1 Samuel 1:13

1:13 Now Hannah was speaking from her heart. Although her lips were moving, her voice was inaudible. Eli therefore thought she was drunk.

1 Samuel 1:16

1:16 Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman, ¹  for until now I have spoken from my deep pain and anguish.”

1 Samuel 1:26

1:26 She said, “Just as surely as you are alive, my lord, I am the woman who previously stood here with you in order to pray to the Lord.

1 Samuel 2:3

2:3 Don’t keep speaking so arrogantly, ² 

letting proud talk come out of your mouth!

For the Lord is a God who knows;

he ³  evaluates what people do.

1 Samuel 2:24

2:24 This ought not to be, ⁴  my sons! For the report that I hear circulating among the Lord’s people is not good.

1 Samuel 2:28

2:28 I chose your ancestor ⁵  from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifice on my altar, to burn incense, and to bear the ephod before me. I gave to your ancestor’s house all the fire offerings made by the Israelites.

1 Samuel 3:6

3:6 The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ⁶  said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

1 Samuel 3:9-10

3:9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

3:10 Then the Lord came and stood nearby, calling as he had previously done, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening!”

1 Samuel 3:20

3:20 All Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba realized that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.

1 Samuel 8:4

8:4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah.

1 Samuel 9:21

9:21 Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and is not my family clan the smallest of all the tribes of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me in this way?”

1 Samuel 9:25

9:25 When they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof.

1 Samuel 12:7

12:7 Now take your positions, so I may confront you ⁷  before the Lord regarding all the Lord’s just actions toward you and your ancestors. ⁸ 

1 Samuel 14:19

14:19 While ⁹  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 14:28

14:28 Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath ¹⁰  saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.”

1 Samuel 16:18

16:18 One of his attendants replied, ¹¹  “I have seen a son of Jesse in Bethlehem ¹²  who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave warrior ¹³  and is articulate ¹⁴  and handsome, ¹⁵  for the Lord is with him.”

1 Samuel 17:23

17:23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did, ¹⁶  and David heard it.

1 Samuel 17:28

17:28 When David’s ¹⁷  oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, he became angry ¹⁸  with David and said, “Why have you come down here? To whom did you entrust those few sheep in the desert? I am familiar with your pride and deceit! ¹⁹  You have come down here to watch the battle!”

1 Samuel 17:33

17:33 But Saul replied to David, “You aren’t able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You’re just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!”

1 Samuel 18:1

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ²⁰  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ²¹  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ²² 

1 Samuel 18:22

18:22 Then Saul instructed his servants, “Tell David secretly, ‘The king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.”

1 Samuel 19:3-4

19:3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I will speak about you to my father. When I find out what the problem is, ²³  I will let you know.”

19:4 So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf ²⁴  to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial ²⁵  for you.

1 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. ²⁶  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? ²⁷ 

1 Samuel 20:23

20:23 With regard to the matter that you and I discussed, the Lord is the witness between us forever!” ²⁸ 

1 Samuel 21:12

21:12 David thought about what they said ²⁹  and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath.

1 Samuel 22:9

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.

1 Samuel 22:14

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!

1 Samuel 25:17

25:17 Now be aware of this, and see what you can do. For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household. ³⁰  He is such a wicked person ³¹  that no one tells him anything!”

1 Samuel 25:24

25:24 Falling at his feet, she said, “My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant!

1 Samuel 25:33

25:33 Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded ³²  for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands!

1 Samuel 25:39-40

25:39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praised be the Lord who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal! ³³  The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.” ³⁴  Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.

25:40 So the servants of David went to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, “David has sent us to you to bring you back to be his wife.”

1 Samuel 26:6

26:6 David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” Abishai replied, “I will go down with you.”

1 Samuel 28:3

28:3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. ³⁵  In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums ³⁶  and magicians ³⁷  from the land.

