1 Samuel 19:1-24
Konteks19:1 Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much. 1 19:2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying 2 to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Find 3 a hiding place and stay in seclusion. 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, 5 I will let you know.”
19:4 So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf 6 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 7 for you. 19:5 He risked his life 8 when he struck down the Philistine and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?”
19:6 Saul accepted Jonathan’s advice 9 and took an oath, “As surely as the Lord lives, he will not be put to death.” 19:7 Then Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he had done formerly. 10
19:8 Now once again there was war. So David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them thoroughly 11 and they ran away from him. 19:9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon 12 Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. 13 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. 14 David escaped quickly 15 that night.
19:11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save yourself 16 tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” 19:12 So Michal lowered David through the window, and he ran away and escaped.
19:13 Then Michal took a household idol 17 and put it on the bed. She put a quilt 18 made of goat’s hair over its head 19 and then covered the idol with a garment. 19:14 When Saul sent messengers to arrest David, she said, “He’s sick.”
19:15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.” 19:16 When the messengers came, they found only the idol on the bed and the quilt made of goat’s hair at its head.
19:17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me this way by sending my enemy away? Now he has escaped!” Michal replied to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away or else I will kill you!’” 20
19:18 Now David had run away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth. 19:19 It was reported to Saul saying, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 19:20 So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing there as their leader, the spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 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. 19:22 Finally Saul 21 himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the large cistern that is in Secu, he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” They said, “At Naioth in Ramah.”
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. 19:24 He even stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay there 22 naked all that day and night. (For that reason it is asked, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”)
1 Samuel 21:1--24:22
Konteks21:1 (21:2) David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met 23 David, and said to him, “Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?” 21:2 David replied to Ahimelech the priest, “The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, ‘Don’t let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.’ 24 I have told my soldiers 25 to wait at a certain place. 26 21:3 Now what do you have at your disposal? 27 Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
21:4 The priest replied to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers 28 have abstained from sexual relations with women.” 29 21:5 David said to the priest, “Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers’ 30 equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”
21:6 So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there other than the bread of the Presence. It had been removed from before the Lord in order to replace it with hot bread on the day it had been taken away. 21:7 (One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.) 21:8 David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”
21:9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod. If you wish, take it for yourself. Other than that, there’s nothing here.” David said, “There’s nothing like it! Give it to me!” 21:10 So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath. 21:11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying,
‘Saul struck down his thousands,
But David his tens of thousands’?”
21:12 David thought about what they said 31 and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath. 21:13 He altered his behavior in their presence. 32 Since he was in their power, 33 he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard.
21:14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? 21:15 Do I have a shortage of fools, that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?”
22:1 So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family 34 learned about it, they went down there to him. 22:2 All those who were in trouble or owed someone money or were discontented 35 gathered around 36 him, and he became their leader. He had about four hundred men with him.
22:3 Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay 37 with you until I know what God is going to do for me.” 22:4 So he had them stay with the king of Moab; they stayed with him the whole time 38 that David was in the stronghold. 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.
22:6 But Saul found out the whereabouts of David and the men who were with him. 39 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 40 commanders and officers? 41 22:8 For all of you have conspired against me! No one informs me 42 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 43 him bread and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf, so that he opposes 44 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 45 his servant or any of my father’s house. For your servant is not aware of all this – not in whole or in part!” 46
22:16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house! 22:17 Then the king said to the messengers 47 who were stationed beside him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, for they too have sided 48 with David! They knew he was fleeing, but they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants refused to harm 49 the priests of the Lord.
22:18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day eighty-five 50 men who wore the linen ephod. 22:19 As for Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down with the sword men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep – all with the sword.
22:20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped and fled to David. His name was Abiathar. 22:21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22:22 Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would certainly tell Saul! I am guilty 51 of all the deaths in your father’s house! 22:23 Stay with me. Don’t be afraid! Whoever 52 seeks my life is seeking your life as well. You are secure with me.”
23:1 They told David, “The Philistines are fighting in Keilah and are looting the threshing floors.” 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.”
23:3 But David’s men said to him, “We are afraid while we are still here in Judah! What will it be like if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 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.”
23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. He took away their cattle and thoroughly defeated them. 53 David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.
