4

31:4 Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and stab me with it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture me.” But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.

1 Samuel 31:7

31:7 When the men of Israel who were in the valley and across the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and occupied them.

[2:16]  ¹ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss (“no”) rather than the Kethib and MT, which read “to him.”

[4:13]  ² tc Read with many medieval Hebrew mss, the Qere, and much versional evidence יַד (yad, “hand”) rather than MT יַךְ (yakh).

[4:13]  ³ tn Heb “his heart was trembling.”

[4:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the man came to report in the city.”

[9:13]  ⁵ tc The MT has “him” (אֹתוֹ, ’oto) here, in addition to the “him” at the end of the verse. The ancient versions attest to only one occurrence of the pronoun, although it is possible that this is due to translation technique rather than to their having a Hebrew text with the pronoun used only once. The present translation assumes textual duplication in the MT and does not attempt to represent the pronoun twice. However, for a defense of the MT here, with the suggested translation “for him just now – you will find him,” see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 72-73.

[9:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “all that is in your heart.”

[10:3]  ⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[10:5]  ⁸ tn Or “sentries.” Some translate “outpost” (NIV) or “garrison” (NAB, NRSV, NLT) here (see 1 Sam 13:3). The noun is plural in the Hebrew text, but the LXX and other ancient witnesses read a singular noun here.

[10:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “the regulation of the kingship.” This probably refers to the regulations pertaining to kingship given to Moses (see Deut 17:14-20).

[14:41]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “to the Lord God of Israel: ‘Give what is perfect.’” The Hebrew textual tradition has accidentally omitted several words here. The present translation follows the LXX (as do several English versions, cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 247-48, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 132.

[14:41]  sn The Urim and Thummim were used for lot casting in ancient Israel. Their exact identity is uncertain; they may have been specially marked stones drawn from a bag. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8, and Deut 33:8, as well as the discussion in R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 140.

[14:41]  ¹¹ tn Heb “went out.”

[20:12]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text has simply “the Lord God of Israel.” On the basis of the Syriac version, many reconstruct the text to read “[is] my witness,” which may have fallen out of the text by homoioarcton (an error which is entirely possible if עֵד, ’ed, “witness,” immediately followed ַָדוִד, “David,” in the original text).

[20:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”

[23:7]  ¹⁴ tn The MT reading (“God has alienated him into my hand”) in v. 7 is a difficult and uncommon idiom. The use of this verb in Jer 19:4 is somewhat parallel, but not entirely so. Many scholars have therefore suspected a textual problem here, emending the word נִכַּר (nikkar, “alienated”) to סִכַּר (sikkar, “he has shut up [i.e., delivered]”). This is the idea reflected in the translations of the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate, although it is not entirely clear whether they are reading something different from the MT or are simply paraphrasing what for them too may have been a difficult text. The LXX has “God has sold him into my hands,” apparently reading מַכַר (makar, “sold”) for MT’s נִכַּר. The present translation is a rather free interpretation.

[23:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with two gates and a bar.” Since in English “bar” could be understood as a saloon, it has been translated as an attributive: “two barred gates.”

[23:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all the days.”

[23:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “it is good in my eyes.” Cf. v. 7.

[29:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your going forth and your coming in.” The expression is a merism.

[29:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “camp.”

[29:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “eyes.”

[29:6]  ²² tn Heb “good.”

[30:16]  ²³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “because of all the large plunder.”