1 Samuel 2:31

2:31 In fact, days are coming when I will remove your strength ¹  and the strength ²  of your father’s house. There will not be an old man in your house!

1 Samuel 6:2

6:2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”

1 Samuel 6:5-6

6:5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice ³  that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land. ⁴  6:6 Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? ⁵  When God ⁶  treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way? ⁷ 

1 Samuel 6:21

6:21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down here and take it back home with you.”

1 Samuel 7:12

7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. ⁸  He named it Ebenezer, ⁹  saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.”

1 Samuel 8:22

8:22 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they say ¹⁰  and install a king over them.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go back to his own city.”

1 Samuel 9:3

9:3 The donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, ¹¹  so Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go ¹²  look for the donkeys.” ¹³ 

1 Samuel 9:22

9:22 Then Samuel brought ¹⁴  Saul and his servant into the room and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. There were about thirty people present.

1 Samuel 10:6

10:6 Then the spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person.

1 Samuel 10:10

10:10 When Saul and his servant ¹⁵  arrived at Gibeah, a company of prophets was coming out to meet him. Then the spirit of God rushed upon Saul ¹⁶  and he prophesied among them.

1 Samuel 10:16

10:16 Saul said to his uncle, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul ¹⁷  did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

1 Samuel 10:27--11:1

10:27 But some wicked men ¹⁸  said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. ¹⁹ 

Saul Comes to the Aid of Jabesh

11:1 ²⁰ Nahash ²¹  the Ammonite marched ²²  against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.”

1 Samuel 12:22

12:22 The Lord will not abandon his people because he wants to uphold his great reputation. ²³  The Lord was pleased to make you his own people.

1 Samuel 13:4

13:4 All Israel heard this message, ²⁴  “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive ²⁵  to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join ²⁶  Saul at Gilgal.

1 Samuel 13:8

13:8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. ²⁷  But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. ²⁸ 

1 Samuel 13:15

13:15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal ²⁹  to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ³⁰  Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

1 Samuel 13:19

13:19 A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.”

1 Samuel 14:28

14:28 Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath ³¹  saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.”

1 Samuel 14:32

14:32 So the army rushed greedily on ³²  the ³³  plunder, confiscating sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them right on the ground, and the army ate them blood and all.

1 Samuel 14:39

14:39 For as surely as the Lord, the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!” But no one from the army said anything. ³⁴ 

1 Samuel 15:4

15:4 So Saul assembled ³⁵  the army ³⁶  and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.

1 Samuel 15:17

15:17 Samuel said, “Is it not true that when you were insignificant in your own eyes, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord chose ³⁷  you as king over Israel.

1 Samuel 15:21

15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

1 Samuel 16:10

16:10 Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. ³⁸  But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”

1 Samuel 17:1

David Kills Goliath

17:1 ³⁹ The Philistines gathered their troops ⁴⁰  for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.

1 Samuel 17:36

17:36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. ⁴¹  For he has defied the armies of the living God!”

1 Samuel 17:39

17:39 David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them. ⁴²  David said to Saul, “I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them.

1 Samuel 17:49

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.

1 Samuel 17:51

17:51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s ⁴³  sword, drew it from its sheath, ⁴⁴  killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.

1 Samuel 18:11

18:11 and Saul threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll nail David to the wall!” But David escaped from him on two different occasions.

1 Samuel 18:22-23

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.” 18:23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately ⁴⁵  to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”

1 Samuel 19:2

19:2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying ⁴⁶  to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Find ⁴⁷  a hiding place and stay in seclusion. ⁴⁸ 

1 Samuel 19:9-10

19:9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon ⁴⁹  Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. ⁵⁰  19:10 Saul tried to nail David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence and the spear drove into the wall. ⁵¹  David escaped quickly ⁵²  that night.

1 Samuel 19:21

19:21 When it was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they prophesied too. So Saul sent messengers a third time, but they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 19:23

19:23 So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

1 Samuel 20:26

20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it ⁵³  that day, for he thought, ⁵⁴  “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.”

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 23:5

23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. He took away their cattle and thoroughly defeated them. ⁵⁵  David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.

1 Samuel 23:25

23:25 Saul and his men went to look for him. ⁵⁶  But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.

1 Samuel 24:19

24:19 Now if a man finds his enemy, does he send him on his way in good shape? May the Lord repay you with good this day for what you have done to me.

1 Samuel 24:21

24:21 So now swear to me in the Lord’s name ⁵⁷  that you will not kill ⁵⁸  my descendants after me or destroy my name from the house of my father.”

1 Samuel 25:20

25:20 Riding on her donkey, she went down under cover of the mountain. David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she encountered them.

1 Samuel 25:30

25:30 The Lord will do for my lord everything that he promised you, ⁵⁹  and he will make ⁶⁰  you a leader over Israel.

1 Samuel 25:40

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 25:42

25:42 Then Abigail quickly went and mounted her donkey, with five of her female servants accompanying her. ⁶¹  She followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

1 Samuel 27:12

27:12 So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself, ⁶²  “He is really hated ⁶³  among his own people in ⁶⁴  Israel! From now on ⁶⁵  he will be my servant.”

1 Samuel 28:12

28:12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly. ⁶⁶  The woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

1 Samuel 28:18

28:18 Since you did not obey the Lord ⁶⁷  and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this thing to you today.

1 Samuel 28:20

28:20 Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy, ⁶⁸  not having eaten anything ⁶⁹  all that day and night.

[2:31]  ¹ tn Heb “chop off your arm.” The arm here symbolizes strength and activity.

[2:31]  ² tn Heb “arm.”

[6:5]  ³ tn Heb “your mice.” A Qumran ms has simply “the mice.”

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “Perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.”

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “like Egypt and Pharaoh hardened their heart.”

