1 Samuel 16:7

16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by ¹  his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. ²  People look on the outward appearance, ³  but the Lord looks at the heart.”

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 16:18

16:18 One of his attendants replied, ⁴  “I have seen a son of Jesse in Bethlehem ⁵  who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave warrior ⁶  and is articulate ⁷  and handsome, ⁸  for the Lord is with him.”

1 Samuel 17:26

17:26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? ⁹  For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”

1 Samuel 17:34-37

17:34 David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock, 17:35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 17:36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. ¹⁰  For he has defied the armies of the living God!” 17:37 David went on to say, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go! The Lord will be with you.” ¹¹ 

1 Samuel 17:45-51

17:45 But David replied to the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied! 17:46 This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand! I will strike you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land. Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God 17:47 and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves! For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will deliver you into our hand.”

17:48 The Philistine drew steadily closer to David to attack him, while David quickly ran toward the battle line to attack the Philistine. ¹²  17:49 David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground.

17:50 ¹³ David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand. ¹⁴  17:51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s ¹⁵  sword, drew it from its sheath, ¹⁶  killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.

1 Samuel 18:1-4

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ¹⁷  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ¹⁸  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ¹⁹  18:2 Saul retained David ²⁰  on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house. 18:3 Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as much as he did his own life. ²¹  18:4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with the rest of his gear, including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.

1 Samuel 22:5-15

22:5 Then Gad the prophet said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

Saul Executes the Priests

22:6 But Saul found out the whereabouts of David and the men who were with him. ²²  Now Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at an elevated location with his spear in hand and all his servants stationed around him. 22:7 Saul said to his servants who were stationed around him, “Listen up, you Benjaminites! Is Jesse’s son giving fields and vineyards to all of you? Or is he making all of you ²³  commanders and officers? ²⁴  22:8 For all of you have conspired against me! No one informs me ²⁵  when my own son makes an agreement with this son of Jesse! Not one of you feels sorry for me or informs me that my own son has commissioned my own servant to hide in ambush against me, as is the case today!”

22:9 But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with the servants of Saul, replied, “I saw this son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 22:10 He inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

22:11 Then the king arranged for a meeting with the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all the priests of his father’s house who were at Nob. They all came to the king. 22:12 Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub.” He replied, “Here I am, my lord.” 22:13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and this son of Jesse? You gave ²⁶  him bread and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf, so that he opposes ²⁷  me and waits in ambush, as is the case today!”

22:14 Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house! 22:15 Was it just today that I began to inquire of God on his behalf? Far be it from me! The king should not accuse ²⁸  his servant or any of my father’s house. For your servant is not aware of all this – not in whole or in part!” ²⁹ 

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 23:9-12

23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ³⁰  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!” 23:10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning ³¹  to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me. 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 24:12

24:12 May the Lord judge between the two of us, and may the Lord vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you.

1 Samuel 30:6-8

30:6 David was very upset, for the men ³²  were thinking of stoning him; ³³  each man grieved bitterly ³⁴  over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from the Lord his God.

30:7 Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 30:8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!”

1 Samuel 30:23-25

30:23 But David said, “No! You shouldn’t do this, my brothers. Look at what the Lord has given us! ³⁵  He has protected us and has delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. 30:24 Who will listen to you in this matter? The portion of the one who went down into the battle will be the same as the portion of the one who remained with the equipment! Let their portions be the same!”

30:25 From that time onward it was a binding ordinance ³⁶  for Israel, right up to the present time.

[16:7]  ¹ tn Heb “don’t look toward.”

[16:7]  ² tn Heb “for not that which the man sees.” The translation follows the LXX, which reads, “for not as man sees does God see.” The MT has suffered from homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 274.

[16:7]  ³ tn Heb “to the eyes.”

[16:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[16:18]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “mighty man of valor and a man of war.”

[16:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “discerning of word.”

[16:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “a man of form.”

[17:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.”

[17:36]  ¹⁰ tc The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?”

[17:37]  ¹¹ tn Or “Go, and may the Lord be with you” (so NASB, NCV, NRSV).

[17:48]  ¹² tc Most LXX mss lack the second half of v. 48.

[17:50]  ¹³ tc Most LXX mss lack v. 50.

[17:50]  ¹⁴ tn Verse 50 is a summary statement; v. 51 gives a more detailed account of how David killed the Philistine.

[17:51]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:51]  ¹⁶ tc Most LXX mss lack the words “drew it from its sheath.”

[18:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

[18:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

[18:1]  sn On the nature of Jonathan’s love for David, see J. A. Thompson, “The Significance of the Verb Love in the David-Jonathan Narratives in 1 Samuel,” VT 24 (1974): 334-38.

[18:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

[22:6]  ²² tn Heb “and Saul heard that David and the men who were with him were known.”

[22:7]  ²³ tc The MT has “to all of you.” If this reading is correct, we have here an example of a prepositional phrase functioning as the equivalent of a dative of advantage, which is not impossible from a grammatical point of view. However, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have “and.” A conjunction rather than a preposition should probably be read on the front of this phrase.

[22:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “officers of a thousand and officers of a hundred.”

[22:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “uncovers my ear.”

[22:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “by giving.”

[22:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “rises up against.”

[22:15]  ²⁸ tn Heb “set a matter against.”

[22:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “small or great.”

[23:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”

[23:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “seeking.”

[30:6]  ³² tn Heb “people.”

[30:6]  ³³ tn Heb “said to stone him.”

[30:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for bitter was the soul of all the people, each one.”

[30:23]  ³⁵ tc This clause is difficult in the MT. The present translation accepts the text as found in the MT and understands this clause to be elliptical, with an understood verb such as “look” or “consider.” On the other hand, the LXX seems to reflect a slightly different Hebrew text, reading “after” where the MT has “my brothers.” The Greek translation yields the following translation: “You should not do this after the Lord has delivered us.” Although the Greek reading should be taken seriously, it seems better to follow the MT here.

[30:25]  ³⁶ tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.