23:6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech had fled to David at Keilah, he had brought with him an ephod. 54 23:7 When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered 55 him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.” 56 23:8 So Saul mustered all his army to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. 57
23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, 58 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 59 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.”
23:13 So David and his men, who numbered about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they moved around from one place to another. 60 When told that David had escaped from Keilah, Saul called a halt to his expedition. 23:14 David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the desert of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, 61 but God did not deliver David 62 into his hand. 23:15 David realized 63 that Saul had come out to seek his life; at that time David was in Horesh in the desert of Ziph.
23:16 Then Jonathan son of Saul left and went to David at Horesh. He encouraged him 64 through God. 23:17 He said to him, “Don’t be afraid! For the hand of my father Saul cannot find you. You will rule over Israel, and I will be your second in command. Even my father Saul realizes this.” 23:18 When the two of them had made a covenant before the Lord, David stayed on at Horesh, but Jonathan went to his house.
23:19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? 23:20 Now at your own discretion, 65 O king, come down. Delivering him into the king’s hand will be our responsibility.”
23:21 Saul replied, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. 23:22 Go and make further arrangements. Determine precisely 66 where he is 67 and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning. 23:23 Locate precisely all the places where he hides and return to me with dependable information. 68 Then I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will find him 69 among all the thousands of Judah.”
23:24 So they left and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. 23:25 Saul and his men went to look for him. 70 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. 23:26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, while David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, but Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men so they could capture them. 23:27 But a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!”
23:28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth. 71 23:29 (24:1) 72 Then David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of En Gedi.
24:1 (24:2) When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, they told him, “Look, David is in the desert of En Gedi.” 24:2 So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find 73 David and his men in the region of 74 the rocks of the mountain goats. 75 24:3 He came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself. 76
Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave. 24:4 David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him whatever seems appropriate to you.’” 77 So David got up and quietly cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. 24:5 Afterward David’s conscience bothered him 78 because he had cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. 24:6 He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord, who is the Lord’s chosen one, 79 by extending my hand against him. After all, 80 he is the Lord’s chosen one.” 81 24:7 David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down 82 the road.
24:8 Afterward David got up and went out of the cave. He called out after Saul, “My lord, O king!” When Saul looked behind him, David kneeled down and bowed with his face to the ground. 24:9 David said to Saul, “Why do you pay attention when men say, ‘David is seeking to do you harm’? 24:10 Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you – this very day – into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity 83 on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’ 84 24:11 Look, my father, and see the edge of your robe in my hand! When I cut off the edge of your robe, I didn’t kill you. So realize and understand that I am not planning 85 evil or rebellion. Even though I have not sinned against you, you are waiting in ambush to take my life. 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. 24:13 It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you. 24:14 Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea? 24:15 May the Lord be our judge and arbiter. May he see and arbitrate my case and deliver me from your hands!”
24:16 When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Then Saul wept loudly. 86 24:17 He said to David, “You are more innocent 87 than I, for you have treated me well, even though I have tried to harm you! 24:18 You have explained today how you have treated me well. The Lord delivered me into your hand, but you did not kill me. 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. 24:20 Now look, I realize that you will in fact be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 24:21 So now swear to me in the Lord’s name 88 that you will not kill 89 my descendants after me or destroy my name from the house of my father.”
24:22 David promised Saul this on oath. 90 Then Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.
1 Samuel 26:1--27:12
Konteks26:1 The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding on the hill of Hakilah near 91 Jeshimon?” 26:2 So Saul arose and
went down to the desert of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand select men of Israel, to look for David in the desert of Ziph. 26:3 Saul camped by the road on the hill of Hakilah near Jeshimon, but David was staying in the desert. When he realized that Saul had come to the desert to find 92 him, 26:4 David sent scouts and verified that Saul had indeed arrived. 93
26:5 So David set out and went to the place where Saul was camped. David saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general in command of his army, were sleeping. Now Saul was lying in the entrenchment, and the army was camped all around him. 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.”
26:7 So David and Abishai approached the army at night and found Saul lying asleep in the entrenchment with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the army were lying all around him. 26:8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me drive the spear 94 right through him into the ground with one swift jab! 95 A second jab won’t be necessary!”