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

[6:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they sent them away and they went.”

[7:12]  ⁸ tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”

[7:12]  ⁹ sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.

[8:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “listen to their voice.”

[9:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “became lost.”

[9:3]  ¹² tn Heb “and arise, go.”

[9:3]  ¹³ tc The Syriac Peshitta includes the following words: “So Saul arose and went out. He took with him one of the boys and went out to look for his father’s donkeys.”

[9:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “took and brought.”

[10:10]  ¹⁵ tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular “he” (in which case the referent would be Saul alone).

[10:10]  tn Heb “they”; the referents (Saul and his servant) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “sons of worthlessness” (see 2:12).

[10:27]  ¹⁹ tc In place of the MT (“and it was like one being silent”) the LXX has “after about a month,” taking the expression with the first part of the following chapter rather than with 10:27. Some Hebrew support for this reading appears in the corrected hand of a Qumran ms of Samuel, which has here “about a month.” However, it seems best to stay with the MT here even though it is difficult.

[11:1]  ²⁰ tc 4QSam^a and Josephus (Ant. 6.68-71) attest to a longer form of text at this point. The addition explains Nahash’s practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the MT. The NRSV adopts this reading, with the following English translation: “Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh-gilead.” This reading should not be lightly dismissed; it may in fact provide a text superior to that of the MT and the ancient versions. But the external evidence for it is so limited as to induce caution; the present translation instead follows the MT. However, for a reasonable case for including this reading in the text see the discussions in P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 199, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 103.

[11:1]  ²¹ sn The name “Nahash” means “serpent” in Hebrew.

[11:1]  ²² tn Heb “went up and camped”; NIV, NRSV “went up and besieged.”

[12:22]  ²³ tn Heb “on account of his great name.”

[13:4]  ²⁴ tn The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “stinks.” The figurative language indicates that Israel had become repulsive to the Philistines.

[13:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “were summoned after.”

[13:8]  ²⁷ tn This apparently refers to the instructions given by Samuel in 1 Sam 10:8. If so, several years had passed. On the relationship between chs. 10 and 13, see V. P. Long, The Art of Biblical History (FCI), 201-23.

[13:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “dispersed from upon him”; NAB, NRSV “began to slip away.”

[13:15]  ²⁹ tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal….”

[13:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).

[14:28]  ³¹ 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.

[14:32]  ³² tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading “and they rushed greedily upon,” rather than the Kethib, “and they did.”

[14:32]  ³³ tc The translation reads with the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss הַשָּׁלָל (hashalal, “the spoil”) rather than following the Kethib reading, שָׁלָל (shalal, “spoil”).

[14:39]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and there was no one answering from all the army.”

[15:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”

[15:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[15:17]  ³⁷ tn Heb “anointed.”

[16:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel.” This could be taken as referring to seven sons in addition to the three mentioned before this, but 1 Sam 17:12 says Jesse had eight sons, not eleven. 1 Chr 2:13-15 lists only seven sons, including David. However, 1 Chr 27:18 mentions an additional son, named Elihu.

[17:1]  ³⁹ tc The content of 1 Sam 17–18, which includes the David and Goliath story, differs considerably in the LXX as compared to the MT, suggesting that this story circulated in ancient times in more than one form. The LXX for chs. 17–18 is much shorter than the MT, lacking almost half of the material (39 of a total of 88 verses). Many scholars (e.g., McCarter, Klein) think that the shorter text of the LXX is preferable to the MT, which in their view has been expanded by incorporation of later material. Other scholars (e.g., Wellhausen, Driver) conclude that the shorter Greek text (or the Hebrew text that underlies it) reflects an attempt to harmonize certain alleged inconsistencies that appear in the longer version of the story. Given the translation characteristics of the LXX elsewhere in this section, it does not seem likely that these differences are due to deliberate omission of these verses on the part of the translator. It seems more likely that the Greek translator has faithfully rendered here a Hebrew text that itself was much shorter than the MT in these chapters. Whether or not the shorter text represented by the LXX is to be preferred over the MT in 1 Sam 17–18 is a matter over which textual scholars are divided. For a helpful discussion of the major textual issues in this unit see D. Barthélemy, D. W. Gooding, J. Lust, and E. Tov, The Story of David and Goliath (OBO). Overall it seems preferable to stay with the MT, at least for the most part. However, the major textual differences between the LXX and the MT will be mentioned in the notes that accompany the translation so that the reader may be alert to the major problem passages.

[17:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “camps.”

[17:36]  ⁴¹ 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?”

[17:39]  ⁴² tn Heb “he had not tested.”

[17:51]  ⁴³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:51]  ⁴⁴ tc Most LXX mss lack the words “drew it from its sheath.”

[18:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

[19:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “seeking.”

[19:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “stay in.”

[19:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and hide yourself.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “[was] to.”

[19:9]  ⁵⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”

[19:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and he drove the spear into the wall.”

[19:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “fled and escaped.”

[20:26]  ⁵³ tn The words “about it” are not present in the Hebrew text, although they are implied.

[20:26]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself.

[23:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and struck them down with a great blow.”

[23:25]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “to search.”

[24:21]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “by the Lord.”

[24:21]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “cut off.”

[25:30]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “according to all which he spoke, the good concerning you.”

[25:30]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “appoint.”

[25:42]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “going at her feet.”

[27:12]  ⁶² tn Heb “saying.”

[27:12]  ⁶³ tn Heb “he really stinks.” The expression is used figuratively here to describe the rejection and ostracism that David had experienced as a result of Saul’s hatred of him.

[27:12]  ⁶⁴ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss lack the preposition “in.”

[27:12]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “permanently.”

[28:12]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “in a great voice.”

[28:18]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord.”

[28:20]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “also there was no strength in him.”

[28:20]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “food.”