1 Samuel 14:3

14:3 Now Ahijah was carrying ¹  an ephod. He was the son of Ahitub, who was the brother of Ichabod and a son of Phineas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh. The army was unaware that Jonathan had left.

1 Samuel 14:18-19

14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” ²  for he was at that time wearing the ephod. ³  14:19 While ⁴  Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistines’ camp was becoming greater and greater. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!”

1 Samuel 23:2

23:2 So David asked the Lord, “Should I go and strike down these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go, strike down the Philistines and deliver Keilah.”

1 Samuel 23:4

23:4 So David asked the Lord once again. But again the Lord replied, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”

1 Samuel 23:9

23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ⁵  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!”

1 Samuel 23:11-12

23:11 Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, please inform your servant!”

Then the Lord said, “He will come down.” 23:12 David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me and my men into Saul’s hand?” The Lord said, “They will deliver you over.”

1 Samuel 28:6

28:6 So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him – not by dreams nor by Urim ⁶  nor by the prophets.

[14:3]  ¹ tn Heb “bearing.” Many English versions understand this verb to mean “wearing” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).

[14:18]  ² tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v.19. This reading is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, TEV, NLT).

[14:18]  ³ tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.

[14:19]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “until.”

[23:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”

[28:6]  ⁶ sn See the note at 1 Sam 14:41.