26:9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t kill him! Who can extend his hand against the Lord’s chosen one 96 and remain guiltless?” 26:10 David went on to say, “As the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away. 26:11 But may the Lord prevent me from extending my hand against the Lord’s chosen one! Now take the spear by Saul’s head and the jug of water, and let’s get out of here!” 26:12 So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul’s head, and they got out of there. No one saw them or was aware of their presence or woke up. All of them were asleep, for the Lord had caused a deep sleep to fall on them.
26:13 Then David crossed to the other side and stood on the top of the hill some distance away; there was a considerable distance between them. 26:14 David called to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Won’t you answer, Abner?” Abner replied, “Who are you, that you have called to the king?” 26:15 David said to Abner, “Aren’t you a man? After all, who is like you in Israel? Why then haven’t you protected your lord the king? One of the soldiers came to kill your lord the king. 26:16 This failure on your part isn’t good! 97 As surely as the Lord lives, you people who have not protected your lord, the Lord’s chosen one, are as good as dead! 98 Now look where the king’s spear and the jug of water that was by his head are!”
26:17 When Saul recognized David’s voice, he said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David replied, “Yes, it’s my voice, my lord the king.” 26:18 He went on to say, “Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What wrong have I done? 99 26:19 So let my lord the king now listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may he take delight in 100 an offering. But if men have instigated this, 101 may they be cursed before the Lord! For they have driven me away this day from being united with the Lord’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go on, serve other gods!’ 26:20 Now don’t let my blood fall to the ground away from the Lord’s presence, for the king of Israel has gone out to look for a flea the way one looks for a partridge 102 in the hill country.”
26:21 Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won’t harm you, for you treated my life with value 103 this day. I have behaved foolishly and have made a very terrible mistake!” 104 26:22 David replied, “Here is the king’s spear! Let one of your servants cross over and get it. 26:23 The Lord rewards each man for his integrity and loyalty. 105 Even though today the Lord delivered you into my hand, I was not willing to extend my hand against the Lord’s chosen one. 26:24 In the same way that I valued your life this day, 106 may the Lord value my life 107 and deliver me from all danger.” 26:25 Saul replied to David, “May you be rewarded, 108 my son David! You will without question be successful!” 109 So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
27:1 David thought to himself, 110 “One of these days I’m going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand.”
27:2 So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men. 27:3 David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families. 111 David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. 27:4 When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him.
27:5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?” 27:6 So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) 27:7 The length of time 112 that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year 113 and four months.
27:8 Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach 114 to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) 27:9 When David would attack a district, 115 he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish. 27:10 When Achish would ask, “Where 116 did you raid today?” David would say, “The Negev of Judah” or “The Negev of Jeharmeel” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” 27:11 Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, “This way they can’t tell on us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” Such was his practice the entire time 117 that he lived in the country of the Philistines. 27:12 So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself, 118 “He is really hated 119 among his own people in 120 Israel! From now on 121 he will be my servant.”
[19:1] 1 tn Heb “delighted greatly in David.”
[19:2] 4 tn Heb “and hide yourself.”
[19:4] 6 tn Heb “spoke good with respect to David.”
[19:5] 8 tn Heb “and he put his life into his hand.”
[19:6] 9 tn Heb “and Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan.”
[19:7] 10 tn Heb “and he was before him as before.”
[19:8] 11 tn Heb “and he struck them down with a great blow.”
[19:9] 13 tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”
[19:10] 14 tn Heb “and he drove the spear into the wall.”
[19:10] 15 tn Heb “fled and escaped.”
[19:11] 16 tn Heb “your life.”
[19:13] 17 tn Heb “teraphim” (also a second time in this verse and once in v. 16). These were statues that represented various deities. According to 2 Kgs 23:24 they were prohibited during the time of Josiah’s reform movement in the seventh century. The idol Michal placed under the covers was of sufficient size to give the mistaken impression that David lay in the bed, thus facilitating his escape.
[19:13] 18 tn The exact meaning of the Hebrew word כָּבִיר (kavir) is uncertain; it is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in v. 16. It probably refers to a quilt made of goat’s hair, perhaps used as a fly net while one slept. See HALOT 458 s.v. *כָּבִיר. Cf. KJV, TEV “pillow”; NLT “cushion”; NAB, NRSV “net.”
[19:13] 19 tn Heb “at the place of its head.”
