1 Samuel 2:1

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2:1 Hannah prayed, ¹ 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

my horn ²  is exalted high because of the Lord.

I loudly denounce ³  my enemies,

for I am happy that you delivered me. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 2:5

2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,

but the hungry no longer lack.

Even ⁵  the barren woman gives birth to seven, ⁶ 

but the one with many children withers away. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 12:12

12:12 “When you saw that King Nahash of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, ‘No! A king will rule over us’ – even though the Lord your God is your king!

1 Samuel 13:16

13:16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash. ⁸ 

1 Samuel 14:17

14:17 So Saul said to the army that was with him, “Muster the troops and see who is no longer with us.” When they mustered the troops, ⁹  Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

1 Samuel 14:32

14:32 So the army rushed greedily on ¹⁰  the ¹¹  plunder, confiscating sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them right on the ground, and the army ate them blood and all.

1 Samuel 14:43

14:43 So Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” Jonathan told him, “I used the end of the staff that was in my hand to taste a little honey. I must die!” ¹² 

1 Samuel 15:32

Samuel Puts Agag to Death

15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, ¹³  thinking to himself, ¹⁴  “Surely death is bitter!” ¹⁵ 

1 Samuel 16:4

16:4 Samuel did what the Lord told him. ¹⁶  When he arrived in Bethlehem, ¹⁷  the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They ¹⁸  said, “Do you come in peace?”

1 Samuel 16:16

16:16 Let our lord instruct his servants who are here before you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then whenever the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he can play the lyre ¹⁹  and you will feel better.” ²⁰ 

1 Samuel 17:38

17:38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head. He also put body armor on him.

1 Samuel 17:43

17:43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?” ²¹  Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

1 Samuel 17:51

17:51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s ²²  sword, drew it from its sheath, ²³  killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.

1 Samuel 17:55

17:55 ²⁴ 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.”

1 Samuel 18:8

18:8 This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought, ²⁵  “They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?”

1 Samuel 20:1

Jonathan Seeks to Protect David

20:1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, ²⁶  “What have I done? What is my offense? ²⁷  How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!”

1 Samuel 20:5

20:5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. ²⁸  You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now.

1 Samuel 20:9

20:9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you to suggest this! If I were at all aware that my father had decided to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

1 Samuel 20:26

20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it ²⁹  that day, for he thought, ³⁰  “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 23:19

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?

1 Samuel 24:9

24:9 David said to Saul, “Why do you pay attention when men say, ‘David is seeking to do you harm’?

1 Samuel 26:25

26:25 Saul replied to David, “May you be rewarded, ³¹  my son David! You will without question be successful!” ³²  So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 27:2

27:2 So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men.

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[2:1]  ² sn Horns of animals have always functioned as both offensive and defensive weapons for them. As a figure of speech the horn is therefore often used in the Bible as a symbol of human strength (see also in v. 10). The allusion in v. 1 to the horn being lifted high suggests a picture of an animal elevating its head in a display of strength or virility.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”

[2:5]  ⁵ tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ’ad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.

[2:5]  ⁶ sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Or “languishes.”

[13:16]  ⁸ tn The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses in v.16 indicates synchronic action.

[14:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they mustered the troops, and look!”

[14:32]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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”).

[14:43]  ¹² tn Heb “Look, I, I will die.” Apparently Jonathan is acquiescing to his anticipated fate of death. However, the words may be taken as sarcastic (“Here I am about to die!”) or as a question, “Must I now die?” (cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[15:32]  ¹³ tn The MT reading מַעֲדַנֹּת (ma’adannot, literally, “bonds,” used here adverbially, “in bonds”) is difficult. The word is found only here and in Job 38:31. Part of the problem lies in determining the root of the word. Some scholars have taken it to be from the root ענד (’nd, “to bind around”), but this assumes a metathesis of two of the letters of the root. Others take it from the root עדן (’dn) with the meaning “voluptuously,” but this does not seem to fit the context. It seems better to understand the word to be from the root מעד (m’d, “to totter” or “shake”). In that case it describes the fear that Agag experienced in realizing the mortal danger that he faced as he approached Samuel. This is the way that the LXX translators understood the word, rendering it by the Greek participle τρέμον (tremon, “trembling”).

[15:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Agag said.”

[15:32]  ¹⁵ tc The text is difficult here. With the LXX, two Old Latin mss, and the Syriac Peshitta it is probably preferable to delete סָר (sar, “is past”) of the MT; it looks suspiciously like a dittograph of the following word מַר (mar, “bitter”). This further affects the interpretation of Agag’s comment. In the MT he comes to Samuel confidently assured that the danger is over (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV “Surely the bitterness of death is past,” along with NLT, CEV). However, it seems more likely that Agag realized that his fortunes had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and that the clemency he had enjoyed from Saul would not be his lot from Samuel. The present translation thus understands Agag to approach not confidently but in the stark realization that his death is imminent (“Surely death is bitter!”). Cf. NAB “So it is bitter death!”; NRSV “Surely this is the bitterness of death”; TEV “What a bitter thing it is to die!”

[16:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “said.”

[16:4]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:4]  ¹⁸ tc In the MT the verb is singular (“he said”), but the translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss and ancient versions in reading the plural (“they said”).

[16:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and he will play with his hand.”

[16:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and it will be better for you.”

[17:43]  ²¹ sn Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for both.

[17:51]  ²² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:51]  ²³ tc Most LXX mss lack the words “drew it from its sheath.”

[17:55]  ²⁴ tc Most LXX mss lack 17:55–18:5.

[18:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “said.” So also in vv. 11, 17.

[20:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and he came and said before Jonathan.”

[20:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “What is my guilt?”

[20:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and I must surely sit with the king to eat.” The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:26]  ²⁹ tn The words “about it” are not present in the Hebrew text, although they are implied.

[20:26]  ³⁰ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself.

[26:25]  ³¹ tn Heb “blessed.”

[26:25]  ³² 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.