1 Samuel 28:7

28:7 So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, ³⁸  so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”

1 Samuel 28:9

28:9 But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed ³⁹  the mediums and magicians ⁴⁰  from the land! Why are you trapping me ⁴¹  so you can put me to death?”

1 Samuel 28:13

28:13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god ⁴²  coming up from the ground!”

1 Samuel 28:15-16

28:15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me – not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”

28:16 Samuel said, “Why are you asking me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy?

1 Samuel 30:6

30:6 David was very upset, for the men ⁴³  were thinking of stoning him; ⁴⁴  each man grieved bitterly ⁴⁵  over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 30:22

30:22 But all the evil and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Since they didn’t go with us, ⁴⁶  we won’t give them any of the loot we retrieved! They may take only their wives and children. Let them lead them away and be gone!”

[1:16]  ¹ tn Heb “daughter of worthlessness.”

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “proudly, proudly.” If MT is original, the repetition of the word is for emphasis, stressing the arrogance of those addressed. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts and some other textual witnesses do not reflect the repetition, suggesting that the Hebrew text may be dittographic.

[2:3]  ³ tc The MT (Qere) reads “and by him actions are weighed.” The translation assumes that reading of the Qere וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

[2:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “no.”

[2:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Eli’s ancestor, i.e., Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I will enter into judgment with you” (NRSV similar); NAB “and I shall arraign you.”

[12:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “all the just actions which he has done with you and with your fathers.”

[14:19]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “until.”

[14:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your father surely put the army under an oath.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize the solemn nature of the oath.

[16:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[16:18]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “mighty man of valor and a man of war.”

[16:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “discerning of word.”

[16:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a man of form.”

[17:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “according to these words.”

[17:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the anger of Eliab became hot.”

[17:28]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the wickedness of your heart.”

[18:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

[18:1]  ²² 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.

[19:3]  ²³ tn Heb “when I see.”

[19:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “spoke good with respect to David.”

[19:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “good.”

[20:12]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”

[20:23]  ²⁸ tc Heb “the Lord [is] between me and between you forever.” The translation assumes that the original text read עֵד עַד־עוֹלָם (’ed ’ad-’olam), “a witness forever,” with the noun “a witness” accidentally falling out of the text by haplography. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 338.

[21:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “placed these matters in his heart.”

[25:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all his house” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “his whole family.”

[25:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “he is a son of worthlessness.”

[25:33]  ³² tn Heb “blessed.”

[25:39]  ³³ tn Heb “who has argued the case of my insult from the hand of Nabal.”

[25:39]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his servant he has held back from evil, and the evil of Nabal the Lord has turned back on his head.”

[28:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in Ramah, even in his city.”

[28:3]  ³⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “mediums” actually refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits (see 2 Kgs 21:6). In v. 7 the witch of Endor is called the owner of a ritual pit. See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401. Here the term refers by metonymy to the owner of such a pit (see H. A. Hoffner, TDOT 1:133).

[28:3]  ³⁷ sn See Isa 8:19 for another reference to magicians who attempted to conjure up underworld spirits.

[28:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “an owner of a ritual pit.” See the note at v. 3.

[28:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “how he has cut off.”

[28:9]  ⁴⁰ tn See the note at v. 3.

[28:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “my life.”

[28:13]  ⁴² tn Heb “gods.” The modifying participle (translated “coming up”) is plural, suggesting that underworld spirits are the referent. But in the following verse Saul understands the plural word to refer to a singular being. The reference is to the spirit of Samuel.

[30:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “people.”

[30:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “said to stone him.”

[30:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “for bitter was the soul of all the people, each one.”

[30:22]  ⁴⁶ tc Heb “with me.” The singular is used rather than the plural because the group is being treated as a singular entity, in keeping with Hebrew idiom. It is not necessary to read “with us,” rather than the MT “with me,” although the plural can be found here in a few medieval Hebrew mss. See also the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate, although these versions may simply reflect an understanding of the idiom as found in the MT rather than a different textual reading.