[19:17] 20 tn Heb “Send me away! Why should I kill you?” The question has the force of a threat in this context. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 325, 26.
[19:22] 21 tn Heb “he” (also in v. 23). the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:24] 22 tn Heb “and he fell down.”
[21:1] 23 tn Heb “trembled to meet.”
[21:2] 24 tn Heb “let not a man know anything about the matter [for] which I am sending you and [about] which I commanded you.”
[21:2] 26 tn The Hebrew expression here refers to a particular, but unnamed, place. It occurs in the OT only here, in 2 Kgs 6:8, and in Ruth 4:1, where Boaz uses it to refer to Naomi’s unnamed kinsman-redeemer. A contracted form of the expression appears in Dan 8:13.
[21:3] 27 tn Heb “under your hand.”
[21:4] 29 tn Heb “have kept themselves from women” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “haven’t had sexual relations recently”; NLT “have not slept with any women recently.”
[21:12] 31 tn Heb “placed these matters in his heart.”
[21:13] 32 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
[21:13] 33 tn Heb “in their hand.”
[22:2] 35 tn Heb “bitter of soul.”
[22:4] 38 tn Heb “all the days.”
[22:6] 39 tn Heb “and Saul heard that David and the men who were with him were known.”
[22:7] 40 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] 41 tn Heb “officers of a thousand and officers of a hundred.”
[22:8] 42 tn Heb “uncovers my ear.”
[22:13] 43 tn Heb “by giving.”
[22:13] 44 tn Heb “rises up against.”
[22:15] 45 tn Heb “set a matter against.”
[22:15] 46 tn Heb “small or great.”
[22:17] 48 tn Heb “their hand is.”
[22:17] 49 tn Heb “to extend their hand to harm.”
[22:18] 50 tc The number is confused in the Greek
[22:22] 51 tc The translation follows the LXX, which reads “I am guilty,” rather than the MT, which has “I have turned.”
[22:23] 52 tn Or “the one who.” This may refer specifically to Saul, in which case David acknowledges that Abiathar’s life is endangered because of his allegiance to David. The translation assumes that the statement is more generalized, meaning that any enemy of Abiathar is an enemy of David. In other words, David promises that he will protect Abiathar with his very own life.
[23:5] 53 tn Heb “and struck them down with a great blow.”
[23:6] 54 tn Heb “an ephod went down in his hand.”
[23:7] 55 tn The MT reading (“God has alienated him into my hand”) in v. 7 is a difficult and uncommon idiom. The use of this verb in Jer 19:4 is somewhat parallel, but not entirely so. Many scholars have therefore suspected a textual problem here, emending the word נִכַּר (nikkar, “alienated”) to סִכַּר (sikkar, “he has shut up [i.e., delivered]”). This is the idea reflected in the translations of the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate, although it is not entirely clear whether they are reading something different from the MT or are simply paraphrasing what for them too may have been a difficult text. The LXX has “God has sold him into my hands,” apparently reading מַכַר (makar, “sold”) for MT’s נִכַּר. The present translation is a rather free interpretation.
[23:7] 56 tn Heb “with two gates and a bar.” Since in English “bar” could be understood as a saloon, it has been translated as an attributive: “two barred gates.”
[23:8] 57 tn Heb “So Saul mustered all his army for battle to go down to Keilah to besiege against David and his men.”
[23:9] 58 tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”
[23:13] 60 tn Heb “they went where they went.”
[23:14] 61 tn Heb “all the days.”
[23:14] 62 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[23:16] 64 tn Heb “strengthened his hand.”
[23:20] 65 tn Heb “to all the desire of your soul.”
[23:22] 66 tn Heb “know and see.” The expression is a hendiadys. See also v. 23.
[23:22] 67 tn Heb “his place where his foot is.”
[23:23] 68 tn Heb “established.”
[23:23] 69 tn Heb “I will search him out.”
[23:25] 70 tn Heb “to search.”
[23:28] 71 sn The name הַמַּחְלְקוֹת סֶלַע (Sela Hammakhleqoth) probably means “Rock of Divisions” in Hebrew, in the sense that Saul and David parted company there (cf. NAB “Gorge of Divisions”; TEV “Separation Hill”). This etymology assumes that the word derives from the Hebrew root II חלק (khlq, “to divide”; HALOT 322 s.v. II חלק). However, there is another root I חלק, which means “to be smooth or slippery” (HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק). If the word is taken from this root, the expression would mean “Slippery Rock.”
[23:29] 72 sn Beginning with 23:29, the verse numbers through 24:22 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 23:29 ET = 24:1 HT, 24:1 ET = 24:2 HT, 24:2 ET = 24:3 HT, etc., through 24:22 ET = 24:23 HT. With 25:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[24:2] 73 tn Heb “to search [for].”
[24:2] 74 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
[24:2] 75 tn Or “the region of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats,” if this expression is understood as a place name (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV).
[24:3] 76 tn Heb “to cover his feet,” an idiom (euphemism) for relieving oneself (cf. NAB “to ease nature”).
[24:4] 77 tn Heb “is good in your eyes.”
[24:5] 78 tn Heb “the heart of David struck him.”
[24:10] 83 tn Heb “it had pity,” apparently with the understood subject being “my eye,” in accordance with a common expression.
[24:11] 85 tn Heb “there is not in my hand.”
[24:16] 86 tn Heb “lifted his voice and wept.”
[24:17] 87 tn Or “righteous” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “you are in the right”; NLT “are a better man than I am.”
[24:21] 88 tn Heb “by the
[24:22] 90 tn Heb “and David swore an oath to Saul.”
[26:1] 91 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
[26:4] 93 tn Heb “and David sent scouts and he knew that Saul had certainly come.”
[26:8] 94 tn Here “the spear” almost certainly refers to Saul’s own spear, which according to the previous verse was stuck into the ground beside him as he slept. This is reflected in a number of English versions: TEV, CEV “his own spear”; NLT “that spear.” Cf. NIV, NCV “my spear,” in which case Abishai refers to his own spear rather than Saul’s, but this is unlikely since (1) Abishai would probably not have carried a spear along since such a weapon would be unwieldy when sneaking into the enemy camp; and (2) this would not explain the mention of Saul’s own spear stuck in the ground beside him in the previous verse.
[26:8] 95 tn Heb “let me strike him with the spear and into the ground one time.”
[26:9] 96 tn Heb “anointed” (also in vv. 11, 16, 23).
[26:16] 97 tn Heb “Not good [is] this thing which you have done.”
[26:16] 98 tn Heb “you are sons of death.”
[26:18] 99 tn Heb “What in my hand [is] evil?”
[26:19] 100 tn Heb “may he smell.” The implication is that Saul should seek to appease God, for such divine instigation to evil would a sign of God’s disfavor. For a fuller discussion of this passage see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 19-21.
[26:19] 101 tn Heb “but if the sons of men.”
[26:20] 102 tn Heb “the calling [one],” which apparently refers to a partridge.
[26:21] 103 tn Heb “my life was valuable in your eyes.”
[26:21] 104 tn Heb “and I have erred very greatly.”
[26:23] 105 tn Heb “and the
[26:24] 106 tn Heb “your life was great this day in my eyes.”
[26:24] 107 tn Heb “may my life be great in the eyes of the
[26:25] 109 tn Heb “you will certainly do and also you will certainly be able.” The infinitive absolutes placed before the finite verbal forms lend emphasis to the statement.
[27:1] 110 tn Heb “said to his heart.”
[27:3] 111 tn Heb “a man and his house.”
[27:7] 112 tn Heb “the number of the days.”
[27:7] 113 tn Heb “days.” The plural of the word “day” is sometimes used idiomatically to refer specifically to a year. In addition to this occurrence in v. 7 see also 1 Sam 1:3, 21; 2:19; 20:6; Lev 25:29; Judg 17:10.
[27:8] 114 tn Heb “from where you come.”
[27:10] 116 tc The translation follows the LXX (ἐπι τίνα, epi tina) and Vulgate (in quem) which assume אֶל מִי (’el mi, “to whom”) rather than the MT אַל (’al, “not”). The MT makes no sense here. Another possibility is that the text originally had אַן (’an, “where”), which has been distorted in the MT to אַל. Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and the Targum, which have “where.”
[27:11] 117 tn Heb “all the days.”
[27:12] 119 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] 120 tc Many medieval Hebrew
