1 Samuel 3:17

3:17 Eli ¹  said, “What message did he speak to you? Don’t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely ²  if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!”

1 Samuel 14:44

14:44 Saul said, “God will punish me severely if Jonathan doesn’t die!” ³ 

1 Samuel 25:22

25:22 God will severely punish David, ⁴  if I leave alive until morning even one male ⁵  from all those who belong to him!”

[3:17]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:17]  ² tn Heb “So God will do to you and thus he will add.” The verbal forms in this pronouncement are imperfects, not jussives, but the statement has the force of a curse or warning. One could translate, “May God do to you and thus may he add.”

[14:44]  ³ tn Heb “So God will do and so he will add, surely you will certainly die, Jonathan.”

[25:22]  ⁴ tc Heb “Thus God will do to the enemies of David and thus he will add.” Most of the Old Greek ms tradition has simply “David,” with no reference to his enemies. In OT imprecations such as the one found in v. 22 it is common for the speaker to direct malediction toward himself as an indication of the seriousness with which he regards the matter at hand. In other words, the speaker invites on himself dire consequences if he fails to fulfill the matter expressed in the oath. However, in the situation alluded to in v. 22 the threat actually does not come to fruition due to the effectiveness of Abigail’s appeal to David in behalf of her husband Nabal. Instead, David is placated through Abigail’s intervention. It therefore seems likely that the reference to “the enemies of David” in the MT of v. 22 is the result of a scribal attempt to deliver David from the implied consequences of this oath. The present translation follows the LXX rather than the MT here.

[25:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “one who urinates against a wall” (also in v. 34); KJV “any that pisseth against the wall.”