1 Samuel 17:55--18:2

17:55 ¹ Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.” 17:56 The king said, “Find out whose son this boy is!”

17:57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. He still had the head of the Philistine in his hand. 17:58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse in Bethlehem.” ² 

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ³  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ⁴  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ⁵  18:2 Saul retained David ⁶  on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house.

[17:55]  ¹ tc Most LXX mss lack 17:55–18:5.

[17:58]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[18:1]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

[